Behind 4 Allegheny County champions, Thomas Jefferson wrestling focused on WPIAL team postseason

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, January 26, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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Thomas Jefferson wrestlers Bode Marlow, Maddox Shaw and Shepard Turk made team history last season as all three won WPIAL championships.

Can the three seniors do it again?

“We have a balanced team this year with a lot of guys coming up from ninth grade and returning 10th graders,” TJ coach Michael Ladick said. “We’ve been working since covid to try and get a full lineup and position ourselves competitively in the section.”

TJ was the only school that had multiple WPIAL 3A titlists in 2023-24 — for the first time in program history. And Shaw became the first TJ grappler with multiple WPIAL championships. Shaw also won a state title last winter while Marlow placed third.

Shaw, at 160 pounds, Marlow (172) and Turk (285) were rejoined in the Jaguars’ starting lineup this season by sophomore Zach Rehak (107) and juniors Zach LaBryer (189) and Cameron Timko (139).

Marlow had his sights set on the Allegheny County tournament held Jan. 17-18 at Fox Chapel, and he hit a bulls-eye at the event. Marlow took first place in his weight class to earn his fourth county title, joining an elite group of Plum’s Sean Clair (2002-05), Shaler’s Nick Nelson (2004-07), North Allegheny’s Dom Forys (2011-14), North Hills’ Gage Curry (2013-16) and Mt. Lebanon’s Mac Stout (2017-20) in the four-time winners’ fraternity.

“I’m grateful to wrestle and I will use it as a way to continue to grow as a wrestler,” Marlow said. “There are things I’m still working on, and there are a lot of challenges out there for me. All glory goes to Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior.”

Marlow was favored to win as the No. 1 seed at 172. He plans to continue his wrestling career at Pitt.

“Pitt is a place I always loved as a kid,” Marlow said. “The coaching staff is really good, and the new facility is going to be very nice.

Shaw, who will wrestle at Ohio State next year, joined a group of 13 three-time Allegheny County champions.

Turk, a Pitt football recruit, captured his second consecutive county crown.

“I enjoyed competing. It was a good time,” Turk said. “The team dominated; I’m so proud of those guys.”

As for the Pitt football program, Turk said, “I felt at home there.”

TJ senior Brayden White also reeled in a county title — his first — by defeating Mt. Lebanon junior Cole Gibbons, 10-2, in the 160-pound final.

“I feel I had a good performance especially for being unseeded due to not wrestling in previous years,” White said. “Our team did amazing; we broke the team scoring record. It’s just the result of how hard we work day in and day out.”

White, a two-way standout at wide receiver and defensive back in football, was named the Offensive Player of the Year in the Class 4A Big Six Conference and plans to continue his football career at South Dakota.

What led White to choosing a college so far away from home?

“It was very simple,” he said. “The atmosphere, the players, the culture, the dome; everything about it had me excited and I just felt like I was at home.”

TJ’s wrestling team won the Allegheny County championship for the first time since 2019 with a tournament-record 292.5 points and eight placewinners. The previous record was 258 points by North Allegheny in 2007.

“It is easy to look at our veteran wrestlers who won county titles but to me the story is how our underclassmen shined in helping us get to the top of the team standings,” Ladick said. “Zach Rehak (107) and Robert Cordova (114) both had tough quarterfinal matches and fought their way back to third place. Zach has improved immensely from last year, and Robert has taken a lot of ownership in the room listening to coaches and getting extra workouts in throughout the season.

“Because the Allegheny County tournament lets us enter 18 wrestlers, I was also able to enter Dominic Cadwallader (114), who had a phenomenal tournament and placed sixth. Ethan Koett (121) and Dominic Costa (127) both had solid tournaments with Ethan battling it out to get eighth place and Dominic just missing the podium with a loss in the blood round. Additionally, Jacob LaBryer (133) and Garrett Pollock both racked up wins throughout the tournament which helped us build a lead.”

Marlow secured a 21-6 technical fall victory against North Hills junior Carter Morvay in his championship round.

Shaw registered a 17-2 technical fall against South Fayette senior Luke Dunlap at 152. It was Shaw’s fourth time in the finals.

Shaw was just returning from a knee injury that he suffered Dec. 22 at the Beast of the East tournament at the University of Delaware.

Turk blanked Carlynton senior Henry Barbisch, 11-0, in the heavyweight title bout.

LaBryer placed second at 189, dropping a 5-4 decision to Central Catholic junior Nez Green in the finals.

“Seeing Bode Marlow get his fourth county title, Maddox Shaw get his third, and Shepherd Turk capture his second was amazing,” Ladick said. “But seeing Brayden White capture his first title and Zach LaBryer get to the finals after an absolutely monstrous schedule in December and early January was fun to watch.

“The whole team has put in an incredible amount of work, and we are prepared to work our way into the team playoffs and also the individual postseason.”

Rounding out the impressive list of county placewinners for the Jaguars was senior Trent Miller, who finished fourth at 189.

As of Jan. 20, the Jaguars were 4-0 in section action and 9-0 overall.

Record-wise, Marlow stood at 32-2 and 144-29 for his career. Shaw was 18-3 and 146-15 for his career.

Turk had a 27-6 record, followed by Rehak (24-6), Zach LaBryer (22-7) and White (21-5). Miller and Cordova both had 16 wins, Jacob LaBryer had 14 and Costa and Koett had achieved 12 victories.

“The team is looking really good,” Marlow said, “and we are going to do our best to continue to grow.”

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