Sunday, February 14, 2010
Christiansburg finishes strong
The Blue Demons grab another Region IV title with the help of five champions in the finals.
MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times
Christiansburg's Zach Epperly (right) won a major decision over Hidden Valley's Munkhush Jargalsaikhan to claim the 135-pound division at the Region IV wrestling tournament on Saturday. Epperly was one of five Blue Demons to win regional titles.
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CHRISTIANSBURG -- Heading into the championship matches of Saturday's Region IV wrestling tournament, the two most storied Group AA wrestling programs were separated by just six points, with Christiansburg leading Grundy, 231 ½-225 ½.
The Blue Demons had six wrestlers in the finals and Grundy had seven.
Basically, the team that won the most individual championships was probably going to be taking home some hardware.
And Christiansburg was the team to accomplish that.
The Blue Demons went 5-for-6 in the finals in their home gym, including the only head-to-head matchup between the two powerhouses, and won the region championship with 254 ½ points.
In the pivotal match at 112, Christiansburg's Joey Dance took home the win over Grundy's Sean Vandyke 9-3 and started the Blue Demon championship train rolling.
So did head coach Daryl Weber say anything to Dance about how crucial that win could be?
"He didn't want to make me too nervous," Dance said.
Christiansburg's squad didn't seem nervous, as Devin Carter followed with a win at 130, then Zach Epperly at 135 and Brady Epperly at 140.
By the time Rich Eva polished off a 5-0 decision over Blacksburg's Zach Myers at 152, the Blue Demons had locked things up.
"We lost a couple starters, but we just came through the adversity and everybody else on the team stepped up," Eva said.
This tournament was very different than the 2009 edition, where Christiansburg ran away with the title.
And Weber is happy with how his team has battled.
"After January hit ... we had a change in the lineup and our kids were really excited about the challenge in front of us, and it's really lit a fire under the coaching staff and the kids because we know it's not gonna get handed to us. So we gotta work and we gotta really coach these kids up," he said.
So far so good for the Blue Demons, as 10 of them are heading to the Group AA tournament to try to win the school's ninth state title in a row.
Grundy will be there, too. The Golden Wave had three individual champs, also placed 10 in the state tournament, and finished second with 237½ points.
Hidden Valley earned third place with 166 points, led by David Williams' championship at 160 pounds, a 5-4 win over Grundy's Tyler McClanahan.
"Good win. Just the regional tournament. Everything leads up to states," Williams said. "He's a tough kid, I barely pulled it out. Gotta be ready to go next week."
The Titans have six guys moving on past the region.
Blacksburg earned fourth place with 114 points, along with James Peterson earning the title at 171 pounds with a fall over Grundy's Tanner McClanahan.
Cave Spring finished fifth with 113 ½ points.
Salem finished sixth but had two Region IV champs with Devin Smith winning at 189 over Pulaski County's Tommy Wojcik and Jacob Semones winning at 215 with a pin of Tunstall's Ryan Williams.
The Group AA tournament will be held at the Salem Civic Center next weekend.
At Christiansburg H.S.
Team scores
1. Christiansburg (Cb) 254 ½, 2. Grundy (Gr) 237 ½, 3. Hidden Valley (HV) 166, 4. Blacksburg (B) 114, 5. Cave Spring (CS) 113 ½, 6. Salem (Sa) 111 ½, 7. Marion (Ma) 84, 8. Richlands (Rc) 83, 9. Martinsville (Mt) 77, 10. Tazewell (Tz) 71, 11. Magna Vista (MV) 61, 12. Abingdon (A) 60 ½, 13. Pulaski County (PuC) 58, 14. Carroll County (CC) 51 ½, 15. Patrick County (PaC) 50, 16. Tunstall (Tu) 45, 17. Graham (Gh) 30 ½, 18. Bassett (Ba) 16.
Championship finals
103 -- Austin Compton (Gr) d. Aaron Haywood (Rc), 8-1.
112 -- Joey Dance (Cb) d. Sean Vandyke (Gr), 9-3.
119 -- Jeremy Hurley (Gr) d. Neal Kennedy (B), 6-1.
125 -- Cody Wilson (Tz) d. Justin Street (Gr), 5-1.
