Willie Walters/Jaye Copp Holiday Tournament

By Robert Niedzwiecki
The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — After watching his wrestlers struggle throughout Wednesday’s matches — particularly during the consolation rounds, in which they went 2-12 — Sherando High School coach Pepper Martin let loose a stinging rebuke inside the locker room at James Wood High School.

As finalists, Nick Bakos and Baxter Newman had a chance to turn the corners of his mouth upward for a bit, and each did by unleashing a relentless fury on their opponents.

Bakos (171 pounds) and Newman (215) captured two of the area’s three championships Wednesday at the Willie Walters/Jaye Copp Holiday Tournament at Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium, and their efforts helped the Warriors hold on for a third-place finish after beginning the day in contention for the team title.

Saint Christopher, behind a tournament-high five champions, won the team title with 277.5 points, and the Saints were followed by New Kent (238), Sherando (191.5), and James Wood (176), which received a championship from Austin Woodall at heavyweight. Handley finished last in the 19-team field with 24.5 points.

Bakos and Newman each recorded victories by pin in the finals. Bakos in particular was fired up to make an impression after eking out a 5-3 win in the semifinals and then watching his teammates struggle even more than he did in the consolations.

“Coach Martin talked to us in the locker room and he was like, ‘You guys need to get your head out of your butts,’” Bakos said. “It was kind of weird. In a way, I could tell he was aiming it toward me too, because as a leader, I didn’t really do my part.”

Bakos said he might have taken his semifinal opponent Ted Gotwald lightly because he didn’t know much about Saint Christopher coming into the tournament.

Familiarity wasn’t an issue in the final. Going against James Wood’s Seth Fauver, whom he’s known since middle school, Bakos wanted to change his approach and diversify his technique.

“I wanted to go out there and open myself up on my feet,” Bakos said. “I tried some new stuff. Usually I’m not that aggressive on my feet with takedowns. I’m known for turning people, so I wanted to work on my feet a little bit. Work on different takedowns, setups, moving a little bit.”

Bakos put on a clinic, opening the first period with a couple single-leg takedowns. He recorded eight in all before he finished off Fauver 66 seconds into the final period by cradling his head and left leg.

As fired up as Bakos was for his final, Newman started his match looking like he could throw someone through a wall. But despite moving his arms in rapid fashion early, the match settled down and the first period ended with no score.

Newman took control in the second period though, and he was awarded three nearfall points at the 1:03 mark. An escape cut his lead to 3-1, but after letting loose a highly audible grunt with 25 seconds left, he charged Saint Christopher’s Mark Burlee and hooked his right arm under Burlee’s right arm while bringing him down. Newman was awarded the pin with two seconds left in the period.

“He turned over and I grabbed a hold of his head,” Newman said. “I just tried to hold it to the best of my ability.”

The tournament win was the second of Newman’s career (he won the Max Horz Jr. Invitational in Berkeley Springs, W.Va., earlier this month) though he’d likely have more if he didn’t have to butt heads with Millbrook’s Derrick Borlie at 189 pounds last year.

Still, Newman’s operating at a particularly high level in only his third year of wrestling and his second on the varsity, and he and his training partner Bakos are bringing out the best in each other. Bakos benefits from Newman’s strength and Newman’s technique is coming along thanks to Bakos.

“Baxter is getting better every week,” Martin said.

Martin was impressed with all four of his finalists — Levi McDonald lost 5-3 at 125 pounds and Rodney Twigg lost 9-5 at 152. Though the lineup should change some with six wrestlers moving down a weight class, Martin said the Warriors won’t reach their potential no matter where they’re wrestling if they don’t display more consistency. Sherando had a similar second-day letdown at the Max Horz, finishing fourth after being second following the first day.

“To say we were disappointed with the consolation wrestling today would be a gross understatement,” said Martin, whose team went 23-5 in Tuesday’s matches. “To have our kids wrestle so well the first day and come in the second day and fall flat on our face is frustrating. We’ve got to somehow put our finger on why this is happening.”

Conversely, James Wood coach Greg Walker couldn’t have asked for much more from his team. The Colonels only won one of five championship bouts, but Gage Swartz lost 12-4 to Saint Christopher’s Brandon Jeske (second at the Beast of the East), Mark Bean lost on a debatable takedown awarded at the buzzer of the 189-pound final, and Fauver ran into a motivated Bakos.

“A fourth-place finish, we’ll take it,” Walker said. “We still have room for improvement. But out of 19 teams, to take fourth, we did a good job with it.”

Walker was particularly pleased with Woodall, who had another rough win in the semifinals (13-8) but came back and won by fall in 41 seconds in the final. Woodall was challenged to raise the level of his performance for the final, and Walker said he responded.

“My first match of the day, I was kind of sluggish like yesterday, so I was really nervous about this match,” Woodall said. “But I think I was more focused during this [final], and that’s really what helped me out.”

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