Colonels 4th At Walters-Copp Invitational

Posted: December 31, 2014
By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI
The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — As impressive as Sherando’s John Borst was last year as a freshman — he took fifth at the Group 4A state tournament and had a 37-13 record — he felt he wrestled timidly at times.

The 170-pounder sure didn’t hold anything back Monday and Tuesday.

The Warriors sophomore was named Most Outstanding Wrestler at the Willie Walters/Jaye Copp Holiday Invitational Tuesday by pinning all four of his opponents — including three in the first period — at the two-day tournament at James Wood High School’s Shirley Gymnasium.

“I worked out this summer with some All-American wrestlers, and it really improved me and my confidence,” Borst said. “I came out strong, did what I needed to do and took care of business [in this tournament].”

Borst was one of six local champions in the 17-team tournament.

James Wood — which led all local schools by taking fourth place with 181.5 points — had two champions in sophomore Aaron Black (113 pounds) and senior Jimmy Woznak (152), who won his second Walters title. Clarke County — led by champions Bryan Wallace (182 pounds) and senior Logan Withers (195) — took fifth with 122; Sherando was sixth with 113.5; and Handley — led by 220-pound champion and junior Tommy Shea-Roop — took seventh with 110.

Eastern View (three champions, three runners-up) won the tournament with 181.5 points, and Conestoga (Pa.) was second with 155.

Borst (26-2 record) was the only wrestler to win by fall in the first period in the finals.

Borst scored the first points with a takedown 1:17 into the first period against Culpeper’s Connor Vinyard (25-3). Borst then managed to cradle a couple of Vinyard’s limbs. Unable to get the pin inititally, Borst waited patiently for an opening until he was able to shift his body and put Vinyard on his back.

Basically, the match was a continuation of what Borst has been doing all year.

“This is the year,” Borst said. “I would love to be the first sophomore state champ from Sherando.”

Though Borst made it look easy in the tournament, Sherando coach Pepper Martin said Borst wasn’t lacking in competition.

“It was not a weak class by any means,” Martin said. “He was on top of his game wrestling-wise in this tournament.”

James Wood coach Greg Walker said while it was unlikely that his team was going to run down Eastern View for the title, he was hoping to finish better than fourth after being in second place following Monday’s first day of competition.

Walker said having four wrestlers eliminated after second-round consolation matches to start the day put them in a deep hole that limited their chances of scoring Tuesday.

“If we could have won those, we would have an opportunity to wrestle a lot more matches, and we easily could have been in second place,” Walker said. “But the team wrestled well. Some of these kids have to get a little more experience and know how important it is to win close matches, but we’re doing all right. We’re getting better.”

Black (24-2) — a state champion last year at 106 — continued his strong season with a 6-0 win over Stonewall Jackson’s Zach Slater (6-2) in the final.

Black — whose only losses this year came at a tournament in Pennsylvania — cruised to the first Walters title (he was injured last year) with a fall in the quarterfinals, a tech fall in the semifinals and a victory in the final that saw him get a takedown in the first period, a reversal in the second period and two near-fall points in the third.

“I was looking forward to this,” said Black, who did not wrestle at last year’s Walters because of injury. “I think I did my best [in this tournament].”

Woznak (23-3) had a tougher go of it in his final, as he surrendered the first points of the match on a takedown with 17 seconds left in the first period against Eastern View’s Kaden Woodward (24-3). But Woznak battled back and scored a takedown with 48 seconds left in the second period, then turned his opponent and got the ref to slam his hand down just before the second-period buzzer went off for a pin in 4:00.

“The thing about Jimmy is that he doesn’t get too worked up when he loses a point,” Walker said. “He was calm and collected himself, and worked hard to get the pin.”

James Wood had three wrestlers take fourth place — Matt Artrup (120), Ryan Funkhouser (170) and Hunter Bentley (182).

Clarke County’s Withers (30-4) had one of the more dramatic wins of the finals, as he earned a takedown with two seconds left to beat Potomac Falls’ Forest Saunders at 195 pounds.

With the score 3-3, Saunders had a firm grip on Withers’ right leg, but Withers had a slight hold of Saunders’ head and was able to get around his back for the takedown with time running down.

“We call it a three-quarter Nelson, and you’re supposed to have a palm [on your opponent’s head], but I hardly had any hand on the back of his head,” said Withers, who added he only had “two fingers and a thumb” as a grip. “For the life of me I’m trying to make sure he stays off my leg and doesn’t get two and win the match.

“I just had to work for it, try not to panic or look at the clock and rush myself. I just relaxed, did what my coaches told me, and it worked out.”

Withers said seeing Wallace (31-3) win by pin in 3:45 over Liberty’s Rico Bumbrey (19-3) in the match before his was a big motivator. He jokingly said he “didn’t want to be shown up by a freshman,” but Withers added he wouldn’t be doing as well as he is if didn’t have Wallace to work with.

Those two titles were just part of an overall successful tournament for the Eagles.

“We only brought 10 guys, and six of them placed in the top five,” Clarke County coach Jon VanSice said. “It’s hard to complain about that. We had a freshman make the semifinals (William Heath) and another freshman win it, so you’ve got to like that.”

The Eagles were also led by Bayne Gordon (third at 120), Heath (fourth at 152), Mark Alexander (fourth at 220) and Brendan Ciaburri (fifth at 126).

Sherando led all local schools with seven placewinners — Curtis Guthridge was third at 126, Colton Simmons was fourth at 138, Anthony Damico was fifth at 113, Justin Feighery was fifth at 132, Mike Duffy was sixth at 120, and Ben Avery was sixth at 285.

While Martin was encouraged by that, he said the Warriors had five weight classes where they didn’t score any points, making it difficult to challenge for a higher spot. Also, Avery had to default his last two matches after having an asthma attack following his semifinal loss.

For Handley, Shea-Roop (21-1) earned his first high school tournament title by beating Dinwiddie’s Canaan Mills 4-2 in the final.

“To finally win a tournament is awesome,” said Shea-Roop, who was a finalist at 220 in the Walters last year. “A lot of times I get ahead of myself and haven’t wrestled smart, but Jordan Dowrey (last year’s state heavyweight champ who was in attendance) and the coaches told me before the match to wrestle smart and do what I need to do to win.”

Handley coach David Scott was proud of his team for bouncing back from a rough first day (13th place). Judges wrestlers went 7-0 in their opening matches on Tuesday, spurring them to move up six spots in the final standings.

Dolan Delaney (17-6) lost 9-1 in the 160-pound final to Mountain Ridge’s Adam Martz, a two-time Maryland state champ and All-American, to take second. Kevin Cooksey was fourth at 195, Ray Reigle was fifth at 120, Harrison Robinson was fifth at 145, Joe Lewis was fifth at 152, and Anthony Smith was sixth at 170.

Handley easily could have finished higher, but junior Lio Quezada — a state champion at 120 pounds last year — was disqualified in the championship quarters Monday after the ref noticed teeth marks on Liberty’s Jayson Cody.

Scott said Quezada was crossfaced twice by his opponent, which is what Handley says caused the teeth marks. “Biting” is equal to “fighting” in Virginia High School League rules, so Handley is appealing the ruling. Quezada will be forced to sit out his next two competitions as his situation currently stands.