James Wood leads way with 12 regional qualifers at Class 4 Northwestern District tournament

By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI | The Winchester Star

BEALETON — After missing regionals by one spot last year, James Wood senior Aaron Curd will enter this year’s regional field at the top of the heap — and with a heck of a lot of teammates to keep him company.

Led by the 152-pound champion Curd, James Wood had 12 wrestlers place in the top four in their respective weight classes in the Class 4 Northwestern District tournament on Saturday at Liberty High School, the highest number of regional qualifiers of any of the participating seven schools.

It wasn’t enough to bring the Colonels the team district title. James Wood (181 points) finished third behind 2017 Class 4 state-runner up Fauquier (210.5 points, 10 qualifiers) and Liberty (209, 11). But barring injury replacements, no Northwestern District team will have a larger contingent at Friday’s Region 4C meet at Sherando High School.

Of James Wood’s 12 regional qualifiers, only two of them experienced last year’s regional tournament.

“We’re pleased,” James Wood coach Cory Crenshaw said. “We were thinking, hopefully, 10. We put 12 through and we had an opportunity to put almost all 14 through. It was a good day for us. Guys wrestled tough all day long.”

The two Colonel wrestlers who did not qualify lost their consolation semifinal matches — the consolation round that determines qualification — by a combined five points.

Millbrook was fourth with 139 points. The Pioneers eight qualifiers include 285-pound champion Tavon Blowe, the 2017 Class 4 state runner-up who pinned 2017 Class 4 third-place finisher Julian Sams of Liberty in 42 seconds.

The Pioneers were followed in the team standings by Sherando (six qualifiers) with 126.5 points; Handley (four qualifiers, including 138-pound champion Web Bentley) with 109 points; and Kettle Run (five) with 90 points.

Firepower at the top can take a team a long way — Fauquier and Liberty combined to win 10 of the 14 weight classes — but James Wood is building a strong base. Curd and Corey Lemons (third at 132 pounds on Saturday) are the only seniors who will participate for James Wood on Friday at Sherando.

“We have no superstars, but everybody’s going really good,” Curd said. “We all push each other, which is awesome. And what’s amazing is that a lot of our kids are freshmen and sophomores, so they’re going to carry on.”

Curd (27-4 record) will look to carry on his success after winning a couple of tight matches on Saturday. After receiving a first-round bye, Curd defeated Fauquier’s Darryl Mayfield 5-4 in the semifinals, then pinned Handley’s Ethan Bishop 40 seconds into the second period when the score was tied 8-8.

Bishop was injured when James Wood wrestled Handley on Jan. 18, so Saturday was their first encounter.

“It was a roller coaster,” Curd said. “I was on my back for a bit, knowing I was only an inch or two away from getting pinned, and I got out of that because we ran out of time in the first period. But in the second period, I got a good double-leg and was able to finish on it pretty well and cover him [for the pin].”

The district title meant a lot to Curd, especially because of what happened at last year’s Conference 21 West tournament, which served as the qualifier for the regionals prior to this year. Limited by illness, Curd took fourth at 138 pounds, one place away from qualifying for regionals.

“I’ve had a great season,” said Curd, who two weeks ago credited a more aggressive approach for lifting his performance this year. “It’s something I really wanted, but I don’t know if I really expected. I just want to keep it going. That’s my drive.”

Crenshaw said Curd’s determination has been on display all year.

“He’s a senior this year, and he knows what he’s got, and what’s left,” Crenshaw said. “Hopefully he can come away with a regional title, too.”

James Wood nearly had a second regional champion, but junior Luke Roy was pinned 41 seconds into overtime in the 195-pound final by Liberty’s Justin Cannon.Cannon was able to fend off a low shot from Roy and turn him onto his back. Still on his back, Roy covered his face with his hands in dismay for a moment as the Eagle fans exploded.

The match was scoreless until that point, but Crenshaw thought the refs might have missed a couple moments where Roy could have been awarded points. Crenshaw thought Roy had a takedown in the first period, and felt Cannon should have been called for locked hands in the second period.

Other regional qualifiers for James Wood are Josiah Geaslen (second at 106 after being pinned in 4:48 by Liberty’s Mason Barrett); Joey Vitola (third at 138); Brayden Patterson-Campbell (third at 285); and Vince Caruso (113), Josh Arce (120), Sam Adkins (145), Walker Powell (160), Paul Ebersole (170) and Kobey Brooker (220), each of whom took fourth. Powell was a JV wrestler who has stepped in for injured senior Jack Youngblood.

One of the most excited champions of the night was Millbrook’s Blowe.

Blowe and Sams — a football offensive lineman who plans on signing with Kent State this week after previously committing to Old Dominion — split two matches last year, with Blowe winning in the 4A West Region title match by the score of 4-3 in overtime. Saturday’s match was their first encounter since that match because Sams was injured when the Pioneers wrestled the Eagles on Jan. 9.

Blowe (44-1) clearly had no interest in drawing things out on Saturday. He got a takedown 19 seconds into the match when he grabbed Sams’s right leg and shifted him about 10 feet to the right before dropping him on the edge of the circle.

