Stories

Western, Monticello, Fluvanna qualify wrestlers for Class 3 state meet

Photo by Bart Isley

A pack of local wrestlers are headed to the Class 3 championships in Portsmouth next week, with Western Albemarle, Monticello and Fluvanna all advancing grapplers to the state championships in the wake of Saturday’s Class 3, Region C state tournament.

 

Saturday’s region tournament became a mixed bag for Western pretty quickly. But the Warriors managed to shake off some frustration and take fourth as a team while advancing six wrestlers to the state meet by virtue of finishing in the top four in the meet.

 

Western’s Keegan Riley led the performance with a runnerup finish at 170 pounds, falling in the championship match to Rockbridge’s Kage Tomlin after a solid run to the final that included a semifinal pin.

 

Western followed up Riley’s performance with a trio of third-place finishes. The Warriors’ 106 Jack Overstreet managed to work past his first loss of the season in the region semifinals and took third after pinning Fluvanna’s Tyler Haynes in the third place match. Andrew Rakes pinned Monticello’s Andrew Watson in the third place match at 126 pounds to grab third and Jake Jackson battled back from an overtime loss in the semifinals to take third place at 285 pounds. Western’s Bryan Bradley came in fourth at 195 and Beighley Austin took fourth at 120 to round out the automatic state qualifiers for the Warriors.

 

An injury likely prevented the Warriors from adding a seventh qualifier as Collin Castrina was forced to forfeit after an injury and finished sixth at 113. Zach Swales finished fifth at 132 and Andrew Dunston finished fifth at 145 to earn alternate status for the state meet while Sam Duska was sixth at 152.

 

Monticello also put together a strong performance, taking sixth as a team as the Mustangs’ program continues building and advanced five wrestlers to the state tournament. The Mustangs’ Ryan Smith at 132 and Christopher Houchens at 138 led the way with runner-up performances. Smith fell to a 5-2 decision in the final while Houchens lost on a pin in the region title match.

 

Jackson Perry took third for the Mustangs at 113 with a pin in the third place match while Andrew Watson at 126 and Julian Johnston at 145 each took fourth to sew up state qualifying bids. Monticello’s Will Comberg at 182 and Christian Means at 220 each took fifth to earn alternate spots. Gary Vaclavicek took sixth at 170.

 

Fluvanna County advanced two wrestlers to the state meet with Tyler Haynes at 106 and Mason Justus at 132 each taking fourth place.  John Bland earned an alternate slot at 152 with a fifth place finish while Caleb Stoltz took sixth at 195 and Shawn Metcalf was sixth at 138.

 

Comments

comments