varsity.roanoke.com

CHRISTIANSBURG -- As probabilities go, it seems unlikely that teams from the same county would sit atop the leaderboard at the end of a two-day wrestling tournament featuring 32 teams from five states.

From that perspective, it's fair to say the third annual Big Blue Invitational defied the odds.

While host Christiansburg did what every realistic soul in the building expected -- capture a team victory by a landslide while amassing a whopping 318 points -- the Blue Demons' fellow Montgomery County participants from Blacksburg may have been the biggest surprise of the event, which concluded Saturday night.

The Bruins, who took eighth in last year's Big Blue against six fewer teams, were decisive runner-ups after placing 152-pounder James Petersen and 189-pounder Joey Phillips in the finals.

Though neither claimed a title, Blacksburg still raked in 168 points, enough to comfortably fend off Thomas Dale for second.

"If you'd have told me we would be at the place where we're at right now, I would have maybe kind of smiled at you or whatever," said a grinning Blacksburg coach Kevin Humbert, whose team took top honors at Hidden Valley's Titan Toughman Tournament last month. "But kids are capable of doing it. Obviously, we got some good draws and kids have been stepping up. We're doing what we need to do to get there."

Phillips, Blacksburg's only top-three finisher at this event last year, said he wasn't surprised to see the Montgomery County schools come out on top.

"I think it just shows we all have the same thing and the same goal in mind," he said. "Everybody on our team's gotten older and we've gotten better and obviously Christiansburg's always good and everyone just kind of wants it."

Christiansburg finished with six champions -- two more than last year -- including repeat Big Blue kings Devin Carter (103) and Sam Rakes (152). The Blue Demons placed eight in the finals where its only losses came at 112 and 145 pounds.

"We're finding out some weaknesses that we've got to work on, but I'm happy with how the guys have wrestled," said Blue Demons coach Daryl Weber. "This team has done a great job of improving every week."

Timesland schools claimed four of the top 10 team finishes with Alleghany, sixth, and Glenvar, 10th.

Christiansburg's only apparent weakness was in the upper weight classes, where three Blue Demons fell in the semifinals. But Weber wasn't too concerned.

"Our upper weights have had a lot of success this year when our lower weights didn't have success. Our middle weights have had success when our upper weights didn't. It just depends on the competition," said the second-year Blue Demons' head man. "Some of our bigger guys they've lost some matches and they've exposed some weaknesses and we see what they need to work on, so it's a good thing. They're fired up and they're looking forward to the state tournament. ... This is exactly what they need."

Despite their semifinal losses, the Blue Demons eclipsed their point total from the 2007 Big Blue by 15. The hosts also laid claim to the only all-Timesland finals match, in which Rakes pinned Blacksburg's Petersen in 3:35. But Humbert wasn't discouraged.

"We're closing the gap [with Christiansburg]," he said. "People can say what they want and let them think. Hey, we'll meet them where we meet them and it'll fall as it may. That's the thing about wrestling, you've got to go out there for six minutes and at the end the score will tell. So have we closed the gap? Yes. I would be the first to admit that, yeah, we've closed the gap."

TEAM SCORES

1. Christiansburg (Ch) 318, 2. Blacksburg (Bl) 168, 3. Thomas Dale (TD) 146.5, 4. Laney (La) 131, 5. Caravel Academy (CA) 128.5; 6. Alleghany (Al) 121, 7. Centreville (Ce) 117.5, 8. Abingdon (Ab) 102.5, 9. Forsyth County Day (FC) 102, 10. Glenvar (Gl) 100, 11. Riverbend (Ri) 99, 12. William Fleming (WF) 83, 13. Massaponax (Ma) 79.5, 14. Richlands (Ri) 70, 15. Mercersburg Academy (MA) 67, 16. Hopewell (Ho) 64, 17. Randolph Henry (RH) 63.5, 18. Louisa (Lo) 61, 19. Floyd County (Fl) 54, 20. Tazewell (Ta) 43, 21. Atlee (At) 39, 22. Robert E. Lee Staunton (REL) 38, 23. Carroll County (CC) 38, 24. Bassett (Ba) 35, 25. Fluvanna County (Flu) 32, 26. Virginia (Vi) 28, 27. E.C. Glass (ECG) 24, 28. Camden Military Academy (Cam) 23, 29. Woodside (Wo) 21.5, 30. John Battle (JB) 12, 31. Virginia Episcopal (VE) 6.

