Season Preview: Wrestling

Posted: December 17, 2015

By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI
The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — It’s never easy staying on top, but the Clarke County wrestling team definitely has the talent to try.

The Eagles no longer have the services of the five state place-winners who helped them win not only the first team state title in school history, but also in area wrestling history.

But given what the Eagles bring back, Clarke County 15th-year head coach Jon VanSice has ample reason to look at his season as a glass that’s half-full.

“We’ve got a lot of new faces, but we’ve got a lot of good athletes,” VanSice said. “We’ve got the potential to finish very strong if these guys can develop. We’ll see what happens at the end of the year. But most teams can’t say they have five state place-winners on their team.”

Yes, Clarke County brings half of the contingent who knocked off defending 2A state champion Grundy by two points at last year’s state meet, including the Eagles only two state champions.

VanSice said two-time state champion Bayne Gordon, a junior, will wrestle at 126 pounds this year after posting a 54-6 record with 35 pins last year at 120. Sophomore Bryan Wallace, who went 60-5 with 44 pins to win the 182-pound title last year, will be at 195.

“They’re both very capable of winning state titles again,” VanSice said.

Clarke County’s other state-placers include senior Brendan Ciaburri (41-21), a state finalist last year at 132 pounds, sophomore William Heath (48-23, third at 145 pounds and either 152 or 160 this year), and senior Ian Dors (36-23, fourth at 138 pounds, 145 this year.)

Despite that wealth of talent, it might take a few more weeks before the Eagles show what they’re truly capable of.

For starters, the football team’s run to the Group 2A state championship game meant that the Eagles couldn’t field their entire team at practices until this week.

Wallace and Jaxon Ottobre (33-22 at 126 pounds last year, 138 or 145 this year) were the two most prominent people missing as the Eagles opened the year at Hedgesville (W.Va.), where Clarke County went 1-9 in dual competition over two days.

The Eagles are also currently without Heath after he tore a ligament in his foot in early November, though VanSice expects him to be back by Christmas, and Ciaburri has been dealing with a knee injury since the Hedgesville tournament.

“We only wrestled six or seven guys [at Hedgesville],” VanSice said. “But it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. After Christmas, we’ll field a lineup that we want.”

As always, Clarke County will be challenged locally by Strasburg, which won the Conference 35 title, finished just one point behind the Eagles at the 2A Region meet, and placed third at the state meet last year.

As for the 4A West Region schools, the feeling among area coaches is that the six-school Conference 21A should be a dogfight.

Harrisonburg isn’t expected to be competitive. But each of the four local schools feel good about their chances to excel in the conference that features four schools from the old Conference 21 (James Wood, Millbrook, Sherando and defending champion Woodgrove, which relied heavily on seniors last year) and two from Conference 23 (Handley and Harrisonburg).

Sherando won the Conference 21 duals title and finished second behind the Wolverines at the Conference 21 meet last year. The Warriors return eight starters from that team, including three who qualified for the state tournament. Sherando (16-1) has started off the year strong, winning the Hedgesville tournament and then taking third in the Andrew Kenney tournament, losing only to Eastern View (third in Group 4A last year).

Junior John Borst was one of only two area wrestlers to win state titles in the Group 4A meet last year. He went 57-2 with an area-best 49 pins last year at 170 pounds, and Sherando coach Pepper Martin said Borst — who competed at elite tournaments like the Fargo (N.D.) Nationals and the Super 32 in North Carolina in the offseason — has become even more of a force than last year.

“He eats, sleeps and breathes wrestling,” said Martin of Borst, who has moved up to 182 pounds and is 17-0 this season. “He’s a special breed of wrestler. Wrestlers like him don’t come around very often, and he’s competing on a different level than most people.”

