Class 4 State Wrestling Tournament

Anthony Lucchiani took another dominant step toward the ultimate goal on Saturday.

The Sherando junior captured his third Virginia High School League state championship in three seasons, capturing the Class 4 138-pound title at the Virginia Beach Sports Center.

Lucchiani won his two matches with pins in the first period on Friday, won his semifinal by a 16-0 technical fall in four minutes and 20 seconds on Saturday morning, then pinned Powhatan junior Talan Harness in 3:17 in the championship match. He didn’t give up any offensive points in the tournament.

In all three of his state championship finals, Lucchiani has pinned his opponents. He’s now tied with former Virginia Tech standout John Borst (2015-17 high school titles) and Keegan Judd (2020, 2022-23, now at NCAA Division II Newberry College) for the most wrestling state titles in school history.

Lucchiani went 46-4 this year, with his four losses all coming to non-Virginia opponents at the Beast of the East in Delaware (Lucchiani placed fifth) and the Trojans Wars in Pennsylvania (Lucchiani took fourth).

“I think I wrestled fairly well,” said Lucchiani of his state tournament performance in a phone interview. “I was able to get takedowns when I needed to and finish matches when I needed to.

“Ever since I was a freshman, I’ve wanted [to be a four-time state champion], very, very bad. No one’s ever done it in the history of Sherando, and I’m hoping to be the very first one.”

Lucchiani was one of five area wrestlers to make the Class 4 finals, but he was the only one to win a title. Lucchiani led the Warriors to a sixth-place team finish and a point total of 92.5, which is one more point than Sherando scored last year, when it placed fifth. The Warriors had four wrestlers earn All-State honors for placing in the top six.

Winchester/Frederick County had all four of its teams place in the Top 15 of the 45-school event. James Wood tied for 11th with 59 points, Handley was 14th with 50.5 and Millbrook placed 15th with 48. The Colonels and Judges each had three wrestlers earn All-State honors, and the Pioneers had two.

Lucchiani’s match against Harness was their first-ever meeting. Lucchiani took him down 24 seconds into the match, but had to settle for a 2-0 lead after one period when he couldn’t figure out a way to turn Harness.

“I was trying to get to my moves, and it seemed like he was doing a pretty good job defending them,” Lucchiani said. “It was hard to get to the stuff that I needed to, but I think I did a pretty good job the rest of the match.”

Lucchiani certainly did. He wrapped Harness up for a takedown 22 seconds into the second period to go up 4-0, then scored another takedown after letting Harness up for a 6-1 lead with 1:20 left. After allowing another escape six seconds later to make it 6-2, Harness was called for a hands-to-face penalty with 1:12 left. The match was stopped for blood time, and Lucchiani received a point for a 7-2 lead.

Lucchiani said he wanted to keep piling up the points with takedowns. But during that stoppage, Lucchiani said Warriors assistant coach Jim Straight told him it was time to end the match. Eleven seconds later, Lucchiani recorded another takedown, which eventually set up his pin with 43 seconds left in the period.

“We practice feet-to-back transition a good bit,” Sherando coach Brian Kibler said. “After a multitude of takedowns, a lot of times that opens up opportunities to go feet to back. He hit [a takedown] and didn’t miss.”

Kibler has seen plenty of excellence from Lucchiani over the years, and he saw it on display again this weekend.

“One of his goals was to not give up any offensive points, and we checked that box,” Kibler said. “He was hoping to win every match in the first period, but that’s extremely difficult to do. You never know how a guy is going to wrestle you, so you have to be mature enough to be willing to wrestle for six minutes and not rush anything, so that was a good sign this weekend.”

Kibler was hoping the Warriors would fare a little better as a team in the standings. The Warriors went a respectable 4-5 in matches on Saturday, but three of Kibler’s four wrestlers ended their days with defeats.

“The old saying is we want to finish odd — first, third and fifth,” Kibler said. “We had one first, a second, a fourth and sixth. Sometimes you’re capable of those [odd] finishes, and sometimes you’re not. Sometimes you just never know what you’re going to get into when you wrestle these guys you’ve never seen before, or maybe seen three months ago. It’s a different match and a different type of environment as well.

