4A Wrestling Tournament

Posted: February 21, 2015
By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI
The Winchester Star

SALEM - With 37 pins in 50 matches this year, Millbrook senior Dylan Wisman knows a thing or two about putting away opponents quickly and decisively.
But it might have been for the best that he didn’t pin his 182-pound finals opponent in the first period like he did his semifinal and quarterfinal foes Friday night at the Salem Civic Center. In the final match of his high school career, fans got an extended look at exactly what it is that makes Wisman one of the best wrestlers in the country.
Wisman (46-4) was at his dominant and skillful best in defeating J.R. Tucker senior Jack Somers (53-4) by technical fall in the Group 4A wrestling state final. Wisman won 17-2 in three minutes and 27 seconds, and needed just one period to build up a ridiculous 11-0 lead.

Wisman - who won his second consecutive state title at 182 pounds - wasn’t thinking about putting on any show Friday, but it just seems to happen whenever he takes the mat.
“I just wrestle just to wrestle my match,” said Wisman, who will wrestle on a full athletic scholarship at the University of Missouri next year. “I don’t let anything else dictate. I just want to go out there, dominate anyone like it’s just another match, and just take it one match at a time, just like any other state tournament.”

Wisman was one of two local state champions in the 4A tournament Friday, with Sherando sophomore John Borst (57-2) claiming the other at 170 pounds by beating the only two wrestlers who have beaten him this year. Borst beat Woodgrove’s Jake David for the third straight time with a win by fall in 3:35 in the semifinals, then beat previously undefeated Chip Sturek of Glen Allen in the final 6-4 in overtime, earning the winning takedown with eight seconds left in the extra session.
Fauquier won the 4A title with 129 points, Hanover was second with 125, Sherando was fifth with 40, Millbrook was eighth with 33.5, James Wood was 12th with 25 and Handley was 16th with 18.

Because of the anticipation of Saturday’s snowstorm, the Virginia High School League condensed the state tournament from two days to one and eliminated wrestleback matches. All quarterfinal losers were eliminated, though the VHSL did hold consolation matches between the semifinal losers for third place at the same time as the championship finals.
As a result of the condensed schedule, the usual parade of champions for past winners was not held. But in watching Wisman, fans got to see a past champion work his magic in the finals.

“I was definitely in control the whole match,” said Wisman, who won in 21 seconds in the quarterfinals and 1:37 in the semifinals. “It was definitely a good way to end my career.”
It’s been a remarkable one. In addition to his two state titles, Wisman won national championships for the National High School Coaches Association and Flonationals last year, and over the last two years he’s had three top-four finishes in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling to earn All-American honors in Fargo, N.D.

And in winning his second state title, Wisman joined Jeremy Parker (2005 and ’06), Derrick Borlie (’08 and ’09), Jacob Crawford (’09 and ’11, with a title at Robinson High School in 2010) and Joe Jessen (’11 and ’12) as Millbrook wrestlers who have won multiple state titles. Each of those wrestlers competed in college, with Crawford still active as a junior at North Carolina.

“I think I definitely left a good spot in Millbrook history, as someone for the guys to look up to,” said Wisman, whose only losses this year came at the Walsh Ironman in Ohio and the Beast of the East in Delaware. “I’m going to come back and give to the program, just like everyone else does.”
Millbrook coach Jeff Holmes said Wisman’s impact on the team has been immense for years.

“Any program that has a kid of his caliber, it’s a great thing to have,” Holmes said. “In a lot of ways, it’s been a pleasure to coach a kid of that caliber.
“He goes out there and tries to dominate matches. His mind-frame is the mind-frame of a champion. He’s a competitor. He goes in there expecting to win, and he wins by scoring points and wanting to dominate. It doesn’t matter who he’s wrestling against, he’s going to go in with the same attitude, and to some extent, wrestle the same way.”
Wisman’s senior teammate Ryan Meushaw (35-5) also came into Friday with state-title hopes, but he lost 10-7 in the semifinals to Nansemond River’s James Boone and had to settle for third. However, Meushaw did avenge last week’s 4A North Region loss to Jefferson Forest’s Blake Justis in that third-place match for a 2-1 win.
“He had a good tournament,” Holmes said. “In his semifinals match, he was dominating on his feet, but he made a couple mistakes that just became costly mistakes. Sometimes that happens.

“Your heart breaks for seniors like that, but I was happy with how he bounced back in his third-place match by beating a kid he lost to last week. That says a lot about his character that he was able to come back from a tough loss.”

Sherando coach Pepper Martin said the key for Borst was going to be his performance on his feet in neutral, because the Warriors felt Sturek (37-1) was exceptional from the top position.

Borst scored on takedowns in both the first and second periods, though Sturek tied the match with a reversal in the third.
In earning the winning takedown, Borst sent Sturek to the mat about halfway through overtime, but it took 20 seconds of maneuvering before he could secure control and be awarded two points, and the win.

