On Saturday, March 2nd William Holder-Moore, John Cross, David Reagan, and Cyler Crawford wrestled in the Maryland State Championship. All of the wrestlers won a match, but only William Holder-Moore won the State Championship. Holder- Moore won his final match in the 182 weight class by a score of 7-5 against Akintola Markinyo, of Wilde Lake High School.
Holder-Moore lost to Markinyo a week earlier in the regional finals, but avenged his loss by changing his strategy and winning the match that mattered, “the first time he threw me, so I was down at the beginning of the match in the first thirty seconds. I kept shooting at his legs in the first match and was unable to finish a take down. I felt comfortable at that position in the match. In the first match I kept going at his upper body and didn’t bother to do that in the second match. I think that was the difference,” said Holder-Moore comparing his two matches against Markinyo.
Holder-Moore is the first state champion from Bel Air High School since Matt Cross in 2008. Both wrestlers were coached by Coach Reddish who states, “I am proud of Will for working so hard to accomplish this and proud to have coach him. His loss in the regional finals may have been a blessing in disguise because it took the pressure off of him for the state championship.”
“I don’t think I have improved much this year, my mentality just changed. Last year I was wrestling not to lose. This year I was wrestling to win. At the beginning of the season I thought I could win it all. Once the season started and I started to have my doubts. Not losing at all during the regular season built the pressure as the season progressed. I lost in the regional finals which took a lot of the pressure off,” said Holder-Moore “[I attribute my success to] definitely wrestling year round.”
“It’s not as much about that single win but more about the getting there part and the ride. The whole three month wrestling season was a journey,” said William Holder-Moore reflecting on the wrestling season that he will remember forever.