Seniors fuel Millbrook wrestling win over James Wood

By ROBERT STOCKS | The Winchester Star Jan 19, 2017

WINCHESTER — If Millbrook’s five senior wrestlers envisioned a perfect scenario for Senior Night, it probably would look something like Wednesday’s Northwestern District dual against James Wood.

All five Pioneer seniors — Brandon Bye (126 pounds), Chase Canter (132), Edwin Ramirez (152), Kevin Valyear (160) and Gabe Neaverth (182) — won to help Millbrook roll to a 43-20 victory over James Wood at Casey Gymnasium.

Bye, Valyear and Neaverth all won by fall, helping the Pioneers improve their district record to 3-1.

“There’s nothing better than that on Senior Night when you have all five of your seniors win,” Millbrook coach Jeff Holmes said. “That makes for a good night. Everyone was wrestling for one another and the guys came together really well. I was really proud of them.”

Millbrook took control early against James Wood (1-2 in district duals) by winning the first three matches.

Bye opened the match by pinning James Wood junior Corey Lemons in 3:01.

Canter trailed 4-3 early in the third period, but rallied for a 5-4 decision over Colonels junior Jac Bobadilla at 132.

“It really all came down to who got the last takedown and just holding him down,” Canter said. “I was expecting it to be tough, and it basically all came down to guts and knowing that I had a job to do to secure a win for the team.”

Bye and Canter’s victories staked the Colonels to an early 9-0 lead, and Millbrook freshman Lukas Guerrero followed with a 10-7 decision at 138 to put the Pioneers ahead 12-0.

James Wood first-year coach Cory Crenshaw said the first three matches really swung momentum over to the Pioneers.

“I was very surprised by those first three bouts — 126, 132 and 138,” Crenshaw said. “Coming in I felt like this should’ve been a dogfight. But when we gave up those first three matches the way we did, it changes the whole dynamic.”

Colonels senior Matt Papastavrou won a 6-3 decision over Pioneers sophomore Daniel VanAmburg at 145, but Millbrook reeled off five straight victories from there.

Ramirez dominated, winning a 17-7 major decision over James Wood junior Tyler Arnold, and Valyear followed with a pin against Colonels junior Jack Youngblood in 1:17.

With the Pioneers holding a 22-3 advantage after the first six bouts, Millbrook junior Xever Lemieux won a 3-0 decision over James Wood senior Bailey Eichelberger at 170, and Neaverth pinned Colonels freshman Paul Ebersole in 1:41 to extend the advantage to 31-3.

Millbrook’s Dominic Pridemore turned in the fastest pin, winning in just 29 seconds over James Wood freshman Nathaniel Montagna at 195. Pridemore’s victory clinched the match, giving the Pioneers an insurmountable 37-3 lead with five matches remaining.

Holmes said he liked the way his team bounced back after losing its first district dual to Sherando (49-23) last Wednesday in Stephens City.

“After last week we were really down and we pushed all week to just wrestle better,” Holmes said. “Sometimes you have to hit those valleys to climb the mountain again, and that’s what we did. Hopefully, we can keep rolling throughout the season to the postseason.

“We just had a solid match and our guys just rose to the occasion. A lot of it was because we got so down and were a little embarrassed last week. We just got that fire back.”

The Pioneers’ seniors certainly provided some firepower, accounting for 25 of the team’s first 31 points.

“Senior Night winning — it’s a great experience,” Neaverth said. “I thought that was really good because at the start we had a lot of momentum there. We carried it the whole match.”

The Colonels struggled to get much going, winning just five of the 14 weight classes.

James Wood sophomore Jared King ended a string of five straight victories by the Pioneers, edging Daniel Flores in a 4-3 decision at 220.

From there, Millbrook junior Tavon Blowe (285) won by forfeit to put the Pioneers ahead 43-6.

James Wood’s lightweights helped the Colonels close the match on a high note, reeling off three straight victories.

Wood freshman Vince Caruso (106) won by tech fall 18-1 (at 4:00) over Millbrook freshman Cody Glover, and sophomore Josh Arce (113) won a 9-5 decision over Millbrook freshman Jonathan Ochoa.

Colonels senior Aaron Black (120) remained unbeaten, pinning Millbrook freshman Jose Cruz Ramirez in 1:28. Black improved to 23-0 with the triumph.

“I saw a couple good things tonight — Jared did very well tonight at 220,” Crenshaw said. “I was glad for Vince to get a little mat time. Aaron got a little mat time, and we finally got our 113 [Arce] back from injury. Those guys I’m pretty happy with, but some other things we’ve got to work on. It’s getting towards the end of the season and we’ve got to be improving.”

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