Borst said he just had to stay positive and keep fighting when Sturek reversed him, because a reversal and back points gave Sturek the win against Borst in the Turner Ashby tournament held on Dec. 19 and 20. His previous success on his feet made him feel good about going to overtime.
“[Assistant] coach [Joel] Elmquist said it perfectly - it’s just time to go,” Borst said. “[When I brought him down], my lock was not complete, so I didn’t get two points [right away].”
But Borst was able to hook Sturek’s ankle, and shortly after Sherando coaches began calling for “two” the ref agreed, and Borst had the state title he had practically guaranteed back at the Willie Walters/Jaye Copp Invitational at James Wood in December.
Borst was just glad he could back his confidence up.
“Actions speak a lot louder than words, and I think what I did definitely proves that I’m in the best in 4A,” Borst said.

Martin said Borst did everything he could to put himself in a position to win a state title.
“He totally earned this state championship,” Martin said. “He’s proven all season that he’s one of the hardest, if not the hardest, worker in the practice room. He puts in the extra hours, he comes in the morning and lifts, he drills in practice hard every day, and he also assumed a leadership role on this team. We’re extremely proud of him and happy for him.
“The two losses, he gained retribution for those. He had been wrestling with total confidence in his ability and his skills. He pinned through the conference tournament, he pinned through the region tournament, and he pinned up to the state final, so he wasn’t just winning, he was winning handily.”

Borst’s junior teammate Ben Avery (36-5) also had a good chance at a state title, but his rivalry with Dominion junior Adeeb Atariwa (46-5) went Atariwa’s way in the 285-pound final. Avery beat Atariwa in the 4A North Region final in overtime after losing to Atariwa in the Conference 21 duals and Conference 21 tournament, but Atariwa got an escape to start the second period and then pinned Avery 16 seconds into the period.

“[Atariwa] got the escape, got to his feet and we locked up a bear hug,” Martin said. “We came off the bear hug and did an over and under, and we had the opportunity to throw him, but [Avery] hesitated, and [Atariwa] threw us. Particularly heavyweights, you lock up the upper body, you’ve got to pull the trigger, and [Atariwa} beat us to the punch.
“But we’re real proud of the way Ben wrestled down here. He beat two good heavyweights to get to the final. He finished eighth last year, this year he finished second, so he’s progressing. Next year with some hard work and dedication to the sport, he can be the one atop the podium.”
Sherando junior Curtis Guthridge (49-12, 126 pounds) and freshman Jeremiah Platts (17-4, 106), were both eliminated in the quarterfinal round.

For James Wood, 2014 106-pound state champion Aaron Black (49-6) avenged last week’s loss to Fauquier’s Ty Foster with a 9-5 win in the semifinals at 113, but he lost 6-0 to Powhatan’s Collin Gerardi (44-2) in the final.

“We put a lot of focus on the Fauquier kid this week and how we could beat him, and we accomplished that goal,” Walker said. “That kid from Powhatan, what he did in the matches earlier [Friday] and what he did against us was totally different. He came out aggressive, and that’s not what we saw earlier. We had a plan and unfortunately it backfired. But second in the state is impressive. He worked hard.”
James Wood senior Jimmy Woznak (52-10, 152 pounds) finished with the highest state finish of his career by taking third, and Walker noted that he actually beat state runner-up Joseph LaRock of Woodgrove twice this year. Woznak lost to state champion Garrett Tingen of Fauquier in the semifinals in 3:44.
“He wrestled hard, smart, and will be sorely missed next year,” Walker said. I’m proud of him.”
James Wood sophomore Matt Artrup (120, 39-16) was eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Like Black, Handley junior Lio Quezada (41-5) was also looking for a second state title after winning one last year at 120. But after pinning his first two opponents he lost to one of the best wrestlers in the arena in Hanover’s Jeffrey Gregory (35-3), a three-time state champion who is heading to West Virginia University.
Quezada scored first with a takedown, but Gregory hit Quezada with a reversal and cradled him for a win by fall in 1:00.
Handley coach David Scott had to watch the match from the stands because he was ejected from the 4A North Region tournament. Scott appealed 220-pounder Tommy Shea-Roop’s semifinal loss in that tournament because he was denied a score check during the match - he and his assistant coaches had not heard Shea-Roop being warned for stalling prior to being penalized for it - and was asked to leave after making that appeal. Scott had to sit out the state tournament as well.
“Lio got that first takedown, and I thought he had a real shot at winning,” Scott said. “Unfortunately he got caught in the cradle, but that doesn’t take away from the job Lio did this year. He had an awesome season.”

Juniors Harrison Robinson (33-21, 145 pounds) and Shea-Roop (47-4) each lost in the quarterfinals. Shea-Roop lost to the eventual state champion, and Scott said while he understood the weather concerns, he did not like the VHSL’s decision to eliminate wrestle backs - Shea-Roop likely could have finished third.
Scott’s bigger issue is the VHSL six-classification system that’s now in its second year. While Scott said he can’t speak for other sports, he doesn’t believe its works for wrestling.
“We’re not giving kids the competition they need, or challenging them the way they should be,” Scott said. “There shouldn’t be as many pins and technical falls as we had in the finals.”

Photos will appear in Monday’s edition of The Winchester Star.

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