BDT - J.J. Kelly nips Graham in tourney

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J.J. Kelly nips Graham in historic wrestling tourney

 

By JED LOCKETT

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

 

BLUEFIELD, Va. — It was an early morning for everybody at Graham High School. The zest usually associated with an event like this was not evident early, but it grew into a crescendo by the afternoon.

 

When that crescendo occurred, history was made in an already historic edition of an event. For the first time, the Graham G-Men lost in the final of the Graham Invitational Wrestling Tournament at Graham High School. J.J. Kelly took the title with a 36-33 win.

 

“I’m just glad we were able to win it for eight years in a row,†said Graham head coach Tim Woodward. “You’re not going to win it every year and Kelly is a good, quality opponent. I’m happy for them that they won and it came down to just a three-point difference.â€

 

The Virginia Siders rolled through their Pool A matches, going a perfect 4-0. The Indians accomplished the same feat in Pool B, setting up a clash in the final between two teams that have become rivals.

 

“It’s kind-of like every time we look up, they’re across the mat,†Woodward said. “When they’re tight like that, it makes for a good match, good entertainment for the crowd.â€

 

Graham’s Tanner Howell was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. The 145-pounder went 5-0 to improve to 40-4 for the season — and fulfilled a dream in the process.

 

“The people I wrestled gave me hard matches. I won both my matches by one point,†Howell said. “I can’t believe I got most outstanding wrestler. It’s been like my aspiration since I’ve been here.â€

 

“Tanner did an amazing job today,†Woodward said. “He wrestled one match at 152 and wrestled a good wrestler from Holston there and won that. His performance is what it always is.â€

 

The ninth Graham Invitational had another very historic first. Three teams from Mercer County participated, representing Bluefield, Princeton and PikeView High Schools.

 

“I was very glad they were here,†Woodward said. “I was hoping when I knew they were going to have teams this year that I could get them in my tournament. They’re competitive, they’re close and it’s something I want to get going as a regular thing.â€

 

Woodward wants to build an even closer relationship with his new neighbors.

 

“I owe PikeView and Beaver and Princeton a lot of visits next year,†Woodward said. “They’ve been down here several times and I’ll definitely return the favor.â€

 

Bluefield finished third in the tournament, going 3-1 in Pool B and defeating Holston 51-24 in the third place match.

 

“Very excited for the kids, they’ve worked hard all season,†said Bluefield head coach Bobby Jenks. “So all that hard work is starting to pay off.â€

 

Jenks could not pinpoint any wrestlers with outstanding tournaments. Jake Lilly (189 pounds) only wrestled once, victoriously over an opponent from Fort Chiswell. Stephen Wessels (160 pounds) grappled solidly all day. He went 3-2 with both losses coming on points.

 

“I feel like I did pretty good,†Wessels said. “I feel like our whole team has improved.â€

 

If there was a star for Bluefield, it was 125-pound JV wrestler Ever Cole. She won twice, beating Coeburn’s Chad Smith then downing Fort Chiswell’s Desiree McKinney.

 

“I’m very proud of her for coming out and doing something with her wrestling JV and stuff,†Jenks said. “That’s good for her.â€

 

The Beavers have made the most improvement of the three new teams in Mercer County. They stand to make the biggest impact in the postseason.

 

“I think that hopefully we’ll peak at the right time,†Jenks said. “We have a big gap between our last match and the regionals. I’m hoping that some of the guys who are a little banged up will be able to heal up and stuff.â€

 

Princeton did not fare well in Pool A, going 1-3. But they rebounded to beat Fort Chiswell 36-30 for seventh place.

 

“I think we could have done a little bit better,†said Princeton head coach Brett Boyer. “Two of our guys were sick today. If we would have had them, we probably would have been seeded a little better. But I’m really happy with the performance of this last match.â€

 

Evan Ralosky (171 pounds) was the Tigers’ standout performer on Saturday, going 4-1 for the tournament and finishing third in his weight class.

 

“I wrestled good, but got really tired in my third match,†Ralosky said. “I think I could’ve done better in my third match. But other than that I think I did very good.â€

 

PikeView was hampered by a lack of numbers, only bringing four wrestlers to the meet. Their 0-4 Pool B finish was predictable and the reason they finished in ninth place was because their final opponent, Appalachia, brought two fewer wrestlers than they did.

 

“We lost six athletes this week due to grades and that just shows that students need to keep up with their grades to be eligible and this just proves that point,†said PikeView head coach Ron Ball. “I lost six which really hurt this team this week.â€

 

But there was hope on the horizon for the Panthers in the form of 119-pound Libby Widener, who made her PikeView debut at the Invitational. It was a day of learning for her. She won a pair of forfeits, but also lost her first pin fall to J.J. Kelly’s Brandon Baker in just nine seconds — one of the two quickest pins of the tournament.

