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Nick Manley walked off the mat covered in sweat.

There would have been blood, too, had both nostrils not been plugged with cotton.

Yep, the kid looked like a wrestler Friday night. And a good one.

The Staunton River junior achieved a rare feat for a Timesland wrestler in the VHSL Group AA tournament -- taking down a competitor from Christiansburg.

Manley fired up Staunton River's fans at Salem Civic Center, and he sent Golden Eagles coach Ron Long leaping from the chair in the corner by pinning Christiansburg freshman Tyler Miles in 5 minutes, 36 seconds to reach today's 9:30 a.m. 152-pound semifinals.

"It's huge," said Manley, who faces unbeaten Chase McAdams of Poquoson today. "It's the first Christiansburg kid I've wrestled, and I pinned him, so I'm pretty happy."

Christiansburg coach Daryl Weber wasn't smiling.

While the Blue Demons were well on their way to an eighth consecutive state title with a 33¹₂-point lead over second-place Grundy through the quarterfinals, Weber was miffed that his team lost four of its 12 second-round matches.

Also exiting early were Keith Krafft (103), Luke Rakes (140) and Phillip Dowdy (285).

"We lost four matches that last round, and I thought we could have won every one of them, so I'm not too happy about that. They didn't execute the game plan. The game plan is to wrestle six minutes. You can't wrestle two minutes, then take a two-minute break. That's what happened. ...

"I can handle losses when we compete the whole time. When we don't compete the whole time, that's hard to handle."

There was plenty for Christiansburg to celebrate, however.

Start with freshman Brady Epperly, who shocked once-beaten Zeb Stewart of Brookville with a 2:36 fall. The ninth-grader was cheered on by his older brother, Matt, a four-time state champ at Christiansburg and a reigning ACC champion for Virginia Tech.

"He just went out there and caught the guy," Weber said. "He just wrestled hard the whole time. Good things happen when you wrestle hard the whole time."

Christiansburg's parade to the semifinals began with Devin Carter. Last year's champion at 103, and now the nation's No. 1-ranked 112-pounder, Carter advanced with a pin over Lance Hawn of Grafton in 1:45.

Also winning by pin in the quarters for Christiansburg were Carter's brother, Braden, at 171, and senior Derek Woody (160). James Linkous (135), Rich Eva (145), David Cheney (189) and nationally ranked Jon Weber (215).

While the outcome of the team champion carries little suspense, there are plenty of story lines involving Timesland wrestlers.

The two returning champions from Henry County -- Magna Vista's Tony Gravely (119) and Virginia Tech football signee Andrew Miller of Bassett (285) -- both cruised to the semifinals with two victories.

Gravely, who is looking for his third straight Group AA title, is coming off his first loss in three years, a 10-3 decision to Grundy's Jeremy Hurley in the Region IV final. Gravley said he had a sinus infection last week that has since improved.

"I just finally went to the doctor," he said. "I should have went a whole lot sooner. Coach kept telling me to go, but I thought I'd work it out on my own. I got some antibiotics and it cleared up in about two days."

The Magna Vista senior is now trying to turn a negative into a positive.

"I didn't want to lose, but I guess it worked out good," Gravely said. "It finally opened my eyes up."

Northside senior Brady Craft improved to 39-1 with a pair of wins, including a 3-2 squeaker over Grundy freshman Tyler McClanahan with a last-minute reversal. Craft edged McClanahan 8-4 for the Big Orange Classic title last month.

"He's a great opponent," Craft said. "I knew it was going to be a good match."

Craft is two wins away from a state title under veteran coach Mark Agner.

"It's definitely going to get harder," Craft said. "It would be a dream come true. Not just one for me, but for my team and Coach Agner."

Blacksburg and Carroll County each put two in the semis. Neal Kennedy (103) and Zach Myers (145) made it for the Bruins, while Blake Bowman (130) and Drew McCraw (285) survived for Carroll.

If McCraw makes the final, he could again face his nemesis Miller, who decisioned him 5-2 last week. McCraw said he enjoys facing Miller. The two big men even locked horns twice on the football field.

"I sure am looking forward to it," McCraw said. "He's a little bit bigger than I am, and his legs are pretty strong. The last two years in football I've been right up in front of him every time we played them, and I was more excited about it."

William Byrd's Andrew Nicely (112) and William Byrd's Zack Santolla also reached the semifinals. Santolla survived dizzy spells and three points assessed for stalling in his 13-6 first-round victory over R.J. Hall of Salem.

"He drank too many sports drinks before the match and he got dehydrated," Botetourt coach Mike Spence said. "That's energy to wake you up, not energy to fight a battle like this."