Other top returnees for Sherando are seniors Ben Avery (36-5, 28 pins, second at 285 last year) and Curtis Guthridge (49-12, state quarterfinalist at 126), who has opened the year with a 16-1 record at 145 pounds and may wind up at 152 pounds. Sherando’s fourth state qualifier from last year, 106-pounder Jeremiah Platts, elected not to come out for the team this year, but senior Mike Duffy (37-19, going from 120 to 126) qualified for states two years ago.

James Wood also has a tournament win to its credit, taking the Max Horz Invitational at Berkeley Springs (W.Va.) High School this past weekend.

The Colonels feature junior Aaron Black, who won a state title at 106 pounds as a freshman and took third at 113 pounds last year (48-6, 20 pins). Black is undefeated through two tournaments this year and Wednesday’s Handley dual and earned Most Outstanding Wrestler honors for the lower weights at the Max Horz and is at 113 pounds now. James Wood coach Greg Walker said there is a possibility that he could drop to 106 pounds.

Junior Matt Artrup (39-16 at 120 pounds last year) is another returning state qualifier for the Colonels, though he is currently out of action with an injury.

Handley is coming off a 4-1 performance at the Fauquier Invitational where its only loss was a 39-29 defeat to the defending Group 4A state champion Falcons.

The Judges feature senior Lio Quezada, a state champion at 120 pounds as a sophomore who took second in Group 4A last year at 126 (41-5, 23 pins). Quezada will move up to 132 this year.

Handley also has three other wrestlers with state tournament experience in fellow senior Tommy Shea-Roop (220 pounds, 47-4 with 31 pins and a state quarterfinalist at 220 last year, currently out with an injury), Harrison Robinson (33-21, 19 pins and a state quarterfinalist at 145, 152 this year) and Dolan Delaney (40-10 with 21 pins at 160 last year, 170 this year), who advanced to states two years ago.

Millbrook suffered two huge blows with the losses of two-time 182-pound state champion Dylan Wisman — now wrestling at the University of Missouri and The Winchester Star Wrestler of the Year last year — and Ryan Meushaw, who had two top-three finishes at states in his career.

Though the Pioneers don’t return any wrestlers with state experience, Millbrook coach Jeff Holmes said this is the most overall experienced team the Pioneers have had in several years. The group includes senior Joe Tanner (27-16), who won the Conference 21 title at 195 pounds last year and will return to that weight class this year.

Here’s a glance at the area teams:

Clarke County

Coach: Jon VanSice, 15th season.

Last year: Group 2A state champions and 2A East Region champions; second in Conference 35 tournament.

Key losses: Logan Withers, Mark Alexander, Matt Cleary, Cody Schneeman, Jacob Buckman.

Top returners: Bayne Gordon, Jr., 126; Bryan Wallace, So., 195, Brendan Ciaburri, Sr., 132; William Heath, So. 152/160; Ian Dors, Sr. 145; Jaxon Ottobre, Sr., 138/145.

Top newcomers: None mentioned.

VanSice’s outlook: “We started the year biding our time to get our football players back, but the veterans who have been with us have all looked good in the room. Though there are a lot of new faces, if we can turn these good athletes into decent wrestlers, we’ll be all right. Wilson Memorial took third in the region last year and only lost one person from their lineup. Grundy’s going to be tough at the state level, because they have a lot coming back too.”

Next competition: Friday and Saturday at Musselman (W.Va.) Tournament.

Sherando

Coach: Pepper Martin, 23rd season.

Last year: Placed 5th at Group 4A state meet; 6th in 4A North Region; and 2nd in Conference 21. Conference 21 duals and Northwestern District champions.

Key losses: Colton Simmons, Justin Feighery, Tim Coleman.

Top returners: John Borst, Jr., 182; Ben Avery, Sr., 285; Curtis Guthridge, Sr. 145/152; Kendall Helsley, Sr. 170; James Platts, Sr., 138/145; Mike Duffy, Sr., 126; Anthony Damico, Jr., 120; Zack Kales, So., 195.

