Class 4 Northwestern District Wrestling Tournament

WINCHESTER — Saturday didn’t go quite the way Handley senior Mac Gordon planned, but at least he was back having his arm raised at the end of matches again.

Competing in his first matches since Dec. 21 because of a knee injury, Gordon shook off a cramp in his semifinals match that put a scare into the crowd, then won his championship match at 132 pounds without having to actually compete. His opponent, Sherando freshman Brogan Teter, did not wrestle for what was announced as an injury default at Saturday’s Class 4 Northwestern District Wrestling Tournament at the Judges’ Maddex-Omps Gymnasium.

Gordon has only suffered one defeat in his five career district/conference/region tournaments. He’s only lost one match this year, and that comes with an asterisk — he couldn’t finish his championship match of the Toys For Tots Invitational in Virginia Beach on Dec. 21 because of his knee injury.

“I’m happy to be back,” said Gordon, who is now 20-1. “I feel good. I’m just ready to wrestle.”

Mac was one of two Gordons and three locals total to win individual titles at Saturday’s tournament. Mac’s sophomore brother Cam (106 pounds, 37-7 record) won the first district title of his career in the same fashion as Mac — Millbrook sophomore Elliott Rivera (20-20) defaulted the match due to injury.

The other victor was Sherando freshman Keagan Judd at 113 pounds, who is part of a group of 10 Warriors that will head to next Saturday’s Region 4C tournament at Liberty High School in Bealeton. The top four in each weight class on Saturday advanced, and Sherando had the most region qualifiers among area teams.

Sherando also had the best team finish among area schools, placing third with 163 points in the eight-team tournament. Fauquier won its third straight title with 219.5 points. The Falcons had 10 qualifiers, and their six champions helped them make up a six-point deficit to Liberty heading into the finals — the Eagles had 218 points and five champions (11 qualifiers).

James Wood (eight qualifiers) was fourth with 147 points, Handley (six) was fifth with 139 and Millbrook (four) tied for sixth with 81.

Mac Gordon started his day with a win by fall in the quarterfinals in 3:57, but in the first period of his semifinal match against James Wood’s Josiah Geaslen his calf cramped up on him. Mac had to stop because of the pain, but he was in a better place than everyone watching, who feared he might have reinjured his knee.

“It was scary for me, and a lot of people,” Handley coach Troy Mezzatesta said. “[James Wood] coach Cory Crenshaw [was startled]. It was just a cramp, but it’s cool when even the opposing coach is worried about him.

“People know he’s been such a hard worker, and that he’s dedicated to the sport. Everybody wants to see him succeed and be that story of perseverance.”

After having his calf massaged by a trainer, Mac went on to show he’s fit to go the distance. He won 10-2.

“[My rehab] went perfectly,” Mac said. “I’m back where I want to be. I feel great.”

Gordon said it also felt good to have his brother capture a title in Handley’s home gym, even if their titles came in unorthodox fashion.

“It makes it easier on us,” said Mac of the forfeit wins. “We keep moving on and just get ready for the next tournament.”

Cam beat James Wood’s Nathaniel Arce by major decision 10-0 in the quarterfinals before defeating Sherando’s Tyler Koerner by fall in 3:37 in the semifinals.

Cam went 21-12 last year at 106 pounds and did not qualify for regionals. Cam said his added weight and strength has made a big difference. In the preseason, Mezzatesta pointed out that Cam weighed 88 pounds last year but had to cut five pounds to get to 106 this year.

“I’m wrestling the same, but my strength is there, so I can work my stuff I’m used to working,” Cam said. “It’s awesome [to win with my brother]. He’s definitely one of my main motivators.”

Mezzatesta said he definitely enjoyed seeing the two Gordons at the top of a postseason podium.

“It will be something they always have when they’re old men,” Mezzesta said. “It’s an opportunity you don’t get back.”

Sherando’s Judd (26-2) pinned both of his opponents Saturday after having a quarterfinal bye. He defeated Millbrook sophomore Matthew Topham in the finals. He got a takedown 24 seconds in, then finally got his pin with just two seconds left in the first period.

“I love bars. I hit ’em every match,” Judd said. “Coach wanted me to hit a bar [at the end of the first period]. He just told me what to do and I executed.”

Judd earned All-American honors last May at the MAWA Eastern National Championships and is a middle school state champion, but he felt some pressure going into his first high school postseason tournament.

“I was nervous coming in. I was the 1 seed, so I was extra nervous,” Judd said. “But I just executed. It felt good.”

Sherando coach Brian Kibler said Judd continued what he’s been doing all season.

“I’m proud of the way he performed today,” Kibler said. “[He was seeded first], and he got the seed [with his performance]. That’s what you ask for.”

