Landis, Swartz claim titles for James Wood

December 31, 2010
By Robert Niedzwiecki
The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER- For much of his 125-pound final, James Wood High School senior Cody Landis was in danger of going home with an unofficial title - Most Frustrated Wrestler.

But in the blink of an eye, everything changed. And the end result was an official title with a plaque to go along with it.

Landis pinned each of his three opponents and was named Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Willie Walters/Jaye Copp Holiday Tournament Thursday at James Wood High School.

His last one was as unexpected as it was sudden. With just two escape points to his name and tied 2-2 with Loudoun County's Anthony Tyler with less than 30 seconds remaining, Anthony dipped low and Landis cradled his head. He then dropped him for a pin with just 22 seconds left in the match.

"It's kinda special to me," said Landis following the MOW announcement. "It's the first award I've got for Most Outstanding Wrestler. It feels pretty good."

Landis was one of two Colonels champions (sophomore Taylor Swartz won at 103 pounds) who led James Wood to a tie for fifth, the best among area schools. James Wood scored 123 points, 76.5 behind team champion Stafford (199.5 points).

Berkeley Springs (W.Va.) was second with 164.5 in the 16-team tournament. Sherando placed seventh with 120.5 points, and Handley was 13th with 54.

Though Landis was enthusiastic by the end of Thursday, he was anything but during the final. He led 1-0 after two periods, but he surrendered a takedown 26 seconds into the third period to fall behind.

It was a surprising position, particularly after his semifinal win over Sherando's Brandon Fletcher - James Wood coach Greg Walker said he was outstanding in winning in 3:26.

"I knew I wasn't wrestling to my capability," Landis said. "I wasn't taking my shots like I was supposed to. I knew I had to start stepping it up." Landis added that he "got a little dazed," but he flipped a switch after earning an escape with 42 seconds left. Landis said he was able to get the pin after Taylor tried a shot, and Landis sprawled out.

"He went down to his hip, I did a head drag, and I just caught him on his back," Landis said.

Landis jumped up and pumped his fists after the whistle sounded.

For Landis, winning without wrestling his best should only help his confidence. At last year's state tournament, Landis became ill the night before it started and failed to place.

The memory of that is driving him to go out on top his senior year, and Walker said there's no reason why he can't. He just needs to become more consistent - despite winning the tournament, his record is only 12-5.

"I think Cody realized at the end he had to go after it," Walker said. "Sometimes Cody's the best in the state, sometimes he's the worst. He's on and off.

"He's getting better at staying consistent, and if we can just get him to stay more consistent and each match get him more aggressive and attacking more, I don't think anyone can beat him. He has the potential to be a state champion. We just have to get him over that little hump and stay aggressive all the time."

Swartz's match didn't offer much in terms of dramatics. He scored a takedown 35 seconds in the first period, then added two near fall points with 16 ticks left to earn a 4-0 win over Sherando freshman Jacob Guthridge (13-4).

Still, it was a meaningful win for Swartz. Both he and his older brother Gage - a state champion at 119 pounds last year - fell in the finals of last year's Willie Walters tournament.

"I always like to win at home," Swartz said. "I felt like I controlled the whole match, but I feel like I could have done better. I could have worked my tilts and gotten more [back points]."

Walker felt Swartz (15-2) could have finished his tournament out stronger as well, but he added "a win's a win."

The important thing is that he wants all his wrestlers to continue to grow.

"Our younger kids need to get that right mentality and improve their work ethic," Walker said.

Guthridge was one of two finalists for Sherando. Warriors coach Pepper Martin was pleased with him, but no one impressed him more than senior Zach Fletcher despite his 12-4 defeat to Loudoun County's Kenton Perez in the 160-pound final.

Fletcher (10-3) has battled injuries throughout his career and had a rod inserted in his right leg in the offseason. Martin said a couple of weeks ago a problem was discovered with the titanium screws in it. But rather than have the problem corrected and miss four to six weeks, Martin said Fletcher elected to keep wrestling and wait until after the season to fix them.

"I can't say enough about Zach's performance," Martin said. "For him to get in the finals was quite an accomplishment.

"He wrestled some intense matches, and he found a way to win, whether it was scoring from the bottom or the top. He's a little limited right now on his feet with his physical situation, but of all our wrestlers I was most happy for him and pleased with the way he wrestled."

Handley was led by senior Tom Delaney, who took fourth at 145 pounds.