Sunday, February 21, 2010
Migration to mats results in 7th in state
varsity.roanoke.com
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Many wrestlers from Timesland high schools etched their names in the VHSL record book Saturday.
Might not want to let the ink dry on this mouthful:
Munkhush Jargalsaikhan.
The lanky 135-pounder from Hidden Valley placed seventh in his Group AA weight class in the two-day VHSL tournament at Salem Civic Center.
Not bad for a kid who emigrated with his family from Mongolia in 2004 and didn't begin mastering English until two years later.
"I came here in sixth grade. I didn't learn English until I was in eighth grade," Jargalsaikhan said. "The first two years were kind of tough. Seeing as how I couldn't speak perfectly, I thought, 'Why not try out for sports?' So I started out with football."
Jargalsaikhan's middle school assistant principal Brian Hooker -- a former head football coach at Glenvar -- steered him toward wrestling as a seventh-grader.
Saturday night, Jargalsaikhan took the podium, although he was disappointed not to be a rung or two higher after finishing as the runner-up in last week's Region IV tournament.
"I really thought I would do better," Jargalsaikhan. "I was hoping to win. I guess today wasn't my best day."
Munkhush Jargalsaikhan's name -- all 21 letters -- will live on in VHSL lore.
Well, not completely.
Actually, the Hidden Valley athlete is using the shortened version featuring his middle name. His full name is Munkhireedui Munkhush Jargalsaikhan.
And guess what?
"My parents' names are actually longer," he said.
Jargalsaikhan played varsity football for Hidden Valley, but choosing wrestling was probably a wise move.
A college or pro football career might require him to put his name on the back of a uniform. How would that be possible?
"I guess I'd have to do a circle," he said.
Got to be the shoes
What was the margin of victory for Christiansburg's Nick Criner in his 285-pound consolation match Saturday against Harrisonburg's Landon Turner?
A measly pair of shoelaces.
Turner, a 6-foot-5 Division I-A football prospect, lost 2-1 in overtime to Criner when he was assessed a penalty point late in OT for a wardrobe malfunction.
Turner's shoelaces came untied during the match, a violation of a rule instituted several years ago to prevent stalling.
Wrestlers who wear shoes with laces are allowed to secure them under velcro straps on the footwear. Turner chose to tie his laces over the velcro straps. By rule, the first offense produced the penalty point.
Tournament referee Mike Ingrao said that over time the rule unofficially has been relaxed to the point some coaches mistakenly believed their wrestlers were within the rule simply by tying their laces in a double knot. Ingrao said he specifically addressed the issue last fall in rules clinics and during a pre-tournament coaches meeting.
Harrisonburg coach Mike Dickerson protested to no avail.
"The coach said, 'I hate we have to end the year like this.' I said, 'Were you at the clinic in October? Were you at the meeting the other night when we went over this?'
"I'm sorry, but what this tells me is 'You've been doing this all year and now it came up and bit you at a really inopportune time.' "
Criner went on to place fourth in the weight class, while Turner was seventh.
Third the hard way
Two wrestlers in the Group AA tournament -- Lord Botetourt's Michael Jones (285) and Grundy's Dakota Vance (130) -- earned third place in their respective classes by taking the long road.
Both lost their first-round matches Friday morning, meaning each had to win five matches in a 16-hour period -- counting sleep time -- to come back and finish third.
Jones, who lost just two matches all season, scored an 11-5 decision over Criner in the consolation final.
Timesland checklist
Jones was one of five Timesland wrestlers who placed third. The others were Staunton River's Jeremy Tyree (140), Christiansburg's James Linkous (145) and Blacksburg's duo of Zach Myers (152) and James Petersen (171).
Fourth-place honors went to Criner, Cave Spring's C.T. Talevi (140), Staunton River's Dustin Kidd (189) and Marion's Zeb Rhodes (215).
Cave Spring's Andrew Benitez (135) and Salem's Devin Smith (189) placed fifth.
Finishing sixth were Jefferson Forest's Will Drinkard (119), Staunton River's Chris Tyree (152) and Northside's Ryan Moran (215).