“We were kind of hopeful that everybody would win a match and a couple more people would place, but it just wasn’t in the cards this year. Anytime you win a regional championship, that kind of raises the expectations for you at the state tournament. But I think we had a good year. “

Senior Jake Dann (3-1 with two pins in the tournament, 31-9 for the season) had one of the tougher assignments in the championship finals with Liberty senior Noah Hall, a two-time state champion who beat Dann 11-3 in the Region 4D final. Hall took a 6-2 lead after one period and a 9-2 advantage after two periods, and earned his third state title by pinning Dann with 56 seconds left in the match.

Kibler said beating Hall would have been asking a lot from Dann. Kibler said Dann — who is in just his second year as a full-time varsity starter — has come a long way.

“He’s got a good motor, and he continues to run it the entire time,” Kibler said. “He’ll stay on you. He fights off his back well, and he’s smart enough to stay with what he knows. If that works, with the amount of pressure he’s able to apply, he’s usually in good shape, and he was in good shape until he ran into a guy like Noah Hall.”

Senior Zachary Hayes (4-2 with three pins in the tournament) placed fourth at 144 pounds. Kibler was pleased to see Hayes continue his career progression in which he won a district title as a sophomore, made his first state tournament as a junior, and earned his first state medal on Saturday.

“He’s come a long way,” Kibler said. “What you look for in any program is the progress of the kids.”

Freshman Carter Straight (3-3 with two pins) placed sixth at 126.

“His goal was to place at the state tournament, and that was pretty evident with how pumped he was by winning in the consolation quarterfinals [Friday night],” Kibler said. “He met that goal, which is awesome. I would have liked to have seen him finish his tournament on a little more positive note. But as far as his overall year is concerned, for a freshman, I don’t know if you can ask for a whole heck of a lot more out of a kid.”

Sophomore Max Mooney (second at 120), junior James Battulga (second at 150) and freshman Hayden Black (third at 106) led James Wood. Mooney (36-4) and Battulga (33-6) each lost their championship bouts in rematches of the Region 4D finals.

Mooney (fifth at 106 in Class 4 last year) had to rally from a 6-3 deficit after two periods and a 9-5 deficit with 51 seconds left in the third period just to win his first round match 14-9 in sudden victory overtime. After 7-5 and 8-5 wins in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, Mooney faced Orange County junior Justin Jones.

Jones — last year’s 113-pound state champion — beat Mooney 12-2 in the Region 4D final, and 10-1 on Saturday. Jones led 2-0 after one period and 8-0 after two.

“[The first match for Mooney] wasn’t our best, but at least he kept his head down, kept driving and kept getting himself where he needed to be,” James Wood coach Cory Crenshaw said. “[Against Jones, Mooney] gave himself the opportunity to change the tables a little bit. Unfortunately, the outcome wasn’t much different, but he did stay in there and fought all six minutes. Next year he’ll be a liltle bit more mature, and we’ll see if anything can happen for us.”

Battulga (fourth at 138 last year) pinned each of his first three opponents before facing Woodgrove senior Austen Watson in the final. Watson beat Battulga 8-1 in the championship of the Judges Invitational in January, and Watson scored two points in each period in beating Battulga 6-0 on Saturday.

“James did a really good job in the tournament,” Crenshaw said. “It was an unfortunate outcome in the final, but that gives us a little bit of drive next year, coming back as a senior. Hopefully, we can be the guy in [Watson’s] shoes next year.”

Black (5-1 with a fall in the tournament) suffered his only loss in the championship quarterfinals to eventual state champion Ryan O’Keefe of Patrick Henry (Ashland), falling 2-1 in the ultimate tiebreaker overtime. O’Keefe won his other three matches by fall (twice) and by a 7-1 decision in the final.

“Hayden wrestled a good tournament,” Crenshaw said. “It’s unfortunate we saw the champion in the quarterfinals like we did, but unfortunately, when you’re not a region champion, you see a region champion early on. But he gave a good fight to come back and get himself in state placement.”

Handley was led by sophomore Thomas Thorpe (second at 175), junior Hayden Thompson (fourth at 138) and freshman Jace Culotta (fifth at 113).