As for his team as a whole, Kibler couldn’t have asked for much more. The Warriors didn’t have two of their better wrestlers in Luke Waits (19-9 at 152) and Keith Gouveia (21-7 at 285) because of injuries but were right there with Fauquier and Liberty for regional qualifiers.

“We probably got more through then I was thinking of,” Kibler said. “I thought we wrestled pretty well. I’m happy for us. We had some tough luck [with injuries], so for us to show up and perform the way we did I thought was great.”

Other regional qualifiers for the Warriors besides Judd and Teter are junior Heath Rudolph (second at 145, lost to Liberty’s Jovon Mitchell 13-2 in final); sophomore Aydan Willis (second at 220; pinned by Fauquier’s Tommy Heisler in 1:59 in the final); freshman Tyler Koerner (third at 106); junior Aaron Metz 170 (third at 170); freshman Devin Hardy (fourth at 120); sophomore Michael Gause (fourth at 126); senior Colton Foltz (fourth at 182); and junior Saxton Garver (fourth at 195).

James Wood had eight regional qualifiers. Junior Chris Nuss (pinned by Fauquier’s Gino Camarca in 2:53 in the 138-pound final) and junior Joey Vitola (21-5 tech fall loss in 5:33 to Liberty’s Bryan Contreras in the 152-pound final) each took second, and the Colonels were also led by junior Logan Knisley (third at 120), junior Aidan Barton (third at 126), senior Matt Alderman (third at 145), senior Paul Ebersole (third at 182), senior Brayden Patterson-Campbell (third at 285) and senior Sam Adkins (fourth at 160).

“I think we really came out well this morning,” said Crenshaw, who had nine of his 12 wrestlers advance to the championship semifinals. “After we got through that first round I thought we did slide just a tad, but a lot of our kids, they actually wrestled a little bit above where we thought we were going to be today.

“Aidan wrestled really well. He’s been having a rough go of things here lately, so this was good for him. Chris and Joey did a good job making the finals, but they just kind of got outmatched there. They wrestled some tough kids. There’s some things we’ve got to focus on back in the room. At 182, Paul got a redemption match against Sherando in the 3-4 matchup (Ebersole won 7-3 against Foltz after Foltz pinned him in a dual match last month) and wrestled very strong.”

Handley’s two other finalists besides the Gordons were freshman Kingsley Menifee (182) and sophomore Noah Johnson (285).

Menifee went up against three-time state champion and Virginia Tech signee Sam Fisher and fell by tech fall 20-5 in 4:03.

Johnson was pinned in 2:45 by the Falcons’ Casey Burr, though Johnson had his chances.

With 1:03 left in the first period, Johnson grabbed Burr from behind the waste and lifted him, but Burr was awarded a point when the official deemed he dropped him with excessive force. Twenty-seven seconds later, Mezzatesta and the Handley contingent howled in protest when Burr seemed to get away with a forceful lift-and-slam move of his own.

With nine seconds left in the first period, Johnson cradled his arms around Burr’s head to bring him to the mat, but Johnson lost his grip and Burr bobbed up and got around Johnson’s back for a takedown and a 3-0 lead. In the third period, Johnson started in the down position, and Burr turned him 45 seconds in to win the match.

“I felt like if [Johnson’s move] was a slam, [Burr’s] was a slam,” Mezzatesta said. “But we’ve got to stay in the match.

“Noah worked hard this week. He’s made huge improvements throughout the year. He wrestled a little bit as an eighth-grader and didn’t wrestle at all as a ninth-grader. He’s starting to listen and put things together. This is his second tournament final in a row, and hopefully it’s the same final at regionals.”

Handley will also send senior Hunter Thompson (third at 160) and freshman Rodd’ney Davenport (third at 220) to the regional tournament.

In addition to Rivera and Topham, Millbrook will also send seniors Daniel Flores (third place at 195) and Jose Cruz Ramirez (fourth at 138) to the regional tournament.

“I think Elliott’s record is a little misleading,” said Millbrook assistant coach Curtis Herman (head coach Jeff Holmes was not in attendance because of the flu.) “He’s a strong kid who works hard. He was seeded No. 2, and we expected him to be in the finals. His losses have come outside of the district. He wasn’t feeling 100 percent because of what happened in his semifinals match, so we didn’t want to risk him getting injured even more.

“Jose [Cruz] Ramirez had a big upset win over [Liberty’s William Winegarder, 6-4 in the quarterfinals]. He lost to him in district duals, and found a way to win today. He lost to him [by fall] in the third-place match, but that first win was big for him.”

The Pioneers did not have the services of injured Jack Winans, who would have competed at 182 pounds but has not wrestled since the Jan. 10-11 Virginia Duals. Winans was a state qualifier last year.

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