Ten local wrestlers advance to Class 4 state semis

VIRGINIA BEACH — Ten of the area’s 19 Class 4 state wrestling qualifiers won both of their matches on Friday to advance to Saturday's semifinal round at the state tournament that is being held at the Virginia Beach Sports Center.

The semifinal round begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, with the winners advancing to the finals that will start at 5 p.m.

After the first day, Great Bridge is in first with 115.5 points, Sherando is second (65.5), James Wood is third (27), Handley is 19th (26) and Millbrook is tied for 29th (16).

Five of Sherando’s nine state qualifiers will compete in the semifinals — Anthony Lucchiani (120 pounds), Tyler Koerner (126), Keagan Judd (145), Brogan Teter (152) and Aydan Willis (220).

In the semis, Lucchiani will face Eastern View’s Region 4B champion Elijah Smoot; Koerner will take on Great Bridge Region 4A champion Caleb Neal; Judd will take on Region 4C No. 4 seed Nicholas Marck of Lightridge; Teter will wrestler Region 4B champion Alex Frowert of Atlee, and Willis will oppose Region 4B runner-up Jacob Epperly of Hanover. Judd defeated Marck by a 2-0 score in the Region 4C semifinals last week.

James Wood put two of its five qualifiers into the semis. Colton Bendure (113 pounds) will take on Region 4B champion Luke Wells of Powhatan in his match and Braden Sitton (132) will face Region 4A champion Eric Doran of Great Bridge.

Handley advanced two of its three qualifiers to the semis. Nick Baker (120 pounds) will take on Region 4A champion Max Martin of Great Bridge in his match, while Simon Bishop (160) will face Region 4A champion Ty Chittum of Great Bridge. Baker advanced to the semis by defeating Louisa County’s Gianpaolo Ciotola in the quarterfinals. Baker lost to Ciotola 5-3 in the finals of the Judges Invitational on Jan. 15. Hayden Thompson (106) will also compete on Saturday after advancing to the consolation semifinals.

Millbrook — which had two state qualifiers — will be represented by Jett Helmut in the semifinals. Helmut will take on Region 4A champion Keyshawn Burgos of Matoaca in the semis.