BHC - Three locals win Group A Titles

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WRESTLING: Three Locals Win Group A Titles

 

Published: February 22, 2009

 

BY LLOYD COMBS

SPORTS CORRESPONDENT

 

SALEM, Va. – Shutouts seem like an everyday occurrence in soccer, and are fairly common in baseball, but they’re few and far between in a two-day wrestling tournament.

 

Northwood’s Ryan Lowery, however, is more than just your common, everyday wrestler.

 

Lowery was the first of three local wrestlers to win state titles in the Group A state tournament Saturday at Salem Civic Center. Lowery did not allow a single point in any of his four wins on his way to the 125-pound crown.

 

Castlewood’s Ryan Phillips (189 pounds) won his second state championship. Rural Retreat’s Kyle Testerman, meanwhile, went overtime for the third time this season against Glenvar’s Alex Hsimakopoulos. This time they went three extra periods, where Testerman won a 3-2 decision in the 215-pound finals.

 

Four other area wrestlers, Castlewood’s Ryan McCall (112), Rural Retreat’s Spencer Shillig (140), Holston’s Timmy Wolfe (152) and Chilhowie’s Josh Adams (171) reached the finals and placed second.

 

Castlewood’s bid to become the first Southwest Virginia school to win the Group A team title since 1989 fell short. The Blue Devils finished fourth with 86.5 points and had five place-winners overall.

Glenvar won the team title by 23 points (123-100) over Strasburg. Madison County (91) was third.

 

Ryan Lowery reached the finals with wins by tech fall (16-0), major decision (11-0) and another 8-0 decision, the latter in the semifinals. He countered, obviously, everything the opposition could throw at him.

 

“I guess that’s one of the things I can do pretty well,†said Lowery, who went from fourth in the state as a sophomore, to second last year, to state champion as a senior. “I knew this was my last chance, so I just wanted to go as hard as I could for six minutes.â€

 

Lowery avenged two losses to McGuire this season, including last week’s Region C finals.

 

“We changed our game plan [against McGuire],†Northwood coach Walter Vencill explained. “Ryan was more aggressive on his feet this time. In both losses we gave up the first takedown, and that ended up being the difference. We were more focused, and more aggressive, and that was the difference this time.â€

 

For Ryan Phillips his second state title was even sweeter than the first time. The senior won in 2007 at 171 pounds, but finished fourth at 215 a year ago. He worked his way back to the championship finals this time at 189, where he won a workmanlike 7-4 decision over Floyd’s Zack Bonham in his final match for the Blue Devils.

 

“Work ethic, that’s what coach [Matt] Hamilton preaches,†said Phillips, who placed four times at state, finished his senior season 46-1 and picked up his 164th career win. “I was just trying to take care of business in the finals. I was trying to have a little fun, too. The first [state title] was great, but this one was better, after not winning last year.â€

 

When Kyle Testerman and Alex Hsimakopoulos meet the biggest decision is who gets to start in the down position, and when. Testerman won on an escape point in the final extra period. It’s one point at a time when the two wrestle and they’ve met four times this year alone. They’ve each won twice.

 

“They’re about as evenly matched as any two wrestlers I’ve seen,†Rural Retreat coach Rick Boyd said. “When we get the choice on the flip, we want to be able to take down when we get to sudden death. That’s your best chance to win.â€

 

“He’s tough to score on,†Testerman added. “I just have to work hard to try and keep him from scoring on me.â€

 

Ryan McCall stayed with Manassas Park’s Maximo Gonzalez until the third period, when the defending state champ pinned him at 5:37 in the 112-pound finals. Shillig, Wolfe and Adams all lost by major decision in their respective finals matches.

 

Thirty area wrestlers placed, overall, in the top eight, including two third-place winners out of the consolation finals: Powell Valley heavyweight James Vaughn and Rural Retreat’s Matthew Scott (145).

 

Five other local wrestlers reached the consolation finals and finished fourth: Virginia High’s Kolby Huffman at 215 pounds, Rural Retreat’s William Wright (171), George Wythe’s Levi Lanter (160), Dustin

Clear (152) of Northwood and Jon Addington (130) of J.J. Kelly.

 

Three J.J. Kelly grapplers placed fifth: Andrew Culbertson (103), Brandon Baker (119) and Lukas Kerns (152). Ethan Prater of Patrick Henry placed fifth at 135 pounds and Northwood’s Michael Crowgy (215) did the same. Sixth place finishers include three Castlewood teammates, Casey Lambert (125), Casey Phillips (160) and Logan Mullins (285), along with Virginia High’s Jie Wei (119), Powell

Valley’s Gavin Sexton (103), Chilhowie’s Alex Russell (189) and St. Paul’s Dakota Smith (215).

 

Chilhowie’s Christian Russell (112) and Lee’s Brandon Mullins (189) finished seventh, while four local athletes placed eighth in the state: T.J. Mitchell (103) of Rural Retreat; Tyler O’Dell (152) of Virginia High; Michael Mullins (171) of Powell Valley and Jonathan Turpin (189) of George Wythe.

 

 

Life has many choices---eternity has two