Thorpe (47-4 for the season) won his first round by fall and his quarterfinal and semifinal matches by 11-4 and 7-2 scores, respectively.

“He was dominant and in control of all [first three] matches he wrestled,” Handley coach Troy Mezzatesta said.

In the championship match, Thorpe (state qualifier last year at 157) took on Loudoun County junior Octavian Ashford. After a scoreless first period, Thorpe got an escape with 1:22 left, Ashford recorded a takedown with 1:03 left, and Thorpe tied the match at 2-2 with 17 seconds remaining.

In the third period, Thorpe had a frustrating final minute while in the top position. Thorpe was penalized for stalling with 54 seconds left. During a stoppage with 25 seconds left, Thorpe had no choice but to give up an escape to make it 4-2 so he can try for a takedown. With the clock closing in on 10 seconds, Thorpe made a low shot at Arcadian’s right leg and worked his way into what Mezzatesta thought was takedown position, but no points were awarded.

“We have [Arcadian] on his butt, we’re swimming up the back, and the whole crowd is yelling, ‘Two! Two!,’ [for a takedown],” Mezzatesta said. “It was super exciting, but it wasn’t enough for this official to make the call. It’s kind of subjective on the official’s part. We could have swam up the back more, we could have made sure we popped our head out more prominently. But [Thorpe] wrestled his tail off. I’m super proud of his effort. We probably came up a half a second short.”

Thompson (sixth at 120 last year, 3-2) earned his third state medal in three years. Thompson lost to Harness 3-2 in the semifinals, with Harness taking a 3-0 lead in the second period on a stalling call that surprised Mezzatesta and people he talked to about it. Mezzatesta was then surprised Harness wasn’t called for stalling after Thompson reversed him in the third period. Thompson defeated Harness 2-0 in the Judges Invitational final.

“[Thompson] finished higher than he did before, and that’s what you want to see,” Mezzatesta said. “I’m proud of his effort. As a team captain, he led by example and is a class-act kid.”

Culotta lost his first match by fall to Woodgrove’s Adam Skinner. He went on to win four of his next five matches (including a fall, tech fall and major decision in the fifth-place match), with his only other defeat coming to Skinner 9-0 in the consolation semis.

“[Culotta] gained confidence, and he kept wrestling hard and battling,” Mezzatesta said. “For him to win the fifth-place match was huge, because he just wore that kid down. I’m super proud of his effort.”

Handley senior Nick Baker, a state finalist last year at 132, was unable to make it the podium this year at 132. Baker won his first round match by fall, but he had a shoulder pop out of his socket in his quarterfinal against Woodgrove, and after it couldn’t be popped back in on the mat the decision to end his tournament was made. He had to default that match and forfeit his consolation match.

“It was emotional for all of us, because for four or five days a week, twice a day, he’s been doing wrestling workouts throughout the year since sixth grade, seventh grade,” Mezzastesta said. “It’s tough to see an amazing career end like that.”

Millbrook was led by freshman William Potter (third at 175) and junior Ezra Doyle-Naegeli (fourth at 285).

Potter went 5-1 in the tournament and won all of his matches by fall, including pins over both championship semifinal losers. His only defeat was 9-7 to state champion Ashford in the quarterfinals. Ashford led 5-2 after one period, 7-6 after two and recorded a reversal with 42 seconds left to make it 9-6. Potter had defeated Ashford 10-1 in the King of the Rock tournament in December, then lost to Ashford in a dual on Jan. 2.

“He wrestles relatively calm, cool and collected,” said Millbrook coach Jeff Holmes of Potter. “He just kind of has a different style, and he always competes in every match that he wrestles in. He goes out there and gets after it.”

Doyle-Naegeli, a state qualifier last year, earned his first state medal. He went 3-2 with two pins. He lost by fall in 12 seconds in the semifinals to eventual state champ Brett Clatterbaugh of Eastern View.

“[Doyle-Naegeli] was looking to be a finalist and champ, but he had a pretty tough weight class,” Holmes said. “I thought he wrestled a great tournament. He went there and did what he can do. He had a good mindframe and focus throughout the tournament, and now he’s got more drive ready for next year.”

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