James Wood wrestling third, Sherando fourth at Walters/Copp Tournament

WINCHESTER — With 21 sophomores and freshmen on a 30-person roster, James Wood wrestling coach Cory Crenshaw expected his team to go through some growing pains this season.

The Colonels seem to be growing up quickly, and a couple of those freshmen dealt some painful results to some pretty accomplished wrestlers on Saturday at James Wood’s Shirley Gymnasium.

Led by freshman champions Colton Bendure (113 pounds) and James Battulga (120), the host Colonels placed third with 200 points at the 12-team Willie Walters/Jaye Copp Tournament. James Wood had nine people place in the top three of their respective weight classes, six of whom are freshmen or sophomores.

Woodgrove, which had four champions and three runners-up, placed first with 245 points and Strasburg was second with 213.5. Sherando finished just behind James Wood in fourth with 199.5 points.

With many of their wrestlers not having competed in a high school match in two years or never having competed in one, James Wood coach Cory Crenshaw said the Colonels’ season-opening loss to Musselman (W.Va.) was a wake-up call. Last weekend, the Colonels won the Harrisonburg Invitational, and on Saturday James Wood had another strong showing.

“They’re starting to realize what it means to be in high school,” Crenshaw said. “We’ve got a couple of freshmen on this team that have made big strides in the last two weeks both mentally and physically. We’re just going to keep grinding and keep getting ready for these coming weeks, especially as we get into the district.”

Bendure moved to Frederick County from Kansas three years ago. He has three older brothers in their early 20s who were each state placewinners at Mill Valley High School in Kansas, and Bendure is looking like he can contend for a state podium spot with the Colonels.

Bendure (11-0 record) won three matches by fall and one by decision on Saturday. He defeated Strasburg sophomore Heath Burks, a Class 2 state champion at 106 pounds last year, 7-2 in the semifinals, then pinned Liberty junior Christian Eberhart, last year’s Class 4 runner-up at 106 pounds, in 4:34.

Bendure studied Burks well before their match, and he felt he did better on top, in neutral and on bottom.

Against Eberhart, Bendure quickly set the tone with a takedown 23 seconds in, and he added three near-fall points.

“I’m really good with chin whips, so I just thought of it, and it worked out pretty good and got me the lead,” Bendure said. “That really boosted my confidence.”

Eberhart did what he could to squelch that confidence, recording an escape and a takedown to make it 5-3. Bendure’s momentum was all but gone late in the first period, as the match was stopped and he laid on the mat while the training staff checked on his shoulder.

“[I think I hurt my shoulder] when I chin-whipped him,” Bendure said. “I might have hit my shoulder on the mat, and I think I got a stinger. It was hurting, and then I got re-hurt in the second period when I was on bottom.”

Eberhart had a takedown to tie the match at 5 with 1:34 left, but Bendure focused on blocking out the pain and got an escape with 1:03 left in the period. He then added a takedown and went into the third period up 8-6.

In the third, Eberhart chose to start in the bottom position. Bendure never let him up, eventually cradling Eberhart’s head and pinning him 26 seconds into the period.

“He did a roll, but I kept my leg, kept my arms out, had to have high hips, and just stayed calm,” he said.

After he got the pin though, Eberhart bounced up and clapped his hands excitedly, then ran to embrace his coaches.

“I think I proved I can hang with the top guys in Virginia,” Bendure said.

Battulga beat South Lakes sophomore Jayden Loveranes 10-6 in the championship match after winning his first two matches by fall. Loveranes placed fourth in the Class 6 state tournament last year at 106.

While Bendure got off to a strong start in his championship match, Battulga found himself down 5-0 at the 1:17 mark of the first period.

“I got stuck in a headlock and almost got pinned,” Battulga said.

Battulga worked his way back with a reversal to make it 5-2 with 46 seconds left in the first period, and added another reversal 14 seconds into the period. Down 6-4, he got a takedown with 17 seconds left in the second period, and added two near-fall points to go up 8-6.

