Sunday, December 16, 2007
Humbert's Bruins take Titan Toughman tourney
Saturday's win is the latest stepping stone for Kevin Humbert's rising Blacksburg program.
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Don't look now but there are two successful wrestling coaches named Kevin in Blacksburg.
Not far from where Kevin Dresser is building the program at Virginia Tech, his former protege Kevin Humbert has the same blueprint working at Blacksburg High School.
Saturday, another solid block was added to the foundation as Blacksburg earned its most significant championship during Humbert's tenure by claiming the title in the Titan Toughman tournament at Hidden Valley High School.
Blacksburg had four individual champions and five other wrestlers who placed among the top four in their respective weight classes as the Bruins piled up 230 12 points. Northside, headed by the dean of Timesland wrestling coaches -- Mark Agner -- placed second with 220. Staunton River placed third with 172 12, followed by Hidden Valley (156) and Lord Botetourt (137).
Patrick County (118), Alleghany (112), Jefferson Forest (109 12), Cave Spring (108) and Covington (98 12) rounded out the top-10 finishing teams.
"Coach Agner is top of the class when it comes to competition," Humbert said. "I've got the utmost respect for him. This is a huge win for me and my team."
Blacksburg nailed down the team title when Joey Phillips decisioned Virginia High's Chase Owens 9-8 in a battle of unbeatens in the 189-pound class.
Owens, who placed sixth in Group AA last year, had beaten Phillips three times in previous seasons before the Blacksburg senior turned the tables.
"We've really been working out hard in the room," Phillips said. "Don't get me wrong, I know he does too. But we go at it in the mornings, we go at it in the afternoons."
Blacksburg's other titles were provided by sophomore Zach Myers at 140, freshman James Petersen at 160 and senior Aaron Barbour at 215.
Petersen's father, Andy, is a former Iowa State wrestler now serving as a Blacksburg assistant. Humbert also is getting help in the upper weights from Virginia Tech graduate Steve Borja.
"Our big guys now have someone to push them and get it done," Humbert said.
Mostly, Humbert is channeling Dresser, who won eight VHSL Group AA titles at Grundy and five more at Christiansburg before becoming Tech's coach in 2006.
Humbert captured the Group AA championship at 125 pounds while wrestling for Dresser at Grundy in 1990.
"He's been a big mentor to me," Humbert said. "He's a great guy. Everything we do today is what we did back then. It's hard to get away from something that works."
Northside also had four individual champions in the tournament -- Dustin King (112), Cameron Hurd (119), Brady Craft (152) and Hunter Manspile (285).
Hurd, who is closing in on the Vikings' career record for match wins set last year by Tyler Deacon, overcame a 5-0 deficit to defeat Blacksburg's William Jones 7-6.
Northside was wrestling without injured 125-pounder Trent Kincer, but Agner had nothing but praise for Blacksburg.
"Blacksburg, shoot, they're better than us," Agner said. "They were better than us this weekend. Sure can't take anything away from them."
Cave Spring boasted two titlists, freshman Hunter Western at 103 and sophomore Andrew Benitez at 130. Benitez scored a win over Staunton River's Will Epperly, who was unable to finish the match after suffering a shoulder injury.
"I'd rather beat him fair and square and not hurting a guy," Benitez said. "I feel really bad for doing it."
Radford senior Tanner Sutphin, the Group A champion last year at 119 pounds, won the 125-pound class with a 17-2 technical fall over Covington's Chad Sizemore. Sutphin, slowed by mononucleosis at the start of the season, said being a returning state champ should work in his favor.
"I'm hoping people will dodge me," Sutphin said. "We'll see. But some people want to take down the king. I'm not in the best of shape. But I plan on getting another one."
Other titles Saturday were claimed by Staunton River's Jimmy Tyree (135), Covington's Ethan Bullock (145) and Patrick County's Chris Adkins (171).
Meet officials hustled to finish the tournament before the arrival of an expected ice storm.
