Sunday, March 09, 2008
Christiansburg wins 7th straight wrestling crown
Photos by JARED SOARES The Roanoke Times
Christiansburg's Devin Carter locks up Grundy's Sean Vandyke during Saturday night's Group AA wrestling tournament. Carter captured the 103-pound title.
William Byrd's Brian Wood reacts after defeating Chancellor's Chris Smith during Saturday night's Group AA wrestling tournament at Salem Civic Center. Wood captured the 130-pound weight class title.
Outside Salem Civic Center on Saturday night, March was coming in like a lion.
Inside, the VHSL Group AA wrestling championship trophy was going out with the Demons.
Again.
Six-time defending champion Christiansburg made it seven in a row as the Blue Demons turned back an upset bid by Region IV-rival Grundy for a 161 12-129 12 victory.
Sam Rakes highlighted Christiansburg's coronation by claiming his third successive individual championship by winning the 152-pound division. Sophomore Devin Carter grabbed the other gold medal for the River Ridge District champs, giving the Blue Demons 34 Group AA champs since the dawn of their dominance in 2002.
It was the second title for Christiansburg under coach Daryl Weber, who wasn't joking when he said after securing the title:
"I'm going to Disney World."
There was nothing Mickey Mouse about the competition Weber's team faced Saturday.
Unlike 2007 when Christiansburg claimed eight individual titles and had the team championship locked up before lunchtime, the Blue Demons headed into Saturday night's championship round with work to do.
It didn't take long.
Carter's 13-3 major decision over Grundy's Sean Vandyke in the opening bout locked up the title for Christiansburg. By the time Carter's headgear was off, his teammates were putting on brand new T-shirts with "7X Champions" emblazoned on the back.
For most of the 2007-08 Blue Demons, it was their first fitting. Five of Christiansburg's 2007 champions graduated, and two others -- Andrew Clement and Drew Squires -- transferred out of the program.
"Everybody thought because we lost so many guys at the beginning of the year that none of us were going to step up, but we're just as good as last year and we proved it," Carter said.
Christiansburg won last year's championship by 173 12 points. Grundy, a former dynasty now on a five-year dry spell without producing an individual titlist, put up a good fight with a young team of its own.
"We had a lot of adversity this year," Rakes said. "At the beginning we were a little nervous. It's not as big as we normally win, but it still means as much."
Displaying a tattoo with Philippians 4:13 in script on his upper back, Rakes registered the only pin of the finals, sticking Grundy's Josh McCowen in 2 minutes, 46 seconds. Headed either to Liberty University or Edinboro (Pa.), Rakes walked off a high school mat for the last time.
"It's sad and I'm going to miss it, but I'm going to keep wrestling," said Rakes, who finished with 171 career victories and 21 tournament championships.
Nine Christiansburg wrestlers placed in the top eight and only two were seniors. Juniors Andrew Robertson (119), Derek Woody (160) and Braden Carter (171) finished second. Carter nearly took down unbeaten Derrick Borlie of Millbrook in his final, losing 6-5.
"It's really a testament to the faith these kids had in the coaching staff and the faith the coaching staff had in these kids," Weber said amid a swarm of folks into one corner of the civic center wearing some sort of Christiansburg shirt. Most of them were waiting for the victory party back at Hawkeye Hall -- the team's New River Valley headquarters.
While Christiansburg's celebration might have been muted and familiar, few winners were as joyous as William Byrd senior Brian Wood, who capped his career by taking the 125-pound title with a 6-2 decision over Chris Smith of Chancellor.
Wood, 36-4, became the Terrriers' first state champ since Brad Argabright won at 103 in 2000.
"It's special because I really looked up to him," Wood said. "He was always really nice to me when I was a little kid. I've been thinking about this since I was probably, 6 years old."
The match was tied 2-2 before Wood rolled out of a cradle hold and took Smith to the mat and earned a pair of extra near-fall points. After the whistle, he leaped into the arms of second-year coach Reed Carpenter -- a former NCAA qualifier for Virginia Tech.
"I think he's a really good coach," Wood said. "He's just out of college and has that college style."
Another Blue Ridge wrestler -- Northside's Clay Cundiff -- fell one match short of a state title with a 6-2 loss to Turner Ashby's Bryce Kiser in the 135-pound final. Jefferson Forest's Chris Bowyer (189) also was a runner-up.
William Byrd finished sixth overall, while Northside was sixth.
Magna Vista junior Tony Gravely completed a rare feat -- finishing undefeated in back-to-back seasons for a second Group AA title.
Gravely followed last year's victory at 103 pounds by blanking Grundy's Jeremy Hurley 6-0 in the 112-pound final, finishing 37-0 to run his two-year winning streak to 65 matches.
"It was tougher this time because everybody was coming for me," said Gravely, the only state champion in Magna Vista school history. "I had to work harder to defend it."
The match was held up repeatedly because of blood gushing from Hurley's forehead and left nostril.
"I think his nose kind of hit my head," Gravely said.
Gravely wasn't the only Piedmont District wrestler to complete an unbeaten season.
Bassett junior Andrew Miller laid waste to the 285-pound division, capping a 49-0 season with a 10-1 spanking of defending champion Ryan Jackson of Brookville.
First-year Bassett coach Stephen Biedrycki was thrilled to see Miller win the title, until the Bengals behemoth appeared ready to jump into the much smaller coach's arms.
"I've got a little background in Greco-Roman wrestling so I'd have done my best to keep him on his feet," Biedrycki said.
No one else did anything with Miller, who has a football scholarship offer from Virginia.
"He's rare, because he's a heavyweight that will attack your legs," Biedrycki said. "In the future, I would not hesitate to say that he could be an Olympic champion. If he would devote himself to the sport of wrestling, I believe he's got the talent to be an Olympic champion."
Jackson, who underwent knee surgery after Brookville's football season, had just 12 matches under his belt this year and was no match for Miller.
"I knew he was out of shape," Miller said. "He's a real good opponent always."
