It's always great to see when someone you have been covering for years continues to accomplish great things. By nature, it is one of the most enjoyable aspects of covering youth and high school sports. Joey Prata, an 11th grade wrestler for St. Christopher's in Richmond, VA has been on my radar for about three years now - a bit more if you include a Virginia Duals conversation with his grandfather in January of 2012, when an elder gentleman bragged to me that the eighth grade kid on Mat 10 was on his way to becoming a multiple state champion.
Add repeat national champion to the conversation. At the beginning of the month, Joey accomplished a VERY rare feat - becoming a two-time National Prep champion at the prestigious meet, which is held annually at Lehigh. To accomplish this, Joey had to buzzsaw his way through a gauntlet of great wrestlers in the 113 lb. classification.
Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the matches, and haven't seen Joey wrestle since the last Virginia Duals on January. But I did find this article from the St. Christopher wrestling team site, which does a competent job at explaining how National Prep Championship # 2 happened weeks ago at Lehigh. The link is posted below.
From the Saints Wrestling web site
http://www.saintswrestling.biz/#!2015natpreps/crzn
BETHLEHEM, PA -- Leave it to Joey Prata to wait to the very last second to score the winning takedown in his 113 lb. National Prep title bout versus Blair Academy's Zach Sherman. Down 1-0 with less than twenty seconds left in the third period, Prata used his tried and true slide by on the edge of the mat for the go ahead takedown. But there was still eighteen seconds left on the clock and the junior had already been cautioned for two false starts. One more false start would give Sherman a point to tie the score. Undaunted, Prata rode the Blair grappler out and brought home his second straight National Prep title. He defeated Sherman in the 106 lb. championship in 2014.
Prata blasted through the 113 lb. field as the tournament's number one seed. He recorded two pins in the first two rounds, disposing of Haverford's Michael Clymer and Pallotti's Jared Butler. He then completely dominated Cape Henry's Luke Harvich 6-1 in a rematch of last week's State finals match. In the semis the junior took out Mount St. Joseph's Cody Trybus before defeating Sherman in the finals. Prata's intensity and focus was strong throughout the weekend, physically and mentally breaking his opponents. He finished his junior year for St. Christopher's with a sparkling 54-6 record. His career record stands at 146-22, which places him at number 12 on the career wins list, tied with Tyler Hamblin.
Add repeat national champion to the conversation. At the beginning of the month, Joey accomplished a VERY rare feat - becoming a two-time National Prep champion at the prestigious meet, which is held annually at Lehigh. To accomplish this, Joey had to buzzsaw his way through a gauntlet of great wrestlers in the 113 lb. classification.
Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the matches, and haven't seen Joey wrestle since the last Virginia Duals on January. But I did find this article from the St. Christopher wrestling team site, which does a competent job at explaining how National Prep Championship # 2 happened weeks ago at Lehigh. The link is posted below.
From the Saints Wrestling web site
http://www.saintswrestling.biz/#!2015natpreps/crzn
BETHLEHEM, PA -- Leave it to Joey Prata to wait to the very last second to score the winning takedown in his 113 lb. National Prep title bout versus Blair Academy's Zach Sherman. Down 1-0 with less than twenty seconds left in the third period, Prata used his tried and true slide by on the edge of the mat for the go ahead takedown. But there was still eighteen seconds left on the clock and the junior had already been cautioned for two false starts. One more false start would give Sherman a point to tie the score. Undaunted, Prata rode the Blair grappler out and brought home his second straight National Prep title. He defeated Sherman in the 106 lb. championship in 2014.
Prata blasted through the 113 lb. field as the tournament's number one seed. He recorded two pins in the first two rounds, disposing of Haverford's Michael Clymer and Pallotti's Jared Butler. He then completely dominated Cape Henry's Luke Harvich 6-1 in a rematch of last week's State finals match. In the semis the junior took out Mount St. Joseph's Cody Trybus before defeating Sherman in the finals. Prata's intensity and focus was strong throughout the weekend, physically and mentally breaking his opponents. He finished his junior year for St. Christopher's with a sparkling 54-6 record. His career record stands at 146-22, which places him at number 12 on the career wins list, tied with Tyler Hamblin.
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