Trio of Thomas Jefferson wrestlers bring home gold from WPIAL championships
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Three wrestlers from Thomas Jefferson High School added their own mark to the athletic department's long-standing slogan of 'Tradition never graduates' over the weekend where they each won WPIAL championship titles.
Thomas Jefferson has never had more than one WPIAL wrestling champion per season prior to this year.
The junior class trio of Maddox Shaw, Bode Marlow, and Shepherd Turk each won gold in their respective weight class on Saturday at Canon-McMillan High School and now will head to Hershey with their eyes on the bigger prize at the PIAA state championships this coming weekend.
Back-to-back for Maddox Shaw
While numerous WPIAL wrestling champions have come from Thomas Jefferson, the school has never produced a two-time champion prior to this weekend.
Maddox Shaw (39-3) earned gold in the 139-lb. weight class on Saturday after winning his first title last year in the 133-lb. weight class.
Shaw's victory came quickly on Saturday, pinning Pine-Richland's Dominic Ferraro in just 0:49 after allowing a rare takedown early on in the match.
"I've learned to stay calm when I give up a takedown," Shaw told the Pittsburgh Union Progress. "I haven't been focusing on the tournaments too much. Obviously, this is a confidence builder, but I really just worry about myself now and how my performances are. The rest will take care of itself. I think it's less pressure that way. I'm just going to go do my thing."
Shaw pinned all four of his opponents in the WPIAL tournament, all in the first period of each match.
He's now the first two-time champion in school history and also became the first two-time champion in his own family after older brother Max won a WPIAL title at the 195-lb. weight class in 2019, now competing at the University of North Carolina.
A runner-up at the PIAA championships last year, Shaw is now looking to get over the hump and become TJ's second state champion in school history.
Marlow magic at 160 lbs.
Shortly after Maddox Shaw won Thomas Jefferson's first title of the day, Bode Marlow made school history when he won first place at the 160-lb. weight class, defeating Connellsville's Lonzy Vielma by an 11-7 decision.
Marlow, a Pitt recruit (35-6), pinned his first two opponents of the tournament while carrying a large lead and won the third by a technical fall with a 20-4 point differential.
During his championship match against Vielma, he let a large lead slip away late, but had built up enough of a difference to hold on for the victory, something he says he will use a learning lesson moving forward.
"It felt good to come out on top," Marlow told the Union Progress. "I never want to let that [cradle] happen again. I'm just happy I had a big enough lead."
TJ's first heavyweight champion
For the first time in Thomas Jefferson history, one of the school's wrestlers has won a championship in the WPIAL's heavyweight class at 285 lbs.
Shepherd Turk (33-7) won all four of his tournament matches without allowing a single point, pinning his first three opponents.
During his championship match against Waynesburg's Roan Tustin, Turk won by a 3-0 decision.
"It feels great to win a title with my two best friends," Turk told the Post-Gazette. "You are who you surround yourself with."
