Blazing Start Lifts James Wood To Wrestling Win Over Millbrook

Posted: January 21, 2016
By ROBERT STOCKS
The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — James Wood junior Bailey Eichelberger wanted to be ready when it was his time to take the mat in Wednesday night’s Northwestern District dual meet against rival Millbrook.

Eichelberger led off the dual against Millbrook’s Gabe Neaverth in the 170-pound match, and the Colonels junior set the tone right away.

Eichelberger took a 3-0 lead into the third period and put Neaverth on his back, getting a pin in 4 minutes, 45 seconds to give James Wood some early momentum.

The Colonels kept the pins coming from there, winning five of the first seven contested bouts by fall to easily defeat Millbrook 48-30 at Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium.

“I think [this win] is pretty big, knowing that they [Millbrook] lost to Sherando [39-30 last Wednesday] I think this gives us some mojo,” Eichelberger said. “It’s really important to get everybody started — just get the fire started.”

The Colonels (9-7) certainly scorched Millbrook (10-7) early, piling up pin points in each of the first three matches.

Following Eichelberger’s win by fall, senior Ryan Funkhouser pinned Millbrook’s Dominic Darfus-Pridemore in 1:20 at 182 pounds, and Hunter Bentley pinned Millbrook’s Joe Tanner at 195 pounds in 2:36 to stake the Colonels to an 18-0 lead.

James Wood coach Greg Walker credited Eichelberger and Bentley because he thought both might have tough matches against their Pioneer opponents.

“Bailey — he started off the match great and we really thought it might be a nail-biter,” Walker said. “But Bailey’s really come on strong in the last two weeks.

“Hunter Bentley and Joe Tanner was another matchup I wasn’t sure how it was going to unfold, but Hunter was intense and he knew what our goal was.”

Millbrook senior Elijah Doyle stopped the Colonels’ run of three straight pins, getting a win by fall over James Wood’s Jared King in 1:06 in the 220-pound match.

From there however, James Wood put the match away by winning the next five bouts.

Senior Adam Vadell (285) overcame a 4-0 deficit in the second period to pin Millbrook’s Tavon Blowe in 2:28.

With a 24-6 advantage, Colonels freshman Josh Arce fell behind 4-0 early in the second period after Eric Membreno hit a reversal, but Arce rallied to take the lead after getting three back points for a 5-4 advantage heading into the third. Arce only gave up an escape the rest of the way en route to a 9-5 decision.

“Our 106-pounder [Arce] was great,” Walker said. “... He went out and wrestled, stayed in it and ended up winning there. Josh Arce did great. Those three matches [Arce, Eichelberger and Bentley] were really good for us.”

James Wood sophomore Jacob Pugh (113) and junior Aaron Black (120) won by forfeit.

With his team ahead 39-6, James Wood’s Zach Singhas (126) led 8-3 after the first period and then pinned Millbrook’s Chase Canter in 3:09. Singhas’ win — the Colonels’ fifth pin in seven contested matches — clinched the match with a 45-6 advantage with five matches remaining.

“They kicked the tar out of us,” a clearly dejected Millbrook coach Jeff Holmes said following the match. “I expected it to be a much more competitive match than that.”

The Pioneers won three of the final five matches to make the final margin more respectable, getting pins from Isaac Patterson (132), Trae Sine (145) and Kevin Valyear (160), who turned in the quickest pin of the night in just 35 seconds. Patterson pinned James Wood’s Aaron Curd in 1:26, and Sine won by fall over the Colonels’ Tyler Arnold in 2:37. Millbrook’s Edwin Ramirez won by forfeit at 152.

“To be honest we won the ones we were supposed to win and we didn’t win some of the ones we were supposed to win,” Holmes added. “It’s a very disappointing effort. Giving up pins is unacceptable.”

James Wood junior Matthew Papastavrou was the lone Colonel victory in the final five matches. He outlasted the Pioneers’ Daniel VanAmburg at 138 pounds in one of only two matches that went the full six minutes.

Papastavrou took a 6-2 lead into the third period, but VanAmburg cut the deficit to 6-4 with a reversal with about a minute left. VanAmburg was awarded a stall point, but Papastavrou held on, scoring an escape in the final 30 seconds of the match to take a 7-5 decision.

Bentley said the fast start was just what the team was hoping for after losing to Sherando 54-18 in its previous district dual on Jan. 5.

“We worked hard this week and came out hard,” said Bentley, one of of five Colonels honored on senior night. “We knew it was important match to win and we wanted to make up for the Sherando [match]. I think we’re peaking at the perfect time.”

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