EIGHT AREA WRESTLERS ADVANCE TO STATE SEMIFINALS

February 18, 2012

By Rob Niedzwiecki

SALEM- On paper, Clarke County senior 152-pounder Joe Nappi was an underdog against Rural Retreat's Region C champion Travis Anderson.

But given that a medial collateral ligament tear and an injured anterior cruciate ligament couldn't slow Nappi down this year, a few printed words on paper wasn't going to make him blink an eye.

Nappi, with all of just nine matches under his belt coming into the postseason because of his injuries, picked up a 4-3 quarterfinal win over Anderson to earn a berth in the Group A state semifinals for the second straight year during Friday's state wrestling tournament action at the Salem Civic Center.

Nappi is one of eight area wrestlers who will be competing in today's semifinals, which begin at 9:30 a.m. In Group AA, Millbrook advanced four to the semifinals (Dylan Wisman at 138 pounds, Jake Crawford at 160, Joe Jessen at 195 and DeAndre Johnson at 220), and Sherando (Jacob Guthridge (113), James Wood (Mark Bean, 220) and Handley (Jordan Dowrey (285) advanced one each.

In the Group AA team standings, Christiansburg is first with 90.5 points, New Kent is second with 63, Millbrook (five guaranteed state-placers) is fifth with 52, James Wood (two) is tied for 14th with 21, Sherando (one) is 23rd with 13.5, and Handley (one) is 31st with nine.

In Group A, Manassas Park is in first (83.5 points), Grundy is in second (71.5) and Clarke County (four state placers) is in 14th (25).

Nappi raised his arms in the air, looked up into the stands and yelled, "Yes!" following the conclusion of his match with Anderson. Nappi was so excited, he nearly left the mat without signing the match score sheet.

"I had heard a lot about [Anderson]," said Nappi (17-2), who scored a reversal 15 seconds into the final period to take a 4-2 lead. "He finished second in the state last year, a really smart guy, really strong. I knew I had to go out there and push the pace to break him, and that's what I did. When I went up 4-3, at that point I knew I had that match. I could feel he was slowing down and weakening his grips.

"After that match, considering that he was predicted to beat me, I was ecstatic."

Nappi placed fourth last year at 160 pounds, but after getting hurt two days before Thanksgiving, he wondered if he'd ever have another chance to wrestle again.

But he was cleared in January, and now he plans on giving everything he has to make his first state final.

"Anything can happen," said Nappi, who will face Manassas Park's Isaiah Baker, whom he beat in the Bull Run District final, in today's semifinals. "I just want to perform to the best of my abilities and hopefully get a win."

For the first time in seven years, a wrestler from Handley will be attempting to get a win on the final day of the state tournament.

After winning his first round match in 54 seconds and his quarterfinal 8-4over Lafeyette's Austin Holvoet, Dowrey (37-6) has guaranteed that he will be Handley's first state placer since 2005. He will face Lord Botetourt's undefeated Mike Jones (35-0) in the semifinals.

Dowrey was trailing 3-2 heading into the second period, but he controlled the last two periods thoroughly.

"I couldn't turn him very easily, but he didn't get out until the very end," Dowrey said. "[I] kept things where I wanted them to be."

Another place he wants to be is the forefront of the growth of Handley wrestling.

"I'm really proud of my school," he said. "We aren't one of the best wrestling schools around, but it feels good to be up on those [state] boards, and starting to bring some tradition to Handley."

Neither Nappi nor Dowrey were able to win regional titles last week, but they at least were able to wrestle a complete match in losing. Millbrook 's Johnson (41-7) was disqualified from the 220-pound Region II final for a verbal outburst, but he let his wrestling do the talking with two third-period pins to advance to a semifinal matchup with Brookville's undefeated Victor Montalbano (43-0).

"I was just wrestling six minutes," Johnson said. "I just had to keep on moving,"

Millbrook coach Jake Forestiere said he had a long talk with Johnson on Monday to try get him refocused on his goals.

"We talked about what he means to the team and what the team means to him, and his career," Forestiere said. "Right now, everything's going forward."

Crawford (53-2) and Jessen (46-3) won both their matches by fall to advance to their respective semifinals, and Wisman (46-7) won his quarterfinal 2-0 over Cave Spring's Zach Hodges to advance. Sophomore P.K. Jessen (152) is also guaranteed to place after advancing through wrestlebacks.

As good as Forestiere felt about getting five wrestlers through, he felt terrible for seniors Warren Ramirez (126) and Luke Anderson (132), who were both eliminated in Friday's second round of consolations.

"Those are two guys who are the heart and soul of this program, and they were one match short," Forestiere said. "I'm just thinking about what I could have done differently to help them win. They've given everything they have to the program and have a lot to be proud of."

In addition to Bean (34-1), who won both of his matches by fall, James Wood junior Taylor Swartz will place at 113 after winning his second-round consolation.

Guthridge (38-4) advanced to the semis with a 4-0 quarterfinal win, and will be the only Warriors state-placer.

Warriors senior Aaron Laboy (145) lost to Skyline's Joe Bass after a rideout overtime decision and was eliminated in second round consolations. Bass beat Laboy in the Northwestern District final while Laboy beat Bass in the Region II final.

Others besides Nappi who will place for Clarke County are Guido Marasco (113), Johnny Longerbeam (145) and Ben Wallace (160).

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