Wrestling - Class 4 Northwestern District Tournament

STEPHENS CITY — Same location, same dominant performance.

The Sherando wrestling team hosted the Class 4 Northwestern District tournament for the second straight year on Friday, and for the second straight year the Warriors never left any doubt that they would be the champions.

After winning by 75.5 points last year, Sherando won by 75 on Friday, expanding their lead from 50 points after the championship semifinals to 66.5 after the consolation semifinals. The Warriors had 12 Region 4C qualifiers — just one shy of last year's total — and had four champions for the second straight year and scored 236.5 points.

Warriors coach Brian Kibler really couldn't have asked for anything more from his team, which let out a collective roar after receiving the championship trophy.

"Obviously, it was a good day," Kibler said. "We told the guys coming in, we want to end odd [with individual placement by finishing first, third or fifth]. We wanted to beat our seeds.

"I think we had three [No.] 3 seeds make the finals, so those are big points, and we never really finished below seed, and that's what we want. The guys who were seeded [No.] 1 did pretty much what they were supposed to do. Four No. 1 seeds, four champs. We had a couple [No.] 6 seeds, and we didn't have anyone place sixth. The guys did what they were supposed to do. I think we wrestled pretty well and as well as we could have."

Sherando senior 144-pounder Brogan Teter — one of the Warriors' four champions on Friday — said it says a lot about this year's team that they could perform so similarly to last year. The Warriors' lineup on Friday featured six different wrestlers from last year's district tournament. Sherando lost three seniors who advanced to the 2022 state tournament, including 220 runner-up Aydan Willis.

"We lost some pretty good seniors last year, so the fact that we're still doing well as a team is good," Teter said. "Region title and top two at states [like last year] would be our goal [the rest of the season]."

The top four wrestlers in each weight class on Friday advanced to the Region 4C tournament, which will take place on Feb. 11 at Independence High School in Ashburn.

James Wood (seven region qualifiers, three champions) placed second with 161.5 points. Fauquier and Liberty tied for third with 156, Kettle Run was fifth with 154.5, Millbrook (eight region qualifiers) was sixth with 146, and Handley (six qualifiers, one champ) finished last in the seven-team tournament with 119.5.

Sherando's two state champions, sophomore Anthony Lucchiani (126) and senior Keagan Judd (150), each repeated as district champions by pinning both of their foes. In the finals, Lucchiani (43-2) pinned Handley's Logan Westfall in 2:43, and Judd (42-1) pinned Kettle Run's Fortune Fangamou in 2:30.

Teter (32-7) also had an impressive run to a championship, pinning his semifinal opponent and earning a 12-3 major decision over Kettle Run's Ryan Cruger in the 144 final.

In Teter's two previous Virginia High School League seasons (Frederick County did not participate in the 2020-21 season), he was the runner-up in the district finals each time, so Friday's performance was important to the two-time state qualifier (fifth at 152 last year). Teter led 6-1 after one period and 11-3 after two periods against Cruger.

"I knew if I got to my shots, I'd most likely win," said Teter, who took Cruger down four times. "I knew his shot defense wasn't the best, so I just had to keep attacking.

"It definitely means a lot just to finally get [not having a district title] off my shoulders. It was definitely stressful leading up to it, because I didn't want to lose in the finals again."

Teter is looking to finish the year strong after a sometimes difficult regular season. He wanted to place at the prestigious Trojans Wars in Chambersburg, Pa., but a knee injury forced him to cut his stay in that tournament short. He's also battled some hip problems.

"I'm just trying to get better every day in practice," Teter said. "Wrestling Lucchiani definitely helps."

Sherando had another first time district champion in Peter Richardson. The senior did not have a winning record at 182 pounds last year, but 157 clearly agrees with him. He improved to 31-7 by pinning his semifinal opponent and controlling Handley freshman Thomas Thorpe throughout a 13-2 major decision in the final. Richardson led 7-1 after one period and 9-2 after two periods.

"He's done a fantastic job for us," Kibler said. "You can call that guy a program guy. His first year with us was in the COVID year. He just kept getting better and found opportunities in the lineup sporadically last year. And now he's a district champion. You've got to love that."

The Warriors had three wrestlers fall in the finals. Tyler Koerner lost 8-3 to Handley junior Nick Baker (43-3) at 132; Zach Hayes was pinned in 1:07 by James Wood sophomore James Battulga (39-8) at 138; and Storm Miller lost by fall in 1:22 to Fauquier's Kingsley Menifee at 190.

Other region qualifers for Sherando are Kaden Frock (106) and Jake Dann (165), who each took third; and fourth-place finishers Arya Rwat (113), Zane Jenkins (175) and Judson Dean (215).

James Wood soared from sixth after the consolation semifinals to second at the end of the tournament by posting a record of 9-3 in its final placement matches.

Even before those placement matches took place, Colonels coach Cory Crenshaw was pleased. James Wood's seven region qualifiers were more than he was expecting.