130 -- Devin Carter (Cb) p. Chad Conner (Sa), 1:11.
135 -- Zach Epperly (Cb) m.d. Munkhush Jargalsaikhan (HV), 11-1.
140 -- Brady Epperly (Cb) d. C.T. Talevi (CS), 5-2.
145 -- Cody Rife (Gr) d. Trae Patterson (HV), 11-5.
152 -- Rich Eva (Cb) d. Zach Myers (B), 5-0.
160 -- David Williams (HV) d. Tyler McClanahan (Gr), 5-4.
171 -- James Peterson (B) p. Tanner McClanahan (Gr), 5:07.
189 -- Devin Smith (Sa) d. Tommy Wojcik (PuC), 2-1.
215 -- Jacob Semones (Sa) p. Ryan Williams (Tu), 1:28.
285 -- Zach McClanahan (Rc) d. Nick Criner (Cb), 5-1.
Consolation finals
103 -- Daniel Stinespring (B) d. Dane Peoples (Cb), 12-9.
112 -- Ralph Price (Mt) p. Jake Estep (Rc), :48.
119 -- Justin Vernon (PaC) p. Gabe Lumpp (Cb), :29.
125 -- Jake Brabham (HV) d. Keith Krafft (Cb), 9-3.
130 -- Dakota Vance (Gr) d. Jake Kite (HV), 3-0.
135 -- Andrew Benitez (CS) d. John Dotson (Gr), forfeit.
140 -- Ethan Owens (Gr) p. Jordan Lamb (CC), 1:25.
145 -- James Linkous (Cb) d. Scot Freeman (CS), 9-5.
152 -- Jordy Martin (HV) d. Aaron McReynolds (Tz), forfeit.
160 -- Aaron Williard (CC) d. Tanner Howell (Gh), 9-7.
171 -- Matt Bowman (PuC) p. Freddie Williams (Mt), 2:34.
189 -- Nick Groseclose (Ma) d. Cory Reese (CS), 2-1, OT.
215 -- Chris Bembry (PaC) d. Zeb Rhodes (Ma), 4-2.
285 -- Cray Webb (CS) p. Brent Myers (Ma), 2:30.
Championship semifinals
103 -- Haywood (Rc) d. Stinespring (B), 16-11; Compton (Gr) p. Peoples (Cb), 3:25.
112 -- Dance (Cb) p. Estep (Rc), :53; Vandyke (Gr) p. Duarte (MV), 1:52.
119 -- Kennedy (B) p. Jenkins (A), 3:17; Hurley (Gr) p. Vernon (PaC), 1:18.
125 -- Street (Gr) m.d. Krafft (Cb), 11-1; Wilson (Tz) p. Brabham (HV), 3:01.
130 -- Conner (Sa) d. Kite (HV), 11-9, OT; Carter (Cb) p. Vance (Gr), 3:15.
135 -- Jargalsaikhan (HV) m.d. Benitez (CS), 12-3; Z. Epperly (Cb) d. Dotson (Gr), 6-3.
140 -- Talevi (CS) m.d. Lamb (CC), 8-0; B. Epperly (Cb) d. Owens (Gr), 6-0.
145 -- Patterson (HV) d. Freeman (CS), 9-4; Rife (Gr) d. Linkous (Cb), 5-4.
152 -- Myers (B) d. Martin (HV), 9-2; Eva (Cb) p. McReynolds (Tz), 4:26.
160 -- Ty. McClanahan (Gr) p. Wade (Cb), 3:06; Williams (HV) p. Howell (Gh), 4:51.
171 -- Ta. McClanahan (Gr) tech. fall Bowman (PuC), 18-3; Peterson (B) p. Osborne (Ma), 4:35.
189 -- Wojcik (PuC) p. Reese (CS), 5:44; Smith (Sa) d. McCowan (Gr), 4-1.
215 -- Williams (Tu) p. Weller (Cb), 1:23; Semones (Sa) tech. fall Bembry (PaC), 17-0.
285 -- Z. McClanahan (Rc) p. Webb (CS), 3:46; Criner (Cb) p. Myers (Ma), 3:45.
