4A North Region Wrestling Championship

Five Locals Win Individual Titles
Posted: February 18, 2014
By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI

CULPEPER — As the Sherando wrestling team gathered to pose for pictures following Monday’s 4A North Region Wrestling Tournament, one person about to snap a shot remarked, “Come on guys, smile.”

One would think the Warriors would have the winning routine down pat by now. But there is one more chance to make it perfect — at the state tournament in Salem.

Sherando captured its first regional wrestling title since 2002 with a resounding performance during the two-day competition at Eastern View High School. The Warriors had already wrapped up the championship before the championship finals had even started, and they wound up winning by a whopping 33.5 points over runner-up Fauquier (161).

“It’s a cool experience,” said senior Sherando senior P.K. Jessen, who won the 170-pound weight class for his first career regional title. “It’s the toughest region in the state with Eastern View and Fauquier in with us. It’s a huge win for us.

“It’s kind of cool to be a part of a team to bring [a regional title] back to Sherando. There’s a lot of pride with it, because we earned it.”

The Falcons (four regional champions) and Eastern View (third in the old Group AA state format last year, and third with 144.5 points Monday) both had strong performances, but neither could match the Warriors’ depth.

Though Jessen was Sherando’s lone individual winner, the Warriors had seven wrestlers qualify for Friday’s and Saturday’s Group 4A State Tournament at the Salem Civic Center by placing in the top four, and the Warriors had 10 of the 13 wrestlers they brought to the region tournament place in the top six.

“We felt we had a legitimate shot at winning the regional title, but we had to get contributions from all of our wrestlers,” Sherando coach Pepper Martin. “Except in a few cases, we probably couldn’t have wrestled any better as a team.

“I think what really helped us a lot was our bonus points. We had a lot of pins, and getting those two extra points for those helped out quite a bit and helped us maintain our lead. We jumped out to lead early, wrestled consistently, and maintained it. I’m very proud of the wrestlers.”

Handley (four state qualifiers, including champions Lio Quezada at 126 and senior Jordan Dowrey, who won his second straight regional title at 285) placed fourth as a team with 129 points. Millbrook (three state qualifiers, including junior Dylan Wisman, who won at 182 pounds for his third straight regional title) was seventh with 84.5 points, and James Wood (one state qualifier, 106-pound champion and freshman Aaron Black) was 12th out of the 26 teams that scored with 59 points.

Other state qualifiers for Sherando were John Borst (second at 152), Tyler Hamilton (second at 220), Mike Duffy (third at 106), Jacob Guthridge (third at 132), Killian McPartland (third at 182) and Ben Avery (third at 285).

After pinning his first three opponents, Jessen earned a 6-2 win in the final against King George’s Jacob Tucker, taking the lead for good with a takedown with 33 seconds left in the first period. Jessen still only led 2-1 heading into the third period, but he got an escape to open the final period, then got an another takedown just after Tucker was called for stalling.

“P.K. went out there and did what he was supposed to do,” Martin said. “He had a tough opponent in the final, and he wrestled smart.”

Jessen improved to 43-1, but two teammates who came in with just four combined losses were unable to stand at the top of the podium as well.

Guthridge — who had won regional titles each of the previous two years — suffered a 3-2 loss in Chancellor’s Joe Cafiero in the quarterfinals, a wrestler that Guthridge beat 7-2 in last year’s 120-pound state semifinals. Guthridge did rebound with two pins and two major decisions in the consolation bracket though.

Hamilton was leading 3-1 heading into the third period in his finals match with Courtland’s Joe Tyson, but his third period was rough.

The match was stopped twice because Hamilton’s forehead was bleeding. It was wrapped with 1:30 left, but during a stoppage 34 seconds later it was clear Hamilton was having a hard time breathing. As the final seconds ticked away it looked like Hamilton might hold on for a 3-2 win, but with Hamilton and Tyson having their arms on each other’s shoulder by the edge of the mat, the shorter Tyson slipped under Hamilton’s arm and around his back for a takedown with 1.2 seconds left and a 4-3 win.

