State AA Wrestling Tournament

February 20, 2012
By Robert Niedzwiecki

Pioneers take 4th place

SALEM- Before he had ever competed in a high school state tournament, Jake Crawford stated his intentions clearly - he wanted to be a four-time state champion.

It's his high standards, his unquenchable desire to achieve them, and his superlative talent and work ethic that have made the Millbrook High School senior one of the nation's finest wrestlers.

But as evidenced by the college career of wrestling legend Dan Gable - undefeated until the final match of his career - even the best can fall.

In a matchup of two wrestlers ranked in the top 15 of hswrestling.net's national 160-pound rankings, Christiansburg junior Zach Epperly (No. 10) defeated the three-time state champion Crawford (No. 13) 6-4 in the 160-pound final at the Group AA state wrestling tournament Saturday at the Salem Civic Center. Crawford's disappointment at the end of a match that was tied 2-2 after two periods was obvious. After the final buzzer sounded, Crawford, down on bended knee, paused to stare down at the blue Salem Civic Center mat for a few moments before hurrying off it after the post-match handshakes.

But there's no way he's going to let one defeat defeat him.

"You've just to move forward from here," said Crawford, who warmed up for his final in a blue University of North Carolina shirt, which represents the school he will wrestle for on scholarship next year. "There's two ways you can go. The bad road or the good road.

"I've just got to look at this and improve, keep getting better, and look forward to bigger and better things."

There was plenty for Millbrook to smile about Saturday.

Senior Joe Jessen (195 pounds) won his second consecutive state title (see related story) and the Pioneers had five wrestlers place in the top six to place them fourth as a team with 103 points, one spot ahead of Region II champion Fauquier (97). Christiansburg won its 11th consecutive state title with 203 points, Brookville was second with 123.5, James Wood (two state place-winners) was 13th with 39.5 points, Sherando (one) was 26th with 20.5 points, and Handley (one) was 32nd with 13.

But there was definite sadness over the fact that the only three-time state champion to ever wrestle for a Winchester or Frederick County school (Crawford won with Millbrook as a freshman and junior and with Robinson in Fairfax as a sophomore) couldn't go out with a fourth title.

After speaking about Crawford at the tournament's conclusion, Millbrook coach Jake Forestiere had to pause and collect himself because of how much Crawford has meant to the Millbrook program and him personally.

"That kid has done more for our program than we can ever hope to thank him or repay him for," Forestiere said. "He's an exemplary kid. I'm proud to have been associated with him, to have known him, to continue to know him."

Crawford (55-3 this year) just came up a little short in the match that Forestiere said, "everyone came to see."

Crawford - who improved his career record to 200-8 by pinning his semifinal opponent in 1:59 - has an impressive biography, but Epperly's bio and background speaks loudly.

Epperly (49-2) was a two-time state champion coming into Saturday, his older brother Matt was a four-time state champion who wrestled for Virginia Tech, and one of his tournament titles this year came at the Beast of the East in Newark, Del. Crawford was also at the tournament, but he lost in the semifinals on the other half of the bracket and did not face Epperly.

Epperly said his single-leg takedown with 1:01 left in the first period to open the scoring gave him the confidence he needed to be his best.

Epperly was particularly good with his defense. Crawford did not record a single takedown.

"I knew he had a nice, low shot, and I knew I had to stop that and stay low, keep my hands low," Epperly said. "I felt I did a really good job of that. He didn't really get on my legs at all."

Crawford wanted to be aggressive, but couldn't make it happen.

"I was definitely just trying to get to my left-side sweep," he said. "It's my favorite spot to hit, and I usually rely on it. I think he knew it was coming, and it just didn't work out for me today."

Still, Crawford was very much in the match at 2-2, and he started the third period on top. But with 53 seconds left Epperly hit a reversal that put him in the lead for good.

"I was trying to pull him off, and he went off a little bit too much," Epperly said. "I knew I could swim my right arm out, and I got the reversal."

Crawford escaped with 37 seconds left, but Epperly attacked and was able to get around Crawford's back and take him down with 24 seconds left to go up 6-3. Crawford didn't get out his grasp until there were four seconds left.

Crawford, who beat Epperly's older brother Brady 16-4 to win the 140-pound state title last year, got a long embrace from his father John in the stands after his match.

"He just said he was proud of me," Crawford said. "He told me to put it behind me, just be a man, and take this as a learning experience. Don't dwell on it, and focus on the future."

