Slap the Mat

:) Region 2A West has approved a regular season and post season format. In February a committee of wrestling coaches was formed to create a new format for next season. The committee had a coach from each of the conferences. Tim Woodward-Graham, Luke Owens-Central, David Street-Appomattox, Tim Jennings-James River. The plan has been approved and here is brief overview: The coaches main point of emphasis was an all-in Regional Tournament (19 wrestlers qualifying). The region has been divided into East & West Sub-Sections. Each Sub-Section has been divided into two Divisions (D#1 & D#2) East Sub Section-D#1-James River, Appomattox, Chatham, Martinsville, Randolph Henry D#2-Graham, Glenvar, Marion, Floyd Co., Grayson Co. West Sub-Section-D#1-Tazewell, Richlands,Grundy, Central D#2-John Battle, VA High, Lee, Union, Lebanon Each Division will have a Super Quad during the regular season to determine seeding in that Division. A Sub-Section Tournament will take the place of the District Tournament. D#1 vs. D#2 wrestlers in each Sub-Section. This tournament will determine: East-E#1 to E#10 & W#1 to W#9. Sub-Section Tournaments will determine seeding for the Regional Tournament The Regional Tournament will use a 16 Man Bracket with Pig-tail wrestle-in matches for weight classes with more than 16 wrestlers. The same brackets will be used for all weight classes. Format: E#1 & W#2 in one half of the bracket and W#1 & E#2 in the other half. This eliminates #1's meeting in the semi-finals.

Bristol Herald Courier has the full Tournament results and a nice story on the event. Sunday Sports Section.

Top Five Teams 1. James River 204.5 2. Rural Retreat 199 3. Parry McCluer 196 4. Chilhowie 165.5 5. Graham 125 Other MED Teams 8. Galax 91.5 15. Grayson 53 16. Ft. CHiswell 10 Graham Results 113 lbs. Dustin Hagerman - 2nd 120 lbs. Shane Hudson - 5th 182 lbs. Levi Stroupe - 4th 195 lbs. Robert Compton - 5th 220 lbs. Everett Vest - 2nd 285 lbs. Colin Beavers - 5th

Graham won the MED Wrestling Tournament at Galax today. Graham finished with a 26-2 record and was 3-0 in the MED Team Scores: Graham 203.5 Galax 139 Ft. Chiswell 69 Grayson Co. 65 Graham District Champions: 113 Dustin Hagerman, 120 Shane Hudson, 126 Tristan Evans, 132 Austin Miller, 170 Kyshon Lee, 195 Robert Compton, 220 Everett Vest, 285 Colin Beavers 2nd Place: 145 Jacob Evans, 152 Dacota Byrd, 160 Aaron Thompson 182 Levi Stroupe MED Wrestler of the Year: Dustin Hagerman, Graham MED Coach of the Year: Tim Woodward, Graham

:D The Graham Wrestling Team has gotten off to good start. They finished 3rd at the Carroll Co. Invitational, 2nd at the Chilhowie Duals, and 5th at the Bobby Bates. Dustin Hagerman has two 113 lbs. tournament championships and ten G-Men wrestlers placed in the top eight at the Bates. Coach Tim Woodward recorded his 300th win at the Chilhowie Tournament. After the Agie Skeens Graham will begin their MED schedule and host the 18th Graham Invitational on Jan. 26th.

Top Five Team Scores Region C Tournament Rural Retreat 186 James River 180 Parry McCluer 161 Graham 148 Radford 147 Graham Wrestler Results: 106 lbs. Dustin Hagerman 2nd 113 lbs. Heath Browning 4th 120 lbs. Shane Hudson 6th 138 lbs. Larry Hagerman 5th 145 lbs. Hunter Cook 5th 160 lbs. Dylan Cook 5th 170 lbs. Kevin Hale 5th 182 lbs. Nick Farley 6th 285 lbs. Everette Vest 2nd

