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McNamara sophomore wrestler turns heads with elite performances

by Nick CammarotaStaff Writer

Like a cat toying with mice, Bishop McNamara wrestler Alfred Bannister bats them around for a while. Humoring them, almost. Some try to escape. Some he lets escape only to again yank them down, this time harder than the first. Eventually, the act becomes tired. He administers the final blow and in a matter of seconds it’s over.

That’s how the sophomore wrestles. Bannister’s style is a relentless combination of power, quickness and skill. His legs can squat 500 pounds and he can bench press 255 pounds, despite his 5-foot-3, 138-pound frame.

This season, Bannister, better known as Baby J, has a record of 72-1.

Last weekend at the St. Albans Bulldog Wrestling Tournament, spectators crowded around the mat to catch a glimpse of the rare breed. It was as if they were reciting “Alfred Bannister Facts” a la the Chuck Norris Internet meme.

“I heard he wrestles eight hours a day,” one said.

“Nobody has ever taken him down,” another added.

By this point, Bannister already amassed an 11-3 lead against Robert Page of St. Andrews and pinned him in 1:14. In the second round, Bannister jumped ahead of Kwadjo Osei (Episcopal), 13-4, before pinning him in 56 seconds. The only reason his opponents score at all is because he lets them up. He’s been taken down only twice this season.

In the 138-pound final of the 32-team St. Albans tournament, Bannister beat Wyoming Seminary’s Ty White, 3-1, by virtue of a takedown and an escape.

“Alfred will maul you,” said McNamara coach Paul Wicks. “He’ll crank kids. You feel bad for them sometimes because he’s so dominant. I’ve had kids come off and ask, ‘Is he a pretty good wrestler?’ and I’m like ‘Yeah, he’s a very good wrestler.’”

Combined with his 57 victories as a freshman, Baby J has 129 wins and six losses in less than two years. He’s on pace to break the Maryland state record for wins for a high school tenure, and he might crack the top 10 nationally. The current No. 10 on that list, Chase Cuthbertson, has 267 wins according to the Wrestling USA high school records book.

Bannister’s brother Andrew, who was a three-time private schools state champion at McNamara and now serves as an assistant to Wicks, won 207 matches.

The Bannisters are a wrestling family. They live in LaPlata and A.J. (Alfred Jr.) and Christine have five children: Andrew (20), Storm (17), Alfred (16), Skyla (12) and Sirr (8).

A.J. was a three-time state champion at McDonough High School and raised his two older sons as grapplers. Alfred started when he was 5. Christine can’t get enough of the sport. She drives him the hour-plus it takes to reach the Forestville school every morning on her way to work.

“My dad told us, ‘If you’re going to live in this house, you’re going to play a sport and you have to be the best at it,’” Alfred said.

There were many nights spent rolling around on the carpet of the family room, fine-tuning moves and building endurance.

“Whatever we did wrong in practice, we’d come home and have another two hours of practice,” Andrew said. “It was tough at times. We said we didn’t want to do it anymore, but ultimately, I think that helped us along.”

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday following his two-hour practice at McNamara, Bannister heads to LaPlata. There he joins another practice where he learns from coaches Jason Kiessling (a former wrestler for the University of Maryland, College Park) and Jason Gabrielson, a Maryland wrestling cult hero.

“I know it’s a lot on him,” said McNamara sophomore Daniel Ross. “He works very hard. At practice, he does what he has to and then he’ll go to another practice. I like when he’s in my corner. He’s always there to help.”

When Bannister was in elementary school, he traveled the country competing in tournaments. The whole family went. Some weekends Bannister would wrestle a tournament in Michigan on Saturday and have to make a weigh-in Sunday morning in West Virginia.

“Our house was like we only lived there in the summer because we were always gone,” Christine said.

At that age Bannister had long hair. His black hair is still somewhat long (think Troy Polamalu light) but not like it used to be.

“Everybody thought he was a girl,” Christine said. “So he would beat these kids and they would run off the mat and throw their headgear. Being a nice parent, I walked over and told them that he’s actually a boy so they wouldn’t get all upset.”

Bannister — who draws inspiration from Jordan Burroughs and is a big Wizards and Redskins fan — finished second at the 126-team Beast of the East tournament earlier this season, which added to his budding aura. His only loss was a 1-0 setback against Todd Preston of Blair Academy (N.J.) — someone he hopes to face at the season-ending National Preps tournament in Bethlehem, Pa., which draws dozens of the best high school teams from multiple states.

Baby J also plays football. He was the starting running back on McNamara’s junior varsity team last season and expects to join varsity next year. When some of his teammates began hearing announcements regarding Bannister’s wrestling success over the public address system, they showed up at practice ready to take him down.

“It didn’t last but 20 seconds,” Bannister said, fighting back a smile.

Though Bannister, who finished last quarter with a 3.3 grade point average, said he hasn’t officially heard from any colleges because of NCAA regulations, a redwood’s worth of letters should pour in next fall.

“I always liked Maryland. I grew up around the program. Some of the coaches came to camps when I was little,” Bannister said. “But I’m looking at anybody who offers me, for sure.”

Above all, Bannister said his most important goal is to win four state titles. To one-up Andrew.

“The potential is limitless. He really does have all the tools to one day be a national champion and wrestle in the Olympics,” Wicks said. “He’s that good.”

ncammarota@gazette.net