When Mount St. Joseph wrestler Jake Bohn takes to the mat, there usually isn?t a lot of flamboyant moves except for the occasional well-placed headlock.
Instead, the 189-pound senior from Westminster prefers to wear opponents down to the point where they are ready to call it a day after one two-minute period. Count Gaels coach Kirk Salvo among those. Salvo, a two-time National Preps champion and an NCAA qualifier at Brown in the mid-1980s, said he can only practice with Bohn for so long before he?s had enough.
“He?s not a flashy wrestler at all,” said Salvo on Bohn. “He just tires out just about every one of his opponents.”
Bohn, who is currently 30-4 with 19 pins this season, is the Maryland State Wrestling Association?s top-ranked wrestler in his weight class. He is also 128-30 for his career, including back-to-back Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association titles and a second-place finish at National Preps last year.
However, Bohn said the greatest win of his career might have come last weekend, when he won his third straight Mount Mat Madness title with a 9-6 come-from-behind victory over Zac Bennett of Westmont-Hilltop (Pa.). Bohn trailed, 6-5, in the final 10 seconds before scoring a reversal and two back points to secure the win. Bohn joined 2006 Mount St. Joseph graduate Mack Lewnes as the only three-time winners of the event.
“That victory felt so great,” Bohn said. “That tournament is probably the best in the state, and it?s such an honor to be mentioned in the same breath with someone like Mack Lewnes.”
Bohn learned a lot from practicing with Lewnes earlier in his career, according to Salvo, who thinks Bohn can join Lewnes as the latest in a long line of Gaels to win a National Preps championship.
“Jake is the type of wrestler that leads by example,” Salvo said. “He?s like Cal Ripken in that he just shows up to practice every day ready to work.”
Bohn is still undecided about what college to attend, but he has expressed an interest in playing football and wrestling at the next level. Until then, Bohn said he has some unfinished business on the mat.
“As a team goal, I want us to knock off McDonogh and win another MIAA title,” Bohn said. “Individually, I want to win the MIAAs, the [Maryland Independent Schools] title and place first at National Preps.”