Graham is having a great season due to a group of solid wrestlers and some good luck in escaping the illness and the injury bugs that can so easily deplete a lineup. Graham has been fortunate to be able to put 12 to 14 wrestlers on the mat for most of the season. This combined with the drop to single A and a new district have been favorable to G-Men wrestling. The MED Tournament that Graham won is their first ever District title in wrestling, including all the years in the SWD. Graham has not wrestled Grundy this year head to head as they have for the years they were both in the SWD. At tournaments this season Graham and Grundy wrestlers have met with very predictable results. If Graham and Grundy did wrestle a dual, Graham would be hard pressed to win a single match. Grundy always has been, is now, and will always be on a higher level with their wrestling program. Graham's current success owes a lot to the Grundy Wrestling Club. In 1993 the Grundy Club assisted with the start-up of the Bluefield Wrestling Club. They provided guidance, expertise, and help in acquiring mats. Ten wrestlers in the Graham line-up came up through the club, several of them starting when they were in kindergarten. Graham will have a very tough time getting a lot of wrestlers through the Region C Tournament. Region C is loaded with talent and the tournament will be very competitive. If Graham could get 4 or 5 wrestlers through to the State it would be a great accomplishment. A top 10 finish at State would be great, but very hard to do. I believe that Grundy can compete for the state title and a top 3 finish is very likely. Good luck to Coach Travis Fiser and the Golden Wave wrestlers as they compete in the Region D Tournament! Good luck to Coach Tim Woodward and the G-Men wrestlers as they compete in the Region C Tournament!

I am of the opinion that if the public schools are not good enough for the Home Schooled, then the after school programs of all types are not good enough either. They do not attend the school or get involved in student life, but they want to use the public schools as a vehicle to display their talents. The athletes who attend the public schools are subject to late night game trips and practice everyday. They are still expected to be at school on time and keep up with their assignments. Those that home school could sleep in and postpone their class work until they had the time to do it. Why should the home school kids be able to take positions and playing time from those actually attend the schools and are involved in all facets of student life? Let them form their own leagues, buy the equipment, find playing venues, etc. I do not believe they will be that well received by the student athletes at the schools they choose join.

Team Scores: Graham 197 Galax 165 Grayson County 100 Ft. Chiswell 28 Individual Results: Championship 106 lbs. D. Hagerman (GR) fall J. Sawyers (GX) 1:37 113lbs. H. Browning (GR) fall G. Gomez (GX) 1:31 120 lbs. S. Hudson (GR) fall K. Goard (FC) :31 126 lbs. J. Rojas (GX) fall A. Miller (GR) :36 132 lbs. T. Matthews (GX) fall G. Bailey (GC) 1:32 138 lbs. L. Hagerman (GR) fall W. Carrico (GC) 4:25 145 lbs. H. Cook (GR) fall C. Anderson (GC) 5:25 152 lbs. C. Anders (GC) fall D. Byrd (GR) :46 160 lbs. D. Sizemore (GX) dec. D. Cook (GR) 9-6 170 lbs. K. Hale (GR) fall J. Billings (GX) 1:08 182 lbs. F. Shalabi (GX) fall N. Farley (GR) 1:56 195 lbs. B. Sanchez GX fall R.Compton (GR) 4:20 220 lbs. C. Sizemore (GX) fall H. Moore (GC) 1:26 285 lbs. E. Vest (GR) fall E. Bryant (GC) 1:48 Consolations: 126 lbs. J. Brewer (FC) fall C. Beamis (GC) :48 138 lbs. T. Engberg (GX) win by FF 152 lbs. K. Robinson (GX) win by FF 160 lbs. T. Carrico (CG) win by FF 182 lbs. A. Huff (FC) win by FF 220 lbs. T. Evans (GR) win by FF 285 lbs. D. Cooper (GX) win by FF

Results from the Graham Tournament: Black Division: Graham 5-0 Eastside 5-0 Wyoming East 3-2 "B" Team Bandits 3-2 J.I. Burton 2-3 Blue Division: Bluefield 3-2 John Battle 3-2 Holston 1-4 River View 0-5 Patrick Henry (GS) 0-5 Most Outstanding Wrestler: 145 lbs. Colby Dean J.I. Burton Quickest Pin: 145lbs. Colby Dean J.I. Burton 6 seconds Best matches of the Tournament: 182 lbs. Jimil Vineyard Blfd & L.T. Horne River View 160 lbs. Logan Dean J.I. Burton & Brandon Eldridge Blfd. Graham finishes regular season 28-0, 9-0 MED Graham will host MED Tournament on 2-2-12 at GHS.

