Friday, February 19, 2010
Christiansburg focused on winning matches, not just beating Grundy
varsity.roanoke.com
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While there will be no shortage of stories coming out of the state wrestling tournaments that all begin today, there's one that has gotten a lot of attention going in.
Christiansburg and Grundy have clashed twice so far this season with the Blue Demons besting the Golden Wave in a dual meet and most recently at the Region IV tournament.
Christiansburg has won eight consecutive state titles and begins the quest for the ninth today with 10 wrestlers hitting the mat.
Grundy is also sending 10 to today's Group AA tournament and would seem to be the most obvious challenger as everyone tries to unseat the Blue Demons.
Does Christiansburg coach Daryl Weber worry about any of that stuff?
Nah.
But he outlined a pretty simple plan for what his team will need to do to be successful.
"They just need to focus on what they need to do to win matches," he said. "We don't need to worry about winning a ninth state title. We don't need to worry about what Grundy's gonna do. You can't sit back and watch what they're doing. We just want to focus on what we need to do to win."
And it's not exactly the Blue Demons' first rodeo.
Especially for returning state champions Devin Carter and Rich Eva.
And more is expected of them from their coach.
"They're the leaders," Weber said. "They're gonna go out and they're expected by the coaching staff and they expect of themselves to go out there and dominate. They're not coming to this tournament just to win it. They wanna ... dominate every opponent."
If past success is any indication, the Blue Demons should know what to do when the time comes today.
Returning champs
Five state champions return from last year's Group A tournament and four return from the Group AA tournament.
For Group A, Maximo Gonzalez-Puedes of Manassas Park won in the 112-pound weight division last year and will wrestle at 119 this weekend along with last year's 119 champ, Edu Rojas from Galax.
Glenvar's Jason Ayers is wrestling at 145 after winning at 135 last season, Radford's Julian Minter won at 145 last year and will go at 152, while Mathews' Garrett Fosdyck will try to defend the 285 title.
Blacksburg's Neal Kennedy will wrestle at 119 after his 103 title last season. Christiansburg's Carter is now at 130 after winning at 112, and Eva is at 152 after last year's win at 145. Willie Crawford of Fluvanna County will wrestle at 189 after last season's 171 title.
Group AAA roll call
Seven wrestlers from Franklin County and two from William Fleming will participate in the Group AAA tournament at Robinson High School.
Andrew Turner (112), David Carey (135), Bruce Brown (140), Hunter Adams (152), James Bisnett (160), Jonathan Jones (171) and Taylor Horner (285) will represent the Eagles.
Sharraye Long (135) and Marquis Porterfield (285) will represent the Colonels.
