Wrestling: Pendock develops into perfect force for Arundel
By JAMES PETERS, For The Capital
Arundel senior Brad Pendock isn’t exactly sure why, but his first foray into the grueling sport of wrestling ended fairly abruptly.
The same, however, can not be said about his second attempt, which the 19-0 wrestler hopes culminates this March with a state championship.
“I wrestled in junior league when I was like in kindergarten, “Pendock said. “I just kind of got away from it. I didn’t enjoy it then. I honestly couldn’t tell you why.”
As to how he got back into the sport several years later, well, that came at the urging of a friend, former Wildcats heavyweight Kris Hood, during his freshman year at Arundel.
“I was at trials for football and we were wrestling outside in the lawn area, “Pendock said. “I ended up taking him down and he was like, ‘Wow, you should come out for wrestling.’
“He kept bugging me for it and bugging me. I went to one of the meetings and wrote down my number. I never really came back out. I was just doing it, I guess, to appease him.”
That simple act of writing down his phone number eventually led to a call from the Arundel coaching staff, asking him to fill an empty spot on the roster.
“I was like, ‘Yea, I’ll do it. I’ll give it a try,”‘ Pendock said. “The first practice just killed me. I was wiped out. I was like, ‘What are these guys doing? They’re crazy.’ I wound up sticking to it and I just started enjoying it.”
That decision to stick it out has proven to be a good one for the Arundel wrestling program but perhaps not for his opponents, especially this season as the 189-pound wrestler has powered his way to a perfect record.
En route to that perfect mark, Pendock has captured his weight class at the Arundel Holiday Tournament – a 5-2 championship win over DeMatha’s Scott Miller to lift the Wildcats to the team title; and at the Arundel Invitational, where he received an injury default in the final.
Pendock also won all of his matches at the Churchill Bulldog Duals Tournament, including a 3-2 win over Hammond’s Steve Sessa, the Maryland State Wrestling Association’s fourth-ranked wrestler at 189 pounds.
Pendock is ranked third in the state behind Kevin O’Connor of Mount St. Joseph and Liberty’s Brandon Gervie. The Arundel wrestler looks up to no one in the 4A/3A division rankings.
“He works very hard, “Wildcats coach Bill Royer said. “He’s self-motivated. He doesn’t think anyone can beat him. He’s the kind of kid if you went to battle or are in a bar room brawl, you hope that he’s on your side.
“That’s Brad Pendock and he’s a great leader. The other kids feed off him this year, which helps the team to be better.”
Of course, with such a long layoff between wrestling stints, things have not always come easy for Pendock, who finished back-to-back solid varsity seasons with quick exits at the state tournament. Pendock, in fact, finished his sophomore campaign with a 17-16 record that included a loss to Blair’s Hansel Cedeno in the first round of states after taking second in the region with a 9-6 championship defeat to Broadneck’s Kris Coby.
Pendock showed marked improvement a year ago, compiling a 27-11 record, but he slipped to third in the regional tournament through a 5-4 semifinal loss to Patterson’s Thomas Smith. He then went out in two matches in the state tournament, falling once again to Cedeno.
“Last year, I kind of blew the first match, “Pendock said. “Then I got a forfeit. I did real well in the second match (but) the kid was all-around better than I was. I put up a good fight. That’s not enough. “This year, I’m going out there to win (states). I’m not going to be happy with anything else.”
That intense drive to be the best has also served Pendock well on the football field and on the baseball diamond during his tenure at Arundel. As a member of Chuck Markiewicz’s gridiron squad, Pendock helped lead the Wildcats to the playoffs this past fall and earned first team Capital-Gazette honors while manning a starting position on both the offensive and defensive lines. He played part of the season with a knee injury. Pendock, as the team’s starting nose guard, also picked up second team all-county honors as a junior.
“He’s the only two-time (all-county selection) at Arundel since I’ve been there, “Markiewicz said. “That speaks for itself. Brad’s an Arundel throwback. He played with a torn meniscus. Most people miss most of the season (with that injury). He didn’t miss a game.
“He’s a quiet leader. He’s a different kind of kid, which is a good thing. He looks for ways to do things instead of making excuses.”
Pendock also displayed his toughness for Wildcats baseball coach Bernie Walter last spring, his second stint on the varsity. Seeing time behind the plate and in the outfield, Pendock hit .242 with a home run and 13 runs batted in. “He’s a terrific player, “Walter said. “He’s a very good athlete. He has all the attributes you’re looking for in a class athlete on every athletic field he goes on.”
Wrestling Gear
