Three times in his seven years as coach of Parkdale High School’s wrestling team, Adam Forschner was prepared to walk away for good.
There was his first season at the school. He had been an assistant at Col. Zadok Magruder — a Montgomery County wrestling program with lots of history and a 40-man roster — and was greeted by four wrestlers at Parkdale’s first practice of 2005.
“It was terrible. I had never been part of something like that and I didn’t really understand it,” Forschner said. “I didn’t want to come back. I was like, ‘This is not for me.’”
Then there was the time when his now-12-year-old son Nathaniel developed a blood disorder and had to quit wrestling. Forschner, who grew up in New York and came one round away from being an All-American in college, wanted to step away and spend more time with Nathaniel and help assist his budding music career.
Then there was last year at the regional tournament when his upstart Panthers — a team that finished second in the Prince George’s County tournament — sent 13 wrestlers into the weekend competition. And this, perhaps more than the previous two points, was when Forschner was going to leave it all behind. Why?
Parkdale lost 13 consecutive matches. Forschner was so embarrassed that he didn’t sit on the 4A/3A side of Cole Field House at the state tournament the following week. He sat among coaches on the 2A/1A side so as not to be spotted. So as not to be mocked.
“We hit a brick wall,” he said. “Something wasn’t right with that. I wasn’t going to come back. It was almost a done deal. I wanted last year to be my final year.”
Soon after the crushing defeats, however, Forschner had a conversation with his friend and fellow wrestling coach, Jake Scott from Montgomery Blair High School.
“He told me that this kind of stuff will make you or break you,” Forschner said. “He said that you can’t go out losing 13 straight matches. I didn’t let it break me. Now you can see the result.”
The aforementioned result was an undefeated regular season (14-0), which earned Parkdale the honor of hosting the 4A/3A South Region dual meet championships. And then last weekend, the Panthers won the Prince George’s County championship, ending Eleanor Roosevelt’s four-year reign.
Former Bowie coach Pete Ward is on board with Forschner this season, along with a bevy of assistant coaches, including Triston Prout, Bradley Smith and Jason Smith.
They have helped change the program’s culture, and upon the strength of proven wrestlers in Franklin Deogracia (126 pounds), B.J. Yates (152) and Andres Perdomo (170), the Panthers have turned into the county’s top team.
Senior 132-pounder David Rhodes said practices sometimes last three hours with the only “breaks” coming when the team jogs around the gym. Rhodes, who started wrestling as a freshman, has observed a tremendous transformation in the atmosphere.
“We didn’t even have a full squad my freshman year. I never really thought it would grow to what it is now,” Rhodes said. “Now we have people coming and asking if they can wrestle with us.”
Prior to Saturday’s county finals, Parkdale’s wrestlers were noticeably loose. While other grapplers jogged in place or listened to motivational music on iPods, Deogracia and Perdomo were competing in a grape-throwing contest to see who could toss the green fruit the highest and successfully catch it in their mouth.
And those meetings the wrestlers and coaches have while lying down on the mat in a circle — a cornucopia of feet facing the audience?
“We make fun of people. We talk about girl situations,” Forschner said. “When we lay on the mat, it’s the best time in wrestling as a coach. We talk about everything.”
But that doesn’t mean there are no serious moments. The program wouldn’t be here without those.
“They do what we tell them to do and they give us all the hours we need. That makes a difference,” Ward said. “This is a real team. These guys really want to win for their teammates.”
During the consolation round of Saturday’s tournament, Parkdale’s entire roster watched 106-pounder Deshawn Taylor’s match attentively. Some sat on the floor, others leaned against the stacked bleachers. A massive cheering section of parents and students lent support.
Taylor ended up losing that fifth-place match. Upon walking off the mat, Forschner gave him a big hug and slapped him on the butt.
“I treat every one of these guys like they’re my son,” Forschner said. “I think about how far we’ve come every single day. Even if the season ended today, how mad could I really be?”
ncammarota@gazette.net
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