Clarke Wrestlers Beat Colonels In Quad Match

Posted: January 15, 2014
By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI

James Wood’s Matt Artrup took control in his 113-pound match against Loudoun Valley’s Oliver McDade. (Photo by Jeff Taylor/The Winchester Star)

James Wood wrestler Caleb Arce looks to pin Loudoun Valley’s Oliver McDade during their 120-pound match Wednesday evening. (Photo by Jeff Taylor/The Winchester Star)
WINCHESTER — No one knew what was going to happen as Clarke County’s Pierre Le nenaon and James Wood’s Schyler Litten rolled around on the mat as the clock neared 20 seconds remaining in their back-and-forth 152-pound match.

What the Eagles know now is that the determination of a French exchange student who had never wrestled before played a big role in a moment that will always live on in Clarke County history.

According to Eagles coach Jon VanSice, Clarke County beat James Wood for the first time in school history Tuesday night in a quad competition at the Colonels’ Shirley Gymnasium.

It was a tight battle throughout, as the Eagles’ 36-30 win wasn’t decided until Clarke County senior Ben Wallace earned a pin at 170 pounds in 4:41 in the final bout of the match, breaking a 30-30 tie. It was Le nenaon who gave the Eagles a 30-27 lead with his 13-11 win at 152 — he trailed 10-7 with 20 seconds left until a reversal and three-point near fall gave him the points he needed to emerge with the win.

Despite the win, Clarke County ended the night even with James Wood and Loudoun Valley with 2-1 records in Tuesday’s quad. James Wood opened the night with a 48-29 win over Loudoun Valley, while the Vikings closed the night with a 45-33 win over the Eagles. All three squads routed Martinsburg (W.Va.).

But VanSice will take the win over the Colonels, especially since he said the Eagles lost by about 30 points against James Wood in the Musselman (W.Va.) Duals on Dec. 21.

“That was a very nice win,” VanSice said. “We didn’t give up the forfeits we gave up the first time. That was a run for our money tonight. We had to work for that victory.”

VanSice couldn’t be fully enthusiastic however, because he saw a wrestler he calls “the toughest on his team” in Jaxon Ottobre (138/145 pounds) suffer a dislocated elbow against Loudoun Valley, which delayed the match for 20 minutes while he was treated before being taken to Winchester Medical Center.

But the Eagles (22-9) were definitely happy for Le nenaon’s contributions.

“He’s picked [wrestling] up quickly,” said Wallace of the junior. “He’s an athlete and a good wrestler. Everybody can’t believe it’s his first year wrestling.”

Le nenaon said he wouldn’t have been in position for the win if he hadn’t stayed strong mentally. He was called three times for having locked hands in his match, which contributed to his 10-7 deficit.

Litten was on top on Le nenaon as the match wound down as the result of a reversal with 49 seconds left, but Le nenaon kept working, and he was eventually able to cradle Litten’s head area and go up 12-10 en route to a victory, which put the Eagles up 30-27.

“I just had a big boost in me,” said Le nenaon, who played rugby in France and decided to see how football and wrestling could help this year. “I didn’t even know what I did [to get the winning points], but I did it. I was pretty happy for my victory.

“The coaches have done a lot for me. I really like [wrestling] and I’m going to miss this when I go back to France.”

James Wood’s Ryan Funkhouser answered with a 5-1 win at 160 to knot the match at 30-30, but Wallace was in control throughout before earning a third-period pin at 170.

Wallace was one of four people to go 3-0 for Clarke County, along with Bayne Gordon (106), Brendan Ciaburri (113) and Luke Estep (220). Ryan Huff (285) — who along with Wallace is a defending state champion — lost his first match of the year after being pinned in 3:00 by Loudoun Valley’s Syd Byers. Huff (9-1) has only recently begun wrestling because he needed to make weight.

James Wood (18-8) was hurt by the absence of a couple starters against the Eagles, including undefeated freshman Aaron Black (20-0 at 106), who hasn’t wrestled since December because of a pulled muscle in his back but will return to action today.

Despite that defeat, Walker is happy with the Colonels’ progress. A week ago, James Wood nearly beat one of the top teams in all of Group 4A in Sherando, losing only by a score of 36-34.

“They’re getting there,” Walker said. “They’re working hard.

“We have a little hiccup here and there. A couple of matches against [Clarke County] were a little odd. A couple of kids just weren’t ready. But the first match [against Loudoun Valley] we definitely did well and showed some good things.”

Along with Ryan Funkhouser, his brother Daniel Funkhouser (182 pounds) also went 3-0.

“I know we can compete at a higher level [than today], because I think we can build off of that performance against [Sherando],” Daniel Funkhouser said. “We weren’t focused today like we should have been. I feel like our next tournament will be better because this will give us some fire.”

Wednesday was another strong night for Funkhouser though, which included a 5-1 win over one of the Eagles’ best wrestlers in Logan Withers. Heading into last weekend, Funkhouser led the area in pins with 21.

“I’m very pleased with how I’ve done, because I didn’t wrestle last year because I had surgery on my wrist,” said Funkhouser, who suffered his injury in September of football season and played with the injury over the rest of football season.

Others who went 3-0 for the Colonels were Jimmy Woznak (138) and Caleb Arce (120).

Clarke County beat Martinsburg (2-20) 66-6, James Wood beat Martinsburg 63-9 and Loudoun Valley (9-12) beat them 66-12.

— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. on Twitter @WinStarSports1