Monday, January 12, 2009
Balanced Vikings cruise to title
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The Highlander Invitational at Glenvar High School on Saturday boasted a ton of Timesland wrestlers, a few returning state champions, and highly competitive matches.
Northside won the team championship with an overall score of 227.5, far ahead of second-place Castlewood, which finished with 153.5.
"We've been in tournaments every [weekend] for the last six or seven in a row," said Northside head coach Mark Agner. "I think it's paying dividends.
"We put a good guy out in every weight class, therefore we're real balanced."
That was evidenced by the fact that the Vikings had nine wrestlers in championship matches.
There's no break in sight for Northside either.
"It's back to practice Monday [to] work on things that we felt like we could have done better tonight," said Agner. "Maybe that's what's got us where we're at. This team has a great work ethic."
Glenvar came in third with 151.5 points. Radford was fourth, and James River came in fifth.
Covington took seventh and Rural Retreat, Bassett and Martinsville finished eighth, ninth and 11th, respectively.
As for individual winners, Glenvar had the most with four.
Kahlil Caruzo won at 103 pounds, Tyler Tate won at 119, Jason Ayers won 140 and Alex Asimakoplous won 215.
"Our kids wrestled hard," said Glenvar head coach Kevin Clifford. "There's good, quality teams here. We've wrestled in some tough tournaments ... There were some good wrestlers here."
Radford had three winners with William Saunders at 135, Julian Minter at 145 and J Clark at 160.
For Northside, Luke Hale won 125 and Brady Craft won 152.
Andrew Miller and Michael Hodges of Bassett won at 275 and 171, respectively.
Chad Sizemore of Covington won the 130 match and took home best wrestler honors.
Bassett's Miller getting in the groove
Last year, Andrew Miller didn't lose a match.
This year he's lost two.
But Miller insists that staying on top and possibly defending last year's Group AA championship is all about not looking too far ahead.
"I didn't wrestle like I wanted to. I'm trying to fix that now," he said. "Taking it one step at a time. You never know what's gonna happen.
"You can't overlook anybody."
He didn't overlook his opponent at the Highlander Invitational but it looks like he's starting to wrestle the way he wants.
Miller won the championship with a pin over Covington's Devonte Laws in 50 seconds.
Johnny Price headlines upcoming tournaments
Franklin County High School is hosting the first annual Johnny Price Memorial Tournament on Saturday.
Weigh-ins start at 8:30 a.m. and the round robin matches will begin around 10 a.m.
The Timesland schools other than Franklin County that will be participating are Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Staunton River and Jefferson Forest.
Albemarle, E.C. Glass, Halifax, Gar-Field and George Washington will also participate.
The following weekend, Jan. 23-24, showcases the Big Blue Tournament at Christiansburg and the Big Orange Tournament at William Byrd.
