Western Albemarle wresting needed every point it could get in the Jefferson District tournament Saturday at Louisa County. They got them, and the Warriors somehow scratched and clawed their way to a team title despite Louisa County having more individual champions. It was the Warriors’ first JD team title since 1998, well before most of the Warriors’ wrestlers were born and just the second district championship in school history.
“It’s a big win because it epitomizes what we try and do. It’s a team win,” said Western coach Adam Mulchay. “We had 12 wrestlers of the 13 we brought make it to the placing rounds. We haven’t had a lot of success individually and for us to continue to build a program based around pushing the team concept I think this is really big.”
The team title race’s closeness meant that winning wasn’t the only thing that mattered, it mattered how each Warrior won. In wrestling you pick up more points with a major decision, a tech fall or a pin than with a simple decision, and in key matches, Western kept picking up points, which was particularly important as Louisa’s Sidney Marsh, Austin Mills Jeffrey Sisk, Jaret Grimsley and Jeremiah Grimsley picked up individual titles.
The Warriors had to snag points where they could, with Russ Hill’s second straight JD title coming on a tech fall that was a big points boost. Asa Shin grabbed the 170 title with a critical pin and Nate Reilly pinned his opponent for the 182 pound championship. In the third place matches, Western got critical victories from Cy Ward, Keegan Riley (critical pin at 160) and Jake Jackson at heavyweight.
“We had a lot of kids, kind of unknown kids that stepped up and took third,” Mulchay said. The The Warriors also got second place finishes from Will Davis, Anthony Ramazani and Austin Beighley.
Hill earned his 100th career win during the tournament. Hill has rebounded nicely from a disappointing finish to last season where an altered state championship format prevented him from a shot at a high finish.
“He’s a kid who’s work ethic is second to none,” Mulchay said. “He’s driven.”
The other individual champions were Powhatan’s J.D. McMillin at 106, Orange’s Corey Champion at 138, Powhatan’s Jake Martin at 152, Orange’s Dustin Shifflett at 195 and Charlottesville’s Sedarius Folley at 220.
Team Scores
- Western Albemarle 183.5
- Louisa County 180.0
- Orange County 158.0
- Albemarle 102.0
- Powhatan 93.0
- Fluvanna County 61.0
- Monticello 60.5
- Charlottesville 42.0
106
1st: J.D. McMillin, Powhatan
2nd: Austin Beighley, Western
3rd: Joe Pace, Fluvanna
4th: T.J. Fortune, Orange
113
1st: Sidney Marsh, Louisa
2nd: Trent Carr, Orange
3rd: Kaleb Phillips, Monticello
4th: Jack Overstreet, Western
120
1st: Austin Mills, Louisa
2nd: Logan Zimmerman, Monticello
3rd: Isaac Kenner, Charlottesville
4th: Nicky Benner, Orange County
126
1st: Jeffrey Sisk, Louisa County
2nd: Colby Cheatham, Powhatan
3rd: Cy Ward, Western
4th: Colby Lloyd, Orange
132
1st: Jaret Grimsley, Louisa
2nd: Anthony Ramazani, Western
3rd: Chance Bowers, Orange
4th: Matthew Balcells, Albemarle
138
1st: Corey Champion, Orange
2nd: Will Davis, Western Albemarle
3rd: Mason Morris, Louisa
4th: Zach Davis, Albemarle
145
1st: Russ Hill, Western
2nd: Sean Ealy, Albemarle
3rd: Ben Hiter, Louisa
4th: Dawson Parker, Orange
152
1st: Jake Martin, Powhatan (11-8 dec over Dillon)
2nd: Ian Dillon, Fluvanna
3rd: Mark Delp, Albemarle
4th: T.J. Spencer, Western
160
1st: Jeremiah Grimsley, Louisa (8-2 decision over Brian Smithgall)
2nd: Brian Smithgall, Powhatan
3rd: Keegan Riley, Western (crucial pin)
4th: Michael Jamerson, Orange County
170
1st: Asa Shin, Western (pinned King in :30)
2nd: William King, Louisa
3rd: Jimmy Dillenhunt, Fluvanna
4th: Bradley Hanner, Orange
182
1st: Nate Riley, Western (pinned Marshall in 2:47)
2nd: Kaleb Marshall, Orange
3rd: Nikolas Swoopes, Albemarle
4th: Quint Crouch, Fluvanna
195
1st: Dustin Shifflett, Orange (pinned Shorten in 5 min)
2nd: J.T. Shorten, Albemarle
3rd: John Cutright, Louisa
4th: Jabari Gomez, Western
220
1st: Sedarius Folley, Charlottesville (pinned Smith in 1:17(
2nd: Hunter Smith, Powhatan
3rd: Christian Means, Monticello
4th: Wayne Arabie, Louisa
Heavyweight
1st: Jamonte Howze, Albemarle
2nd: Caleb Bouw, Monticello
3rd: Jake Jackson, Western
4th: Donovan Jackson, Orange