Bluefield Wrestling Club Mini Camp Thursday 7-14 6:00 to 8:00 pm GHS Gym Friday 7-15 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm GHS Gym Saturday 7-16 10:30 am to 4:30 pm GHS Gym Open to Kindergarten through 12th Grade Fee - $20.00 and $14.00 for AAU Card if needed. Guest Coach: Vince Taylor Four Time NAIA Champion Assistant Coaches: Tim Woodward & Ben Fritz No special equipment needed.

18th Annual Bluefield Wrestling Club Rumble. Saturday, March 26th. AAU K-12 Tournament. Graham High School Gym. Wrestling begins at 10:00 am. Admission - $3.00. Concessions available. Wrestlers from VA, WV, & TN.

Team Finishes and Records 1. Coeburn 5-0 2. Bluefield 4-1 3. Graham 4-1 4. J I Burton 3-2 5. John Battle 3-2 6. Pikeview 2-3 7. Wyoming East 2-3 8. Holston 1-4 9. Patrick Henry (GS) 1-4 10 St. Paul 0-5 Quickest Pin: 145 Colby Dean JIB 10 sec. / 189 T. J. Evans GRA 10 Sec. Most Outstanding Wrestler: Colby Dean 145 JIB Final Round Results: 1/2 COE 49 vs. BLF 30 3/4 GRA 52 vs. JIB 24 5/6 JSB 30 vs PV 12 7/8 WE 36 vs HOL 12 9/10 PH 24 vs SP 18

Is this the right box score? 112 - Graham - 6 Final Graham 42 Richlands 36 119 - Richalands - 6 125 - Richlands -6 130 - Richlands - 6 by FF 135 - Graham - 6 140 - Richlands - 6 145 - Richlands - 6 by FF 152 - Double FF 160 - Richlands - 6 171 - Graham - 6 189 - Graham - 6 by FF 215 - Graham - 6 by FF 285 - Graham - 6 103 - Graham - 6 by FF

1-18-11 @ GHS Bluefield 4-0 Graham 3-1 Princeton 2-2 Wyoming East 1-3 Ft. Chiswell 0-4 Rd.1 Graham 66 Ft. Chiswell 6 Princeton 42 Wyoming East 18 Rd.2 Bluefield 66 Ft. Chiswell 6 Graham 45 Wyoming East 18 Rd.3 Graham 45 Princeton 27 Bluefield 53 Wyoming East 16 Rd.4 Bluefield 54 Princeton 21 Wyoming East 36 Ft. Chiswell 12 Rd.5 Bluefield 39 Graham 36 Princeton 39 Ft. Chiswell 18

Results from 1-17-11 Richlands 42 Graham 36 Graham 36 Abingdon 35

In the BDT article the Graham Coach was talking about the District match at Grundy on Wednesday the 12th. This was postponed and rescheduled for Monday the 17th. Graham wrestlers will be busy next week. They will wrestle the following: Monday @ Grundy, Tuesday Super Quad @ home, Wednesday @ Tazewell, and Saturday @ Coeburn Duals.

Monday the 17th @ Grundy: Graham, Richlands, Abingdon, & Grundy Wednesday the 19th @ Tazewell: Graham, Grundy, & Tazewell

The official postings and numbers are on the VHSL website now

The rumor in Bluefiled is that Bobby Wyatt, Billy Roach, and Jerome Wolkoff are all coming to Graham to be assistants. No one up here will confirm or deny. Also rumors that Don Jones is going to Charlotte because he can't find teaching job locally. Concensus rumor is that Dave Litz will be at Bluefield this season.

Wrestling can not be compared to other sports in the criteria used in how the wrestlers qualify for the regional tournament. Wrestling is considered a team sport, but in the post season tournaments it becomes more of an individual sport. Thus the reason for the SWD qualifying 6, the RR 5, and the P 5. This fills the 16 man bracket with no 1st round byes as in the previous tournament format of the SWD, Piedmont, & Highlands districts. Football, basketball, and other true team sports use tournament type formats that don't allow "everyone" to go to the regionals only taking the top two from the district or top four from the region to advance for play offs. The format used with wrestling allows for wrestlers to qualify based on their own abilities , not the strength of their team.

Graham is hosting a 11 team dual tournament on the 31st. The tournament begins at 10:00 and will be held at Graham High School. The teams are: Graham, Princeton, Coeburn, Holston, Appalachia, St. Paul, J.J. Kelly, Bluefield, Powell Valley, Ft. Chiswell, & Pikeview.