Four Hornets place in AAA region tourney

Orange County High School wrestler Sean Raftery was crowned a Northwest Region champion last weekend after rolling through the 160-pound weight class undefeated.

Raftery was one of four Hornets to place in the tournament, which featured wrestlers from more than two dozen AAA schools.

In addition to Raftery’s title, Ryan Almond (152) placed second, Billy Knabe (285) finished third and Zach Ryder (170) was fifth. Raftery, Almond and Knabe will advance to this weekend’s state AAA meet at Robinson High School. Collectively, the Hornets amassed 88 points to finish seventh out of 27 teams. Commonwealth District opponent Colonial Forge (276.5) again took the regional title, comfortably ahead of second-place Forest Park (166.5).

Raftery opened his title run by blanking Battlefield’s Andrew Thomas 17-0 in his opening match. Next, he beat Gar-Field’s Jawaun Lee 8-2, setting up a semifinal match with Osbourn Park’s Tony Campos. Raftery again won by a score of 17-0, advancing to the title match. There, he beat Hylton’s Mark Darr 7-5 to earn the Northwest Regional title.

Almond also made it to the title match (in the 152-pound division), but came up just short in his bid for a regional title. He opened with a forfeit win over Battlefield’s Chase Richardson and backed that up with a 7-2 win over Hylton’s Mike James. In the semifinals, Almond beat Osbourn Park’s Alex Gowers 5-3, landing the Hornet in the title match. There, Forest Park’s Kevin Johnson won 3-0, giving the Hornet a runner-up finish.

Knabe opened with a forfeit win over Freedom’s Mykell Anderson and then pinned George Washington’s Talik Martin. He lost to Forest Park’s James Vawter, sending him to the losers’ bracket with a chance for redemption. There, he did just that. Knabe pinned Osbourn Park’s Justin Kanson to put himself in a position to wrestle for the third-place spot. Knabe pinned Franklin County’s Shaun Greer to place third in the 285 division.

Ryder was the only other Hornet to place, but finished one spot out of advancing to the state tournament this weekend.

Ryder opened with a 10-6 win over Gar-Field’s Ishmail Bundu and followed that up with a 9-7 decision over Franklin County’s Derick Kromer. Ryder lost to Patriot’s Anthony Olsen 8-5, but remained alive in the losers’ bracket. After a 3-1 loss there to Osbourn Park’s Steven Wittenberg, Ryder wrestled Kromer again for fifth place and won 9-0.

Other Hornets who participated in last weekend’s regional tournament included Isaiah Coleman-Combs (106) who went 1-2, Hugh Morris (126) who went 0-2, Kirk Sweeney (132) who went 1-2, Bruce Schlegel (138) who went 1-2, Mike Benner (145) who went 1-2, Trevor Payne (182) who went 1-2 and Tyler Dodson (195) who went 1-2.