tbgfan 856 Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 WRESTLING: Abingdon’s Wilson Wins Group AA Wrestling Title Published: February 22, 2009 BY LLOYD COMBS Sports Correspondent SALEM, Va. – Like Bruce Springsteen, who recently won a Golden Globe Award for the song “The Wrestler,†Aaron Wilson and Clayton Scott have been working on a dream. Wilson became the first state wrestling champion from Abingdon in 38 years when he decisioned Skyline’s Trevor Walker, 5-0, to win the Group AA 140-pound crown Saturday night at Salem Civic Center. Three local wrestlers reached the finals. Grundy’s Sean Vandyke was the runner-up at 112 pounds, while Carroll County heavyweight Drew McCraw was the runner-up at heavyweight. Another eight local wrestlers placed, six from Grundy. The Golden Wave’s Jeremy Hurley was third at 119 pounds. Abingdon’s Zac Mitchell (189) and Grundy’s Cody Rife (130) each placed fourth. Jon Dotson placed fifth at 140, Ethan Owens (135) and Dakota Vance (103) were sixth and Derek Anderson was seventh at 125 pounds for the Golden Wave. Carroll County’s Blake Bowman placed sixth at 130 pounds. Christiansburg, with 210.5 points, clinched its eighth straight Group AA team title before the finals. The Blue Demons sent eight wrestlers into the finals and had four individual champions. Poquoson (131.5) was second and Grundy (98) was third. It was a night to celebrate for Aaron Wilson and Clayton Scott. Abingdon’s last individual champ was Harold Weddle, a 138-pound champion in 1971. Wilson won two finals-caliber matches Saturday. He defeated a defending state champ, Chancellor’s Chris Smith, 5-4, in the morning semifinals, and he was all business in the finals. “Aaron Wilson is the most mentally tough wrestler I’ve ever coached,†Scott said. “He wrestled an amazing match in the semifinals. I knew he’d be ready in the finals.†Wilson lost a 13-4, major decision to Smith the first time they met. He knew what he needed to do differently on Saturday. “[smith’s] a good standup wrestler, that’s the only thing he had on me,†Wilson said. “I knew I had to work pretty hard on my feet against him, and Coach [scott] helped me there. We put in a lot of work. “In the finals, I felt like I had an advantage in all positions. I just didn’t get to turn him like I wanted.†Clayton Scott won a wrestling title at Grundy in 1996. Filled with emotion after Wilson’s victory, Scott admitted he was ready for a career change until he experienced his first win as a coach. “You know, in wrestling, you experience a lot of highs and a lot of lows, and we’ve experienced a lot of lows [at Abingdon]. To be honest, at one point this season I thought this might be my last year. “But seeing what Aaron Wilson accomplished gives me motivation to keep working. We’ve had a lot of good kids who put in a lot of hard work. It’s a great feeling to finally get one.†It was a disappointing final day for Grundy, which had high hopes with three returning finalists from last year. Only Sean Vandyke was able to make it to Saturday night. The 112-pound sophomore made a miraculous comeback in the semifinals Saturday morning, overcoming a 6-2 deficit with a little over a minute left to take an 11-9, overtime decision over Andrew Nicely of William Byrd High School. In the finals Vandyke lost to the number one ranked 119-pounder in the country for the second year in a row, Christiansburg’s Devin Carter, who won a by technical fall, 25-9, over the Golden Wave sophomore. Vandyke suffered a bloody nose in the finals, which was a microcosm of Grundy’s day. Everything that could go wrong for the Golden Wave, did, in the semifinal round. Hurley, the 119-pound sophomore who won Region IV Wrestler of the Year honors just a week earlier, was upset by Millbrook freshman Jake Crawford, and Ethan Owens suffered an extremely painful hip- pointer in the opening seconds of his semifinal match at 135 pounds against three-time defending state champion Andrew Williams of Tabb. Dakota Vance was unable to make weight at 103 pounds and had to forfeit. “It’s a part of coaching, you’re going to have days like this,†Grundy coach Travis Fiser said. “Sean Vandyke showed how much heart he had in the semifinals. Hats off to him. Devin Carter is the number one guy in the country for good reason. Sean is a great kid, he’s very coachable, and he’s a very solid wrestler.†“Dakota Vance did a great job just to get here,†Fiser added. “He worked hard to get down to 103 pounds and it took a toll on his body. We had some disappointments, but a couple of good things happened for us, too. Cody Rife moved up the ladder and placed higher this year, so did Jon Dotson. Jon did especially well, considering how sick he was.†Carroll County heavyweight Drew McCraw was pinned by two-time state champ Andrew Miller of Bassett in 4:20. Life has many choices---eternity has two Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldfalcon56 23 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 So will Coach Scott leave or will he stick around?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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