It’s Kosman to the Terps
Fitch High School senior wrestler signs with Maryland
It was already a monumental day for Fitch High School senior Jarod Kosman, who signed his National Letter of Intent on Friday to wrestle at the Division I level beginning next season at the University of Maryland.
Then Fitch made it even more memorable, with athletic director Marc Romano surprising him with a national championship banner to commemorate his accomplishments of this past season.
Kosman finished the season 53-0 with
Eastern Connecticut Conference, Class L, State Open, New England and national titles at the 113-pound weight class. He was named The Day's 2018 All-Area Wrestler of the Year. He received a scholarship offer from Maryland, where he will wrestle at 125 pounds, likely redshirting his freshman season.
“It's pretty much always been one of my top schools. I'm a little bit nervous, but I'm looking forward to the opportunity it brings me,” said Kosman, who visited the school recently. “You get treated like a professional athlete. There's no way you could do poorly there because of the resources they give you.
“A great area, a great campus. It's not too far away, but it's kind of far. It's the perfect setting. … I know I'm going to have to work hard.”
Kosman, who wrestles in the offseason at Empire Wrestling Academy in Somers, N.Y., was hospitalized last summer with a health scare, but came back to make his senior season one to remember. Kosman finished as one of only five fourtime champions in ECC history, earning Most Valuable Wrestler honors at the 2018 league tournament.
Jarod's dad Mark is the head coach at Fitch. On Friday, Mark pointed out that the Big 10 Conference, of which Maryland is a member, is the toughest division in the nation including Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan. Big 10 schools have won the last 12 national championships, including 2018 champ Penn State.
“He has a big challenge ahead of him, but one thing we learned is you can't count him out,” Mark Kosman said. “He doesn't like to hear he can't do anything. When he does something passionately, he can move mountains.
“He's quiet and he goes to work and works hard. I think he's going to take off on another upward trajectory.”
Maryland is coached by former Olympic wrestler Kerry McCoy. v.fulkerson@theday.com