CHAMPIONSHIP

103 -- Carter (Ch) md. Davis (CA), 12-1; 112 -- Martin (La) d. Meredith (Ch), 4-2; 119 -- Robertson (Ch) d. Greenhalgh (Ma), 6-3; 125 -- Buckworth (CA) md. Allison (Ta), 14-4; 130 -- Schafer (Ch) d. Wagner (La), 6-4; 135 -- Skubon (MA) md. Wagner (La), 14-1; 140 -- Mowles (Gl) p. Jones (TD), 1:24;145 -- Hickman (La) d. Rich (Ch), 8-4; 152 -- Rakes (Ch) p. Petersen (Bl), 3:35; 160 -- Woody (Ch) p. DelGrosso (Wo), 1:23;

171 -- Carter (Ch) md. Cox (Ab), 15-6; 189 -- Ranauto (CA) d. Phillips (Bl), 11-4; 215 -- Boyd (RH) p. Murphy (Ri), 1:46; 275 -- Miller (Ba) d. McCraw (CC), 3-2.

CONSOLATION (3RD AND 4TH)

103 -- Kennedy (Bl) d. Boomer (La.), 6-3; 112 -- Nunez (Al) d. Long (WF), 6-5; 119 -- Jones (Bl) md. Edwards (Al), 8-0; 125 -- Marsh (Ri) tf. Kennedy (Bl), 15-0; 130 -- Wilson (Ab) d. Murray (Al), 6-2; 135 -- Simmons (Ri) p. Myers (Bl), 2:40; 140 -- Santiso (Ma) d. Redd (WF), 10-4; 145 -- White (TD) d. Weaver (Al), 6-5; 152 -- Dikeman (Ce) p. Nickels (Ab), 4:27; 160 -- Dommert (TD) d. McNutt (Lo), 6-0; 171 -- Miller (Ce) p. Axelsson (CA), 2:58;189 -- Cheney (Ch) d. Martin (Ca), 3-2; 215 -- Weber (Ch) d. Barbour (Bl), 3-1; 275 -- Dillon (Ch) md. Penn (Fl), 11-2.

CONSOLATION (5th and 6th)

103 -- Smith (Al) p. Fox (Ri), 2:05; 112 -- Griffin (TD) d. Doyle (FC), 8-2; 119 -- Etcho (Ri) d. White (TD), 6-3; 125 -- Funder (FC) d. MacCormac (ECG), 5-0; 130 -- Wiley (Gl) md. Beckner (Fl), 12-4; 135 -- Wagner (La) d. Hooker (Gl), 3-2; 140 -- Micklus (Ce) p. Hodges (Ri), 3:51; 145 -- Barrick (MA) forfeit Lander (Fl); 152 -- Migkins (WF) d. Hokie (La), 14-8; 160 -- Allala (Ho) forfeit Wannenburg (FC); 171 -- Seymour (FC) d. O'Day (At), 6-4; 189 -- O'Brien (TD) def. Mitchell (Ab); 215 -- Slate (TD) md. Cothren (Al), 12-2; 275 -- Elkins (Lo) d. Smith (Ri), 3-1.

SEMIFINALS

103 -- Devin Carter (Ch) tf. Cody Smith (Al), 17-1; Brandon Davis (CA) d. Boomer Boys (La), 3-2; 112 -- Jeff Meredith (Ch) d. Sharraye Long (WF), 4-1; Jake Martin (La) md. Alberto Nunez (Al), 13-1; 119 -- Greenhalgh (Ma) p. William Jones (Bl), 0:31; Andrew Robertson (Ch) p. James White (TD), 3:11; 125 -- Matt Buckworth (CA) d. Zach Marsh (Ri), 6-5; Luke Allison (Ta) d. Christian Funder (FC), 7-6; 130 -- J.C. Wagner (La) md. Tyler Beckner (Fl), 9-1; Bobby Schafer (Ch) d. Aaron Wilson (Ab), 3-1; 135 -- Johnny Watson (FC) d. Zach Myers (Bl), 8-2; Garrick Skubon (MA) md. Adam Wagner (La), 14-1; 140 -- Jeremy Mowles (Gl) tf. Ethan Hodges (Ri), 15-0; Sam Jones (TD) d. David Micklus (Ce), 4-1; 145 -- Frank Hickman (La) md. Philip White (TD), 23-14; Rich Eva (Ch) md. Cody Barrick (MA), 10-1; 152 -- Sam Rakes (Ch) p. Chad Migkins (WF), 3:03; James Petersen (Bl) d. Dillion Hoke (La), 6-1; 160 -- Brian DelGrosso (Wo) d. Robbie Wannenburg (FC), 8-2; Derek Woody (Ch) d. John Dommert (TD), 4-1; 171 -- Braden Carter (Ch) md. Logan O'Day (At), 14-5; Hunter Cox (Ab) md. Brett Miller (Ce), 10-2; 189 -- Vinnie Ranauto (CA) p. David Cheney (Ch), 1:01; Joey Phillips (Bl) md. Patrick O'Brien (TD), 13-5; 215 -- Chris Boyd (RH) d. Jon Weber (Ch), 6-2; David Murphy (Ri) d. Luke Slate (TD), 4-3; 275 -- Andrew Miller (Ba) p. Josh Penn (Fl), 1:06; Drew McCraw (CC) d. Trey Dillon (Ch), 2-1.