"We had a couple kids that wrestled above where we thought they would be today," Crenshaw said. "The wrestlers that didn't make it through placed fifth except for Autumn [Van Bremen] at 113, and we just decided to sit her out [in the fifth-place match] to get ready for the girls' [state tournament]. After Sherando, the rest of us [in the district] are pretty much all right there together, so it's all about who's going to show up and wrestle hard that night."

James Wood's night was highlighted by the champions Battulga, freshman Max Mooney (36-8 at 106) and sophomore Colton Bendure (38-2 at 120).

After a semifinal pin, Bendure avenged one of his two losses by beating Liberty's Christian Eberhart 6-2 in the finals. Crenshaw said Eberhart won in overtime in a dual match between the two schools on Jan. 18.

"It was a little bit of a scramble there in the first [period] to get that takedown, but once he got that I felt like he did everything he needs to do," Crenshaw said. "He controlled the positions and kept attacking. That's something we've been kind of working on in the room a little bit."

Bendure led 2-0 after one period, 3-1 after two periods, then recorded his second takedown of the match with 40 seconds left for a 6-1 lead.

Mooney pinned both of his opponents in less than a minute. He pinned Liberty's Evan Cox in 44 seconds in the finals.

"He does exactly what he needs to do," Crenshaw said. "He doesn't wait and just attacks. He takes the early lead and puts the boy to his back, and gets that fall early, which is what we like. We don't want to sit there and waste time. We want to get things done."

Battulga was not a member of James Wood's lineup at districts last year. He won both of his matches in convincing fashion Friday, though he wasn't happy with his semifinal win. He won by a 19-2 technical fall in 4:54, but he felt his energy level wasn't always what it should be.

Against Hayes in the final, he wracked up seven unanswered points before recording the pin in 67 seconds.

"I felt confident I was going to win this tournament," Battulga said. "I want to go on to do more and win regions and states."

Other James Wood region qualifers are third-place finishers Blake Messick (132) and Orion Cox (190); and John Juergens (126) and Dylan Tews (165), who each placed fourth.

Millbrook had the fewest championship finalists among area schools with two, but the Pioneers tied for second among all schools with eight region qualifiers as a result of going 6-4 in the consolation semifinals. That performance vaulted Millbrook from seventh to fifth, but the Pioneers slid back to sixth after the final placement matches.

"I was hoping to finish a little better in the team score, but it is what it is," Pioneers coach Jeff Holmes said. "We had a good week of practice and I was very optimistic. I'm happy, though. Eight guys [to regions] is good. It's the most we've had in some time. We have a young team, and I think it's a good start for what's to come. All we're looking for is progress, and we're making progress."

Millbrook had two finalists. Sophomore Ezra Doyle-Naegeli was pinned in 3:34 by Kettle Run's Abram Chumley at 215, and senior Jett Helmut fell 2-1 to Liberty's Ka'Von Bumbrey at 285.

Helmut had an escape point in the second period, Bumbrey escaped in the third, and then Bumbrey had an escape with three seconds left in the tiebreaker II overtime session. Helmut previously pinned Bumbrey this year.

Other Pioneers regional qualifiers are Caden Cruz (113), Fernando Martinez (144), Julian Cusick (150) and Jason Coleman (175), who each placed third; and fourth-place finishers Landon Jones (106) and Dev Patal (157).

Baker (43-3) was the only winner among four finalists for Handley. He scored two points within the first 12 seconds of every period in his win against Koerner, and led 8-0 halfway though the third period. He had a pin in the semifinals.

"My goal of my matches is to outpace people and get them tired, and just have a better gas tank than them," said Baker when asked his quick starts to each period.

In addition to Westfall and Thorpe, Handley senior Simon Bishop also fell in the finals.

Bishop is 42-3 and each of his three defeats have come against Liberty's Noah Hall. Bishop pinned Hall in their second matchup of the year at James Wood, but Hall beat Bishop 8-1 at the Heritage Duals and pinned him in 3:47 on Friday. After a scoreless first period, Hall had a three-point near fall halfway through the second before eventually securing a pin.

"We'll be better as long as we get him healthy for next week," said Handley coach Troy Mezzatesta of Bishop, who was favoring the arm he injured in his first match of the season with Hall after the match. "The arm bar [Hall] had went to a wing, and they let it go. That looked painful. But we've got a week to heal him up."

Handley will also send Hayden Thompson (third at 120) and Charlie Milam (fourth at 150) to the region tournament. Thompson had defeated Eberhart twice previously but lost 5-4 to him in the semifinals on Friday.

"We're young and inexperienced, but the kids we thought were going to do well did what they're supposed to do and got to the finals," Mezzatesta said. "We hoped to have Hayden in there. Today [Eberhart] got the takedown first, and that was the difference in that match. Charlie was the [No.] 5 seed, so that was a big deal for him to move on."

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