Jordan ‘still in disbelief ’ after winning state
Senior makes history as he wins school’s 1st championship
Mt. Hebron senior wrestler Samuel Jordan was shocked the first time he looked at the program’s past state place-winners.
None had first place attached to their name. Jordan is on that list, having placed sixth at the Class 4A/3A state tournament last season as a junior. But after Saturday’s performance at The Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, he will be one of one — literally.
The 220-pound senior made school history when he defeated Seneca Valley’s Wayne Tabb, 1-0, in the championship match, becoming the first wrestler to win an individual gold medal at the state’s final event.
The school opened in 1964.
“It’s hard to describe how great it is to be the first state champion,” said Jordan, who capped his final season with a 40-1 record. “I’m kind of still in disbelief in some aspects, but it just feels great that all the hard work I did paid off. I would see the wall and know that I could be on it besides my sixth-place finish. I knew I could do better than that.
“It was definitely a side motivating factor because I knew I had it within me to do it regardless of how past Mt. Hebron wrestlers did and what the history was. I knew that it would be a much bigger deal if I could do that for my team. It’s great news to bring to the program as a whole. Also, I have to stay humble knowing that there are people with more career wins than I have who also placed highly and are still very good.”
Jordan was the aggressor in the opening period of his championship match, pushing Tabb out of bounds. Jordan sensed he was
backing up and that a takedown would be more challenging, so he altered his approach.
Jordan earned a critical escape in the third period for what would be the only point of the match. Trailing, Tabb chose bottom to start the final period, while Jordan spent the early portion trying different maneuvers to get a pin. The more time passed, the more Jordan realized all he needed to do was keep Tabb down and he’d be a state champion. Thirty seconds later, it was over — and history had been made.
The Vikings have had numerous state finalists, most recently in 2018 when senior heavyweight Nick Nordhausen lost a 3-2 decision. Before that, Jeff Hayden made the finals in 2013 and 2014, dropping close decisions in
each. And before that, there were more.
Mt. Hebron isn’t without success on the mats. The Vikings won gold medals in 2002 — as undefeated 4A/3A state dual meet champions — but none went on to individual glory at the state tournament.
“Since the beginning, I had full confidence in [Jordan],” Mt. Hebron coach Adem Kaya said. “When you think about his potential, what he accomplished last year even though it didn’t end how he wanted at the state level, I had no doubt that he was going to achieve top four in the state this year. At the beginning of the season, he was so determined and ready physically and mentally. He didn’t have a hard time from the beginning of the wrestling season.”
Jordan, who is also a lineman for the Vikings’ football team, is only a second-year wrestler. While football limited his offseason time on the mat, the strength and conditioning component of football kept him in shape for wrestling season. As a result, Jordan’s transition back to wrestling was seamless.
After winning 29 matches as a junior, Kaya and the coaching staff encouraged Jordan to improve on his feet in the neutral position entering his final season. Never missing a practice, the senior took the advice to heart.
“His shooting skills and attacking skills improved tremendously,” Kaya said. “In every match except for the final, he took shots and almost scored twice, but his opponent was out of bounds. He took his opponents down in every period in his earlier three matches. That really shows the confidence he has in his shooting skills and how the techniques of the shooting skills have improved.”
His scoring prowess was on display in his opening match, a 13-3 major decision, before he methodically got the job done in the quarterfinals with a 5-3 win over Bowie’s Jamil Morrow, who went on to place third, and a 5-2 victory to advance to the final, where previous Vikings went to lose.
Now when Jordan returns to the Mt. Hebron wrestling room as an alumnus, that initial sense of confusion looking at the wall of names will shift to a sense of pride.
“It’s great to think that my name will be up on that wall forever as long as that wall exists,” Jordan said. “That’s a great feeling to have. I hope to come back, when we have some alumni practices or something and support the program. It’s such a great feeling that I was able to bring that to the team and that my win may cause more people to try or have fun with wrestling in the future.”