Crawford said there's no doubt his future will include staying in touch with the teammates who have made his past so memorable, and 138-pound freshman Dylan Wisman's career is one he thinks will be particularly interesting to follow.

Like Crawford, Wisman's career almost started out with a state championship.

One of only two freshman in Group AA who advanced to the finals (and the only freshman finalist in Group AA or A over 113 pounds), Wisman (47-8) was in trouble after falling behind 6-4 with 17 seconds left.

But as the clock counted down from 10, Wisman thought he had reversed him back after hooking the ankle to take control of Christiansburg junior Dallas Smith (36-10).

But the referee did not see it that way and did not award points, much to the chagrin of Wisman and Forestiere. Both said refs have awarded points to Wisman in that situation in earlier matches this year.

"It's a judgment call," Forestiere said. "My job is to go over and advocate for the kid, and hope for the best in that situation. Was it two? Maybe, maybe not. I've seen it called both ways."

Forestiere said he really couldn't have asked for more from Wisman.

"That kid's a competitor," Forestiere said. "Of the top eight guys who placed in the state, he beat six of the top eight [this year]. I'm proud of that kid. He wrestled well."

Wisman said the defeat will just push him harder.

"It's something to look back on," he said. "It will motivate me for next year."

In addition to Crawford, Jessen (48-3) and Wisman, others who placed for Millbrook, which had eight state qualifiers, were senior DeAndre Johnson (fourth at 220 pounds, 42-9) and sophomore P.K. Jessen (sixth at 152, 39-15). Johnson lost in the semifinals Saturday to eventual state champion Victor Montalbano of Brookville.

"Any team has its ups and downs, and we've had ours," said Forestiere of Millbrook, which has placed in the state's top 10 seven straight years. "We placed one ahead of Fauquier, and we've been kind of going back and forth with them all season. So it's good to place the highest in your region and district. It's good for your program. We'd like to get in the top three [in the state].

"But our region's tough. We knock each other off. There's no teams bringing in 11, 12, 13 guys like some of these teams from other regions are. We were in second after the semis, but like at regionals we didn't have the wrestlebacks to get those points."

James Wood was propelled by the successful performances of junior Taylor Swartz (113 pounds, 34-10) and senior Mark Bean (220, 36-2), who each ended their tournaments by defeating local rivals to take third place.

Swartz defeated Sherando sophomore Jacob Guthridge, whom he beat in the Willie Walters and Northwestern District finals but lost to in the Region II finals, by a 3-2 score. Bean, who defeated Millbrook's Johnson in the district and region finals, beat him by a 2-0 score this time by getting an escape and stalling call against Johnson in the third period.

Bean lost 3-1 to Christiansburg's Brandon Taylor in the semifinals, but he was proud to better his fourth-place showing of a year ago.

"Brandon Taylor is a good athlete," Bean said. "He rode on top of me for a while, and I just couldn't move him. DeAndre's a strong competitor, and it's just huge for me to come out [beat him again]."

Swartz's road was particularly difficult. He lost in Friday's first round to eventual state champion Landon Curry of Brookville, but recovered to win his last five matches.

Against Guthridge, Swartz, who placed fifth in states last year, scored a takedown with four seconds left in the second period to take a 3-2 lead, then rode him out from the top position in the final period.

"I feel like I was on game [Saturday] and [Friday]," Swartz said. "I'm proud of what I did. It feels really good. Hopefully next year I can be in the finals."

Guthridge, who lost his semifinal match 9-8 to Turner Ashby's Jacob Michael (he surrendered a takedown with the score 7-7 with 11 seconds left), finished the year at 39-6.

"We couldn't be any prouder of Jacob," Sherando coach Pepper Martin said. "He came down here to compete with the goal of winning a state championship, and he fell a little bit short. He really peaked at the right time this year.

"He has a lot of pride, and he came so far from last year to this year. There's no doubt in my mind he's going to continue to grow as a wrestler."

Handley coach David Scott also thinks his own star sophomore has a bright future. Jordan Dowrey (38-8) came back to take fifth with a pin of Tabb's Jacob Rose in 1:23 after losing his championship semifinal 8-0 to eventual state champion Mike Jones of Lord Botetourt.

"Only one sophomore finished ahead of him," Scott said. "He wrestled [Jones] well, and he finished strong.

"A lot of kids when they first come here, they're a little overwhelmed, but Jordan didn't seem to have that problem. All in all, I thought it was a positive experience."

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