Battulga had to have his left arm checked out with 1:21 left in the third, but he added a reversal with 31 seconds left for the final scoring.

“He almost popped out my shoulder,” Battulga said. “I just manned out and went back to the match. It feels good to win this tournament.”

James Wood nearly added a third champion, but in the 132 final senior Braden Sitton was taken down by Woodgrove’s Ryan Yriart to tie the match at 5 with 30 seconds left in the third period, then Yriart got a takedown with two seconds left in the first overtime to win 7-5.

James Wood senior Caleb Keefer also took second, losing by fall in 43 seconds in the 182 championship match against Woodgrove’s Jonathan Meyrowitz. Sophomore John Juergens placed third as a non-scoring wrestler behind Battulga at 120, and also taking third was sophomore Connor Jordan at 138, sophomore Dylan Tews at 160, junior Ethan Sine at 170 and sophomore Jack Thompson at 285.

“We only have two seniors in the lineup, and hopefully we get one more back in the next week or so,” Crenshaw said. “No matter what happens this year, as long as we continue to build, I think that’s going to be the biggest progress for us with us being so young. We’re going to keep looking forward to what’s to come.”

Sherando showed off its depth in a big way on Saturday. The Warriors were without five starters, including three (Keagan Judd, Anthony Lucchiani and Brogan Teter) who were at the Beast of the East tournament at the University of Delaware this weekend. Aydan Willis (285) — who went 7-0 in helping the Warriors win their own Andrew Kenney Memorial Tournament last weekend — also did not wrestle.

The Warriors had nine people place in the top four. Sherando had champions at 160 pounds in senior Michael Gause and at 170 pounds in senior Brandon Blair. The Warriors were also led by second-place finishers Zach Hayes (138) and Ethan Gonzalez (285). Third-place finishers were Tyler Koerner (126), whose only loss was to the three-time state placewinner Jordan Villareal of John Champe, and Josh Metz (145). Taking fourth were Devin Hardy (132), Jake Dann (152) and Pete Richardson, a non-scoring wrestler behind Gause at 160.

In addition to Richardson and Gonzalez, Metz is another backup who starred on Saturday. Judd, a junior who was a state champion at 113 pounds in his last Virginia High School League season as a freshman, is the Warriors’ main 145-pounder.

“All things considered, I think we wrestled pretty well,” Sherando coach Brian Kibler said. “Today showed a little bit of team depth.

“We’re starting to learn about our weaknesses and working on those things. Heading into the start of our district duals on Tuesday, I feel OK.”

Blair was certainly impressed with the team’s performance.

“We were able to show our depth today,” Blair said. “Dudes were working hard in the offseason, and it’s starting to show, because we’re having a lot of success.”

Blair won his first two matches by fall, then defeated Briar Woods Class 5 state qualifier Mitchell Haagsma by a 13-4 major decision in the final. Blair led 2-1 after one period, then took complete control with two takedowns, an escape and a two-point near fall for a 9-2 lead after two periods. He added two more takedowns in the third.

“That was a big win for me,” said the 5-foot-6 Blair, who was several inches shorter than his opponent. “I was controlling the center a lot. I wrestled a lot of freestyle and Greco in the offseason, and that really helps you learn how to control the center better. That guy was a lot bigger than me, so I knew I would have to be able to control the center and control the ties, and I think that’s what made the difference for me.”

Gause pinned all three of his opponents in the first period on Saturday.

“I just got my shot and I felt pretty comfortable,” said Gause, who pinned Stern in the final quickly after taking him down. “I spent a lot of my time in the summer trying to get stronger, and I felt I was quite a bit stronger than everyone else I wrestled today.”

In the other two finals for Sherando wrestlers, Hayes lost 10-0 to Woodgrove’s Andrew Woodley at 138 and Gonzalez was pinned at 285 in 2:42 by Woodgrove’s Matt McKim.

At the Beast of the East, Lucchiani (120) and Teter (152) each went 3-2 and advanced to the fifth round of consolations in the 64-person brackets. Judd went 2-2 and advanced to the third consolation round.

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