Devils continue fast start to season

Local wrestling teams dominated the competition at their respective tournaments yesterday. Culpeper went 5-0 and claimed the first-place plaque at the Liberty Duals in Bealeton, while Madison went 4-0 to claim the first-place prize at the Gap Duals at Buffalo Gap High School in Swoope.

Here's how the action played out yesterday:

Liberty Duals
Culpeper co-coach John Fotenos traced the previous night to yesterday's success.

"I looked at our scorebook and realized that North Stafford had a weak entry at 112 pounds and was awarded forfeits including the one from us," Fotenos said. "I asked Cole Dean if his younger brother Cody would consider coming out and helping us at 112. Cody ran four miles that night to make weight and then went 3-2 on the day and was the swing match against North Stafford. Had we forfeited at 112, North Stafford would have won."

Instead, Culpeper beat North Stafford 36-34 in the winner-take-all final. Both teams were 3-0 when they met in Round 4.
The win avenged last week's loss to the Wolverines at the Blue Devil Duals. Yesterday's 5-0 outing makes the Blue Devils 7-3 on the season.

Individually, their top guns are Justin Byars (125) and Michael Soiland (135) both undefeated at 10-0 followed by Kris Stewardson (285) who is 9-1 and Brittany McCauley (103) who is 8-2 with both losses to Dakota Thomas of North Stafford.

Soiland's back-to-back unbeaten weekends make him the school's leader in all-time career wins with 112, breaking Jason Patton's record of 108 victories.

The Blue Devils earned their revenge match against the Wolverines after going 3-0 after three rounds of wrestling.
Round 1: Culpeper 42, C.D. Hylton 35.

"We were losing big time," said Fotenos, "until we got four straight pins."

They came courtesy of Wayne Hawkins (171), Derek Dwyer (189), David Combs (215) and Stewardson (285).

Round 2: Culpeper 42, Orange 30.

The outcome of the match came down to Stewardson who was set up by Combs.

Down 30-24, Combs (215) pinned his opponent to tie the match at 30-30 and then Stewardson was awarded a forfeit to make it 36-30 with just one match remaining: the 103-pound battle between McCauley and Orange's Jose Diaz.

"He had a grin on his face before the match," said Fotenos of Diaz, "but McCauley decked him in 42 seconds."

Round 3: Culpeper 52, Liberty 23.

"The best match was at 125 pounds," said Fotenos.
That's where two wrestlers named Justin-Byars of Culpeper and Bailey of Liberty-settled the score.

Byars, who lost to Bailey a year ago at the Riverbend Tournament, avenged that loss with a win by fall at 2:53.

"That's how much (Byars) has improved," said Fotenos.
The Blue Devils also capitalized on the contributions of Jim Peters (140), who was down 7-2 before rallying for a 14-9 win by decision, and Zac Keiter (160) who won in overtime, 4-2, when he scored the winning takedown.

Derek Dwyer (189) won by fall and Combs (215) used a cradle to subdue his opponent.

Unexpected hero Cody Dean not only filled the previously empty spot at 112 pounds but his 3-2 performance included a win by fall over Liberty's Lawrence Ayers in just 52 seconds.

Round 4: Culpeper defeated North Stafford, 36-34.

Round 5: Culpeper 76, Spotswood 6.

 "We're not looking to bad going into Harrisonburg next weekend," said Fotenos.

The Blue Devils will join other local teams from Madison, Orange and Woodberry Forest at next weekend's Harrisonburg Invitational Tournament, which begins Friday evening and concludes on Saturday.

Gap Duals
Madison County, which won last weekend's Orange County Duals, went 4-0 and claimed first place at the Gap Duals where eight teams were divided into two pools of four.

Assigned to Pool A, the Mountaineers recorded wins over Broadway (39-28), Randolph-Macon (54-15) and Alleghany (41-27) to win the pool and advance to the championship round against the winner of Pool B, Central of Woodstock.

In the championship match, the Mountaineers forfeited three matches, or 18 team points to the Falcons, but rallied midway through the match to prevail, 41-34.

Down 28-9 with seven matches remaining, the Mountaineers won six of the seven to defeat the Falcons.

Ethan O'Connell (119) won by technical fall and Robert Meador (125) by fall before Robert Basta (130) was pinned, which made the score 34-20 in favor of Central.

But Jarrett Brumett (135), Tyler Atwell (140) and Baxter Helmick (145) all pinned their opponents to give Madison a 38-34 lead with just one match remaining.

Teammate James Jewett made sure their efforts weren't for naught as he claimed a win by decision to make the final score 41-34.

Also winning for the Mountaineers were Broyles (171) by fall and Brandon Utz (215) by tough decision, 17-12.

Round 1: Madison 39, Broadway 28.

Madison's coaches strategically moved several of their wrestlers up in weight class and the strategy paid off.

Down 16-9, the Mountaineers recorded back-to-back wins by Brent Broyles, who bumped up from 171 to compete at 189, and Brandon Utz, who switched from 189 to 215. Following the expected forfeit at 285, Broadway clung to a one-point lead, 22-21.

After the double forfeit at 103 and a loss by Hunter Welch (112), the Mountaineers then won the last three matches with O'Connell (119) winning by fall, Basta (125) by forfeit, and Meador (130) by fall.

Round 2: Madison 54, Randolph-Macon 15.

There were eight contested matches in this one with Madison wrestlers won five of the eight and all five by fall thanks to Baxter Helmick (140), Broyles (171), Meador (125), Brumett (130) and Atwell (135). 

The remainder of the team's points came by way of forfeit with Danny Camunas (145), Dustin Kirby (215) and O'Connell (119) claiming the points.

Round 3: Madison 41, Alleghany 27.

Atwell's win by major decision at 135 pounds gave Madison an eight-point lead, 35-27, and sealed Alleghany's doom as only match remained.

Helmick (140) put the finishing touches on the project when he pinned his opponent to make the final score 41-27.

Once again the Mountaineers had to rally in order to win.
Trailing 27-18, Madison made its move beginning at 119 pounds where O'Connell claimed a win by decision.

Meador (125) followed with a win by fall to knot the score at 27-27.

Brumett (130) recorded a win by major decision to add four points to Madison's total and then Atwell followed in kind to make it 35-27.

Also winning for the Mountaineers were James Jewett (145) by fall, Danny Oktayuren (152) by injury default and Broyles (171) by fall.

The Mountaineers cross paths with the Blue Devils next weekend at the Harrisonburg Invitational.
 
Contact Mark O'Connell at