Their efforts were slowed only when someone pulled and broke a fire alarm, and when an unruly spectator had to be ejected from the premises.
Larger fires are ahead for Blacksburg, which must contend with Christiansburg in the River Ridge District and the Blue Demons and Grundy in Region IV.
"Obviously, it's going to be a little bit harder," Phillips said. "Hopefully we can keep it rolling like this."
TITAN TOUGHMAN WRESTLING TOURNAMENT
At Hidden Valley H.S.
Team scores
1. Blacksburg (B) 230 1/2, 2. Northside (N) 220, 3. Staunton River (SR) 172 1/2, 4. Hidden Valley (HV) 156, 5. Lord Botetourt (LB) 137, 6. Patrick County (PC) 118, 7. Alleghany (A) 112, 8. Jefferson Forest (JF) 109 1/2, 9. Cave Spring (CS) 108, 10. Covington (Cov) 98 1/2, 11. Radford (R) 88 1/2, 12. Salem (S) 85, 13. E.C. Glass (ECG) 75 1/2, 14. Patrick Henry (PH) 53, 15. Virginia High (V) 42, 16. Roanoke Catholic (RC) 32.
Championship finals
103, Western (CS) p. Bramlett (SR) 3:52; 112, King (N) d. Wallace (JF), 7-6; 119, Hurd (N) d. Jones (B), 7-6; 125, Sutphin (R) tf. Sizemore (Cov), 17-2; 130, Benitez (CS) d. Epperly (SR), default; 135, Tyree (SR) d. Sandoe (R), 8-3; 140, Myers (B) md. Toliver (LB), 14-1; 145, Bullock (Cov) md. Manley (SR), 14-6; 152, Craft (N) d. Boughton (SR), 15-9; 160, Petersen (B) d. Clark (R), 10-9; 171, Adkins (PC) p. Copper (N), 5:47; 189, Phillips (B) d. Owens (V), 9-8; 215, Barbour (B) p. Semones (S), 1:56; 285, H.Manspile (N) d. Beemer (JF), 7-5, OT.
Third-place consolation
103, N.Kennedy (B) p. Ma (N), 4:13; 112, Cross (A) p. Bowden (Cov), 1:40; 119, Schumacher (ECG) tf. Talkington (A), 18-3; 125, Talevi (CS) d. A.Kennedy (B), 2-0; 130, Meador (LB) d. Batsambuu (HV), 3-1; 135, Cundiff (N) p. Shen (RC), 1:53; 140, Williams (HV) d. Burch (JF), 2-0; 145, Short (S) d. Juanarena (B), 6-5; 152, Booth (LB) d. Pullin (A), 4-2; 160, Kearns (HV) p. Neal (JF), 2:21; 171, Siegel (B) d. Kidd (SR), 7-0; 189, Santolla (LB) d. Brown (PH), 10-4; 215, Bembry (PC) p. Poe (ECG), 2:12; 285, Davis (A) p. Teal (HV), 2:24.
Fifth-place consolation
103, Duffy (PH) p. Drinkard (JF), 2:15; 112, Necessary (S) d. Hagin (LB), 10-7; 119, Jargalsaikhan (HV) p. Mayberry (Cov), :50; 125, Hale (N) p. Brabham (HV), 4:50; 130, MacCormac (ECG) p. Agner (N), 4:30; 135, Oxley (Cov) p. Snyder (LB), 4:13; 140, King (PC) d. Carr (S), forfeit; 145, Hamm (PC) p. D.Manspile (N), 4:23; 152, Overcash (B) p. Shumate (HV), :59; 160, Fike (SR) p. Hall (LB), 2:12; 171, Williams (HV) d. Cox (JF), forfeit; 189, R.Hall (S) d. Lilly (A), 7-0; 215, Black (HV) p. Eroh (A), 3:32; 285, McNichols (LB) p. Womack (PC), :47.
