Wrestlers compete at region, state meets

By Hannah Wever
Published: February 24, 2010

Like every other high school winter sport, wrestling took its share of hits from winter weather. For the first time in the history of the Jefferson District, the league couldn't hold district wrestling finals. Without the season-ending tournament, the top four wrestlers in each weight class from the regular season advanced straight to the Region II meet at James Wood High School.
Orange County High School sent 10 wrestlers to the Region II meet, with one qualifying to compete at the State AA meet last weekend in Salem.
The Region II meet is a double-elimination tournament. Wrestlers are seeded and remain in the winners' bracket until they lose. If they lose a match, they enter the losers' bracket where they continue to wrestle until they lose again.
Phillip Coleman (103) was the Hornets' top finisher at the Region II meet, finishing in fourth place with a record of 3-2.
Coleman beat Broad Run's Luis Chiche 6-0 and Warren County's Kyle Pannell 4-2. He lost to James Wood's Taylor Swartz 4-0, but rebounded to beat Chiche again 7-5 in the loser's bracket. Coleman lost his final match by fall to Bennett Payne of Fauquier.
At the State AA meet, Coleman opened with a loss to Brookville's Luke Stewart. However, he rebounded in the losers' bracket with a 7-0 win over Aaron Haywood of Richlands. But his state experience ended in his next match, a loss to Tabb's Aaron Williams.
Zach Ryder (135) was the Hornets' other top finisher at the Region II meet, finishing in fifth place, one spot out of an automatic State AA meet bid.
Ryder went 4-2 at the Region II meet, beating James Woods' Chris Ewign 6-0, but falling to Thomas Philbrick of Freedom. He beat Shiruna Ntenda of Charlottesville 15-0 and Daniel VanGorder of Brentsville 4-2 in overtime. Ryder lost to Vince DiRenzo of Broad Run and beat Handley's Cody Crenshaw by forfeit to finish fifth in the region.
Other Hornets competing at the state meet included Kain Sigler (112) who went 0-2, Hugh Morris (119) who went 1-2, Justin Fowler (125) who went 0-2, Jack Coleman (130) who went 1-2, Ryan Almond (140) who went 1-2, Colin Pierce (145) who went 0-2, Sean Raftery (152) who went 1-2 and Connor Nave (160) who went 0-2.
As a team, the Hornets finished 18th.