Martin said the combination of Hamilton started the wrestling season late because of football — and the fact that his matches are usually done quickly because he often wins by fall — might have hurt him as far as having enough in the tank to finish Tyson.

“He’ll be ready for redemption next week,” Martin said. “There’s no doubt in my mind.”

Among the other Sherando qualifiers, another late starter because of football was particularly impressive. McPartland entered the tournament with just an 11-9 record, but he pinned Handley’s Coby Pitcock in the consolation final and also finished ahead of James Wood’s Daniel Funkhouser (a combined 73-17 with 46 pins coming into the tournament — Funkhouser placed fifth).

Like Courtland’s Tyson, Handley’s Quezada (46-6) also used a last-second takedown to come out on top, though Quezada’s came at the end of the first period in a 2-0 finals win over King George’s Kolin Johnson.

Quezada’s initial shot at Johnson’s legs was blocked. But Quezada quickly did a 360-spin and lunged again at Johnson’s legs to get the takedown with just 0.5 seconds left, and that proved to be all he would need.

“When you get short-second points, mentally, you feel a lot better,” Quezada said. “You feel like you can keep wrestling tough.”

Quezada had to do that throughout in the 120-pound weight class, which was considered one of the toughest in the region. Quezada made it to the final by beating Eastern View’s Yarhoski Aldiva 5-4 in the semifinals. Aldiva was third in the state at 106 pounds last year.

“This feels good coming from last year, placing fifth [in the region] and not going to states,” Quezada said. “That definitely fueled my fire this year.”

Dowrey ended the tournament with his usual display of dominance. He was the only wrestler to pin all four of his opponents in the tournament, and he finished with a quick victory in 1:16 over Amherst’s Jon Briggs to improve to 44-0 this season as he hunts for his second straight state title and second straight perfect season.

With Dolan Delaney (fourth at 152) and Pitcock joining those two, the trip to Salem will indeed be a fun one for Handley. Judges coach David Scott had never taken more than one wrestler to Salem in his four seasons at Handley.

“Our goal was a top-five finish, so fourth is good,” Scott said. “We were a little bit closer to Fauquier and Eastern View than I thought we’d be, so I’m really happy.

“Placing seven [in the top six] — half the team — shows our depth. We don’t have the big [scorers] like Sherando, Fauquier and Eastern View, but I say every week it’s about all 14 of those guys.”

In addition to Wisman — who thoroughly controlled Harrisonburg’s Artem Makayad with a 19-4 tech fall that took 3:40 to finish — the Pioneers will also send Ryan Meushaw (second at 113) and Devon Sharp (fourth at 170) to the state tournament. Caught in the competitive 120 class, Conference 21 champion Trae Sine was not able to automatically advance, placing fifth (fifth-place finishers are state alternates).

Millbrook coach Jeff Holmes was hoping Sine could get through, but he’s looking forward to seeing Wisman (45-2) next week. Wisman is a two-time state runner-up.

“Dylan’s reaching his potential and his expectations, and he’s got that hunger,” Holmes said. “He’s doing what he needs to do.”

James Wood did not fare as well as it would have liked, as its top wrestlers lost some close decisions.

Funkhouser had previously beaten Pitcock this year but lost 5-4 in the consolation semifinals to him, and Conference 21 champion Jimmy Woznak lost 5-4 in the championship quarterfinals, then dropped a 1-0 decision in the second-round consolation to Loudoun County’s Luke Rivera in a rematch of the Conference 21 final.

“We thought we had a shot at getting three through, maybe four,” said James Wood assistant Mark Weir (head coach Greg Walker was unable to attend Monday). “Jimmy getting knocked out was a bit of a shock. We felt there was a few questionable [calls in his losses], but you still have to wrestle the match. And we thought Daniel had a pretty decent shot at 82.”

Weir said Black definitely had a strong tournament though. The freshman won 14-4 in the finals over Courtland’s D.J. Ahalt, taking a 5-0 lead after one period and 9-2 after two.

“He took it out of everybody’s else’s hands and forced the action,” Weir said. “That’s what it takes at this point in the season.”

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