ORANGE — Cory Crenshaw’s voice trailed off.
As Crenshaw praised his team’s performance next to the bleachers at Orange County High School’s Sports Center, his effusive voice couldn’t help but quiver, and his eyes couldn’t help but fill up with tears.
Those tears came only a few minutes after the James Wood High School wrestling team took first place at Friday’s Region 4D wrestling tournament — the school’s first regional wrestling title since 2007, and Crenshaw’s first since he took over the program in 2016.
Wood had 10 wrestlers finish in the top four of their respective weight classes to qualify for the Class 4 state tournament, which will be held at the Virginia Beach Sports Center Feb. 21-22. Ten state qualifiers is a school record for Wood, which also had two regional champions in Hayden Black (106 pounds) and Orion Cox (215).
“Coming into the day, our goal was to be in second. We kind of said that all year,” Crenshaw said. “Last year, we were third. [We] try to keep pushing the table, pushing the table, and the boys yesterday at practice, they were like, ‘Why can’t we be first?’ and I said, ‘You can.’ Today, they all stepped up.”
The Colonels had all 13 of their wrestlers score points to help the team finish with 222 points in Friday’s 15-team tournament, 30.5 more than second-place Salem (191.5) and 36 more than third-place Sherando (186).
The Warriors had eight state qualifiers, including 138-pound champion Anthony Lucchiani. Millbrook finished fourth with 172 points and had four state qualifiers, including regional champions Tyler Kinsey (165 pounds) and William Potter (190). Handley took eighth place with 97.5 points and had three state qualifiers, highlighted by 157-pound champion James Battulga.
Crenshaw said the Colonels’ championship was “a long time coming.”
“Last several years, we kind of fell off a little bit,” Crenshaw said. “Sherando took that title and kind of ran with it for a while. I’m glad to be bringing home the trophy back to Frederick County again.”
Along with his wrestlers, Crenshaw gave credit to his twin brother Cody, who is an assistant coach for the team.
“He’s a leader,” Crenshaw said while fighting back tears. “The kids look up to him. I’m just happy.”
Cox won all four of his matches by fall, including the first-place championship bout, which ended with Cox pinning Amherst County’s Wyatt Seay in three minutes and eight seconds. After the pin, Cox rushed over to the edge of the mat to embrace his parents. It was a redemption tour for Cox, who barely missed the state tournament last year after finishing fifth at 190 pounds.
“It was probably one of the happiest moments of my life,” Cox said. “Because after not winning last year from getting hit in the head and not being able to wrestle the same, it feels amazing to come back and get first and show up for my team.”
Black also made the most of his regional tournament, going 3-0 with a fall and technical fall in his first two matches, capping his day off with a decision win over Blacksburg’s Takoda Parker in the first-place bout. Along with his own performance, Black was elated to know James Wood will have to book more hotel rooms than expected for the state tournament.
“Just really awesome,” Black said. “It’s the first time we ever need to buy more [hotel] rooms, so it’s just really exciting.”
Other Wood wrestlers to qualify for the state tournament were Cash Keeler (third, 120 pounds), Seth Merryman (third, 126), Max Mooney (second, 132), Hayden Franks (second, 138), Austin Noble (fourth, 144), Sean Hodel (fourth, 150), Jesse Woodson (second, 157) and Blake Tidwell (fourth, 175).
Sherando coach Brian Kibler thought there was some meat left on the bone for his team.
“Optimistically, we probably looked at this tournament as maybe we could get 10-ish [state qualifiers] out of the region, so only getting eight was probably a little under the bar,” Kibler said. “But, I mean, for the most part, I think it’s probably more reflective of what we are, and that that’s ultimately what it boiled down to.”
If there was any wrestler who left no meat on the bone, it was Lucchiani. The three-time state champion pinned Wood’s Franks in the first-place match in 20 seconds.
“I was pumped up,” Lucchiani said of the championship match. “I mean, I was ready to work. I had enough energy to probably feed a herd of buffalo, so I was ready to work. I just got to my shot, or didn’t really get to a shot, more of an under hook, and I just threw him down and got the pin.”
That first-place bout came after he defeated Blacksburg’s Jacob Fain by technical fall (17-2) and pinned Handley’s James Keller. Lucchiani added that he believes he’s the first Sherando wrestler to win four region titles.
Other Warriors headed to the state tournament are Kaden Frock (fourth, 106), Damien Costello (second, 120), Lucas Bauer (fourth, 126), Carter Straight (third, 144), Ben Taylor (third, 175), Jason Foster (second, 190) and Judson Dean (third, 215).
Although there were some bumps along the way, Millbrook coach Jeff Holmes was pleased with his team’s fourth-place finish.
“I thought we started out the tournament tough,” Holmes said. “I thought we wrestled most of the tournament tough. We struggled a bit in the blood round but came back in the placement rounds and wrestled much better.”
Potter defeated Foster in the championship bout after the two had gone up against each other earlier in the season. Holmes knew Foster, who is a first-year wrestler, was going to give Potter everything he had in the rematch.
“I don’t think Potter ever goes out there taking him lightly,” Holmes said. “[Foster] is well coached, and I’m sure their coaches put together a plan. I mean, that’s really all I told Potter is that his coaches probably paired him with a plan, but you just got to wrestle the way you wrestle. That’s what he does. I mean, he came in with the expectation of winning, and he’s looking for a state title.”
At 165 pounds, Kinsey, a junior, had never won a regional title before. That changed on Friday when he pinned Jefferson Forest’s Ryen Macdonald in the third period.
“I’ve never been in a final like that before, so [I was] just trying to keep my mind straight and [be] ready to win,” Kinsey said.
Joining Kinsey and Potter in Virginia Beach for the Pioneers will be Bryan Gomez (third, 132) and Ezra Doyle-Naegeli (third, 285).
Handley was without two of its top wrestlers in Jace Culotta (126 pounds) and Thomas Thorpe (175), both of whom qualified for the state tournament last year. Culotta was out with an illness, and Thorpe was dealing with a knee injury.
Battulga defeated Woodson by fall with seven seconds left in the first period.
“I started off with a good takedown, and then got on top, which is my dominant position, and then tried a couple moves,” Battulga said. “I got a half in and turned him and just stuck him.”
While he was disappointed with having two of his top wrestlers out for regionals, Mezzatesta thought Battulga was a bright spot for the Judges.
“He just wrestled really solid in every match,” Mezzatesta said.
Mezzatesta was also impressed with Hayden Thompson, who qualified for states before losing to Blacksburg’s Tharin Svetanant in the first-place match. Handley’s Carson Otto (150) also qualified for the state tournament with a third-place finish.
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