 

“Not what I expected, but I liked it. I got beat, but I liked it,†Widener said when asked what she thought of her first wrestling tournament. “Hopefully I’ll learn different tricks and figure out how to win.â€

 

Graham’s Caleb Cline had the other fastest pin, also nine seconds.

 

Bluefield (19-19) and PikeView (1-20) will travel to Princeton (6-20) for a quad match with Woodrow Wilson on Thursday.

 

Graham (25-6) will wrestle in a tri-match Wednesday in Abingdon against the host team and Marion before the Southwest District tournament on Feb. 7.

 

— Contact Jed Lockett at jlockett@bdtonline.com

 

*****

 

Graham Invitational

 

Round 1

 

Graham 72, Princeton 12

 

Holston 31, Coeburn 30

 

J.J. Kelly 63, Bluefield 18

 

Powell Valley 30, PikeView 6

 

Round 2

 

Graham 72, Coeburn 12

 

Princeton 30, Appalachia 12

 

J.J. Kelly 48, Powell Valley 21

 

Bluefield 54, Fort Chiswell 24

 

Round 3

 

Graham 70, Holston 3

 

Coeburn 42, Appalachia 6

 

J.J. Kelly 65, PikeView 0

 

Powell Valley 36, Fort Chiswell 24

 

Round 4

 

Graham 72, Appalachia 6

 

Holston 24, Princeton 22

 

J.J. kelly 65, Fort Chiswell 18

 

Bluefield 77, PikeView 0

 

Round 5

 

Coeburn 42, Princeton 24

 

Holston 36, Appalachia 12

 

Fort Chiswell 39, PikeView 12

 

Bluefield 42, Powell Valley 33

 

Ninth Place Match

 

PikeView 24, Appalachia 12

 

Seventh Place Match

 

Princeton 36, Fort Chiswell 30

 

Fifth Place Match

 

Powell Valley 34, Coeburn 24

 

Third Place Match

 

Bluefield 51, Holston 24

 

Championship Match

 

J.J. Kelly 36, Graham 33

 

*****

 

Individual Results

 

Most Outstanding Wrestler — Tanner Howell (Graham).

 

Quickest Pin — Caleb Cline (Graham) :09, Brandon Baker (J.J. Kelly) :09.

 

103 — 1. Gavin Sexton (Powell Valley), 2. Heath Browning (Graham), Andrew Culbertson (J.J. Kelly), Chris Greer (Princeton).

 

112 — 1. Chase Stasheen (Graham), 2. Ricky Campbell (J.J. Kelly), 3. Nicole Sively (Princeton)

 

119 — 1. Matthew Hill (Coeburn), Brandon Baker (J.J. Kelly), 3. Tyler Childers (Bluefield), 4. Heath Hartley (Graham).

 

125 — 1. Tyler Murray (Powell Valley), Kayla Fuller (Holston), Eric Ferguson (J.J. Kelly), 4. Caleb Cline (Graham)

 

130 — 1. John Addington (J.J. Kelly), 2. Evan Samples (Powell Valley), 3. Nathan Evans (Graham), 4. Michael Hager (Bluefield).

 

135 — 1. Larry Hagerman (Graham), Nate Addington (J.J. Kelly), 2. Mike Lilly (Bluefield), 3. Sebastin Coffey (Coeburn), Chase Browning (Graham).

 

140 — 1. Jesse Monahan (Fort Chiswell), 2. Brian Cameron (Bluefield), Chad Stasheen (Graham).

 

145 — 1. Tanner Howell (Graham), 2. Zach Church (J.J. Kelly), 3. Jonathan Lilly (Bluefield).

 

152 — 1. Lucas Keras (J.J. Kelly), 2. Tim Wolfe (Coeburn), Kendall Lomax (Powell Valley), 3. Lamar Brooks (Princeton), 4. Braden Hatfield (Fort Chiswell), T.J. Evans (Graham).

 

160 — 1. Austin Bokish (Graham), 2. Daniel Gallihar (Powell Valley), 3. Chad Saucier (J.J. Kelly), 4. Steven Wessels (Bluefield), Robert Blevins (Holston), Joe Kader (Princeton).

 

171 — 1. John Purcell (J.J. Kelly), 2. Keith Hamilton (Coeburn), 3. Evan Ralosky (Princeton), 4. Andrew Froy (Graham).

 

189 — 1. Jake Lilly (Bluefield), 2. Josh Gross (Graham), 3. Dakota Mabe (Fort Chiswell), 3. Tommy Adkins (Appalachia), 4. Jacob Horner (Coeburn).

 

215 — 1. Casey Barreras (Graham), 1. Cody Harrison (J.J. Kelly), 2. Cade Parks (Holston), 3. Brenton Brooks (Bluefield), 4. Casey Aage (Coeburn).

 

285 — 1. James Vaughn (Powell Valley), 2. Corey Bower (Coeburn), 2. Dakota McGinn (Fort Chiswell), 3. Donald Davis (Appalachia), 4. Diquan Dye (Bluefield), 4. Mike Garland (Graham).

 

 

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