“Me and coach were talking about making a statement before the match, and I felt like I did, taking him down within the first 20 seconds,” Blowe said. “I just kind of wrestled my match.”

Sams was able to get out of trouble when he got out of bounds, but on the restart, Blowe amped up the aggressiveness even more. Sams tried standing up immediately, but Blowe was able to cradle Sams’ head and right leg, brought Sams to his back, and was awarded the pin.

Blowe then popped up off the mat and held his hands out wide as he looked and walked toward the Millbrook contingent in the stands, while Sams flung his headgear several feet in annoyance.

“This was a nice moment for me, because there have been some tight matches [in the past],” said Blowe, who needed a total of 92 seconds to win three matches Saturday. “But I have to wrestle him again probably at regionals and states, and it’s just one win.”

Millbrook coach Jeff Holmes said last month that Blowe isn’t always as aggressive as he should be, so he was pleased with what he saw on Saturday.

“I’ll be honest with you, I wasn’t sure which Tavon was going to come out there,” Holmes said. “He went out there and did what he’s capable of doing. I hope from here on out, that’s the way he wrestles against everyone.”

Millbrook also had two second-place finishers in Jonathan Ochoa at 113 (lost 9-1 to Liberty’s Daniel Sennott in final) and Lukas Guerrero at 138 (lost 7-5 to Handley’s Bentley in the final). Other regional qualifiers are Jose Cruz-Ramirez (third at 120), Daniel VanAmburg (third at 145), Cody Glover (fourth at 106), Stephen Topham (fourth at 132) and Jack Winans (fourth at 182).

Holmes was pleased with the freshman Winans’ 7-5 win over James Wood’s Jared King that qualified him for regionals, since King pinned him in the dual match between the two schools on Jan. 24.

“Eight [qualifiers] is about what we were hoping for,” Holmes said. “I’m happy with the way we wrestled for the most part. We wrestled hard and we wrestled well.”

Sherando had three wrestlers take second.

Timmy Dieter lost to Fauquier’s Kyle Budd — a 2016 state champion at 113 pounds and 2017 state runner-up at 120 — 6-4 in the 132-pound final, though Dieter rallied to within 5-4 with 58 seconds left after falling behind 5-0 in the first period. Dieter beat Budd 6-4 in overtime on Jan. 9.

Zack Kales lost 3-2 in the 220-pound final to Fauquier’s Tyler Raymond (up 3-0, Raymond was penalized for both stalling and locked hands to give Kales two points in the last 45 seconds) and Tucker Anderson lost 16-6 to Liberty’s Jordan Florence in the 160 final.

Sherando will also send Heath Rudolph (third at 126), Zach McCarty (third at 182) and Deshawn Lee (fourth at 285) to regionals.

Sherando coach Pepper Martin had high praise for each of his regional qualifiers, but he was hoping he’d have more people join them.

“Our wrestlers had an excellent week of practice in preparation for the tournament, and then we didn’t wrestle up to our expectations, abilities, or capabilities,” Martin said. “We’re really disappointed, particularly in the consolation semis. That’s where you pull out all the stops, you leave it all on the mat, because if you don’t win, you’re not going to regionals. We fell flat on our face in that round.

“We thought if we had a good day, we could get 10 wrestlers through to regionals.”

The Warriors went 3-6 in the consolation semis.

In the match between Handley’s Bentley and Millbrook’s Guerrero, Bentley — who pinned Guerrero in the second period in their only previous match this year — led 4-2 entering the third period, which started in neutral.

Guerrero was able to put Bentley on his rear end shortly into the third period. But he didn’t have control, and Bentley quickly scrambled to take him down 28 seconds into the period for a 6-2 lead.

“He put me on my butt and I was kind of scared, but I just pulled his leg through and sat up, and kind of drove into his hips and drove him down so I could get him flat, and just started working from there,” Bentley said. “I was getting arms and wrist control, and making sure my hips stayed in good position.”

Guerrero got a takedown with 27 seconds left to close to 6-5, but after an escape seven seconds later Bentley was able to fend him off.

Along with Blowe, Bentley (38-5 record) was one of two wrestlers who also won conference titles last year.

“This year is a big jump from last year, because last year all the state contenders would always beat down on me,” Bentley said. “This year I’ve been a lot more competitive against the better wrestlers.”

Mezzatesta noted that Bishop hit his head hard a couple of times in his match against Curd, which Mezzatesta said shook Bishop up. After picking him up, Curd slammed him down 44 seconds into the match, which Curd said he felt bad about later.

“These things happen. It’s a rough sport,” Mezzatesta said. “We knew it was going to be a good match, and it was exciting. Hopefully we’ll get another chance to wrestle him in the finals at regions.

“As a team, I thought a realistic number was seven or eight to take to regionals. But this is one of the toughest districts in the state for any division. It’s just a bear getting out of here, and I won’t be shocked if all four place winners in a lot of weight classes end up placing at the state tournament.”

Other regional qualifiers for Handley are Hunter Thompson (fourth at 126) and Tommy Downey (fourth at 195).

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