Top newcomers: Mikeal Neff, Jr. 160; Jacob Stevens, So. 132; Jacob Walters, Sr., 138; Bill Brown, So., 138; Tucker Anderson, So., 152; Gavin Eanes, Fr., 106; Timmy Dieter, Fr., 113; Zion Holmes, Fr., 220; Brett Sloan, Jr, 170-182.

Martin’s outlook: “We think we have the potential to win the conference title, and we wouldn’t want our wrestlers to have any other mind-set. We’ll see how our young kids who have shown a lot of potential develop after we get them more mat time, because to win tournaments, you need depth. We’ve got strong senior leadership, which should really help us.”

Next competition: Friday and Saturday at Turner Ashby Invitational.

James Wood

Coach: Greg Walker, 12th season.

Last year: Placed 12th in Group 4A state meet; 7th in 4A North Region; and 3rd in Conference 21.

Key losses: Jimmy Woznak, D.J. Christian.

Top returners: Aaron Black, Jr., 106/113; Matt Artrup, Jr. 120; Corey Lemons, So., 120; Josh Ford, Sr.. 132; Matt Papastavrou, Jr., 138; Tyler Arnold, So., 145; William Gregory, Sr., 152; Ryan Funkhouser, Sr. 170/182; Hunter Bentley, Sr. 195; Adam Vadell, Sr., 285.

Top newcomers: Josh Arce, Fr., 106; Zach Singhas, Fr., 126; Austin Duvall, Fr. 152.

Walker’s outlook: “We have the potential to be one of the top five teams in the state. We just need to be consistent, because we’re good one day, bad the next. Winning the [Max Horz] was a big confidence builder, because we wrestled a lot better than we did the previous week. We’ve got some injuries right now, so it probably won’t be until January when everyone is where we need them to be.”

Next competition: Friday and Saturday at Sheetz Classic in Cresson, Pa.

Handley

Coach: David Scott, 6th year.

Last year: Placed 16th in Group A state meet; 8th in 4A North Region and 3rd in Conference 23.

Key losses: Kevin Cooksey, Ray Reigle.

Top returners: Lio Quezada, Jr., 132; Tommy Shea-Roop, Sr., 220; Dolan Delaney, Sr., 170; Cam Bentley, Jr., 138; Harrison Robinson, Sr., 152; Andre Andriola, Sr., 145; Anthony Smith, Sr., 160.

Top newcomers: Web Bentley, Fr., 120; Jensen Lofton, Fr., 126; Brent Gaynor, 113, So.

Scott’s outlook: “We have 10 seniors on the team, which is by far the most we’ve had. The senior leadership is great. They’re really pushing the rest of the guys. Competing in [Conference 21A] is going to be good for us. We’ve got a tough schedule that’s going to beat us up, but in the long run it’s going to make us better. Our goal is to win the conference, and if we don’t, it will be disappointing.”

Next competition: Friday and Saturday at Skyline Tournament.

Millbrook

Coach: Jeff Holmes, 4th season.

Last year: Placed 8th in Group 4A state meet; 11th in 4A North Region meet; and fifth in Conference 21.

Key losses: Dylan Wisman, Ryan Meushaw.

Top returners: Chase Canter, Jr., 120; Isaac Patterson, Sr., 130; Trae Sine, Sr., 145; Edwin Ramirez, Sr., 152; Kevin Valyear, Jr., 160; Xever Lemieux, So., 170; Gabe Neaverth, Jr. 182; Joe Tanner, Sr., 195; Elijah Doyle, Sr., 220.

Top newcomers: Daniel VanAmburg, Fr., 138; Eric Membreno, Fr., 106.

Holmes’ outlook: “It’s the most veteran team we’ve had in a long time in terms of upperclassmen. Last year we had mostly sophomores and freshmen. All of our veteran guys have stepped up and taken a leadership role, so I’m excited about this season. The teams in our conference are well-matched. I think Sherando is the team to beat, but if we wrestle well and stay healthy, I think we’ll be in the hunt.”

Next competition: Saturday and Sunday at the Beast of the East in Newark, Del.

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