Virginia Duals Coverage (2nd Part of 5) -- Day 1 at the Duals: New Kent Goes 1-2 in National Division

For the past 4-5 years, New Kent HS has been wrestling in the National High School Division of the Virginia Duals. For a small school, stuck between Richmond and the Peninsula, it is quite a gutsy move, but gives Coach Mike Faus a great opportunity to put his Trojan team against top-notch competition.

HAMPTON – College wrestling teams from Old Dominion and Apprentice, as well as six Peninsula high school teams took to the mats on Friday, as the 36^th Virginia Duals kicked off at Hampton Coliseum. The tournament, one of the most renowned on the East Coast, features some of the best prep and collegiate teams in the nation. In all, over 1,000 grapplers, representing 68 teams, compete in three high school and two college divisions. The lineups highlight All-American grapplers at both levels, and are delivered ten bouts at a time along two rows of five mats.

New Kent HS wrestling squad is led by longtime
coach Mike Faus (front - R)

New Kent was the only Peninsula high school area team not competing in the Black and Blue Division, as they opted to test their skills in the National Division, considered to be the highest caliber bracket in the tournament, and one which features some of the East’s top teams, including South Plainfield (NJ), McDonogh (MD), and last year’s champion, Colonial Forge, from Stafford County.

The Trojans opened up against Battlefield and immediately ran into trouble as the Bobcats won the first three bouts to jump to an early 14-0 lead. Bryson Mitchell (126) and Caden Darber brought New Kent back, both winning by pins to close the lead to 14-12. However, Battlefield went on to win five of the next six bouts, all by fall, to open up a decisive 44-18 lead. Trent Ragland (195) won a 14-4 major decision, followed by victories by fall from Jason Godbey (220) and Michael Dorer (285) to make the final score a more respectable 44-34 decision in favor of Battlefield.

The Trojans quickly fell behind 24-7 to Fauquier in their next match, but caught back up behind wins from Kade Sanders (fall at 170), Ragland (8-0 major decision at 195), Dorer (3-2 decision at 285), and Chris Wade (fall at 106). Down only 30-26, the Trojans had a chance to pull out the match. But Fauquier’s Kyle Budd closed out the match with a fall at 32 seconds, as the Northern Virginia squad eked out a 36-26 win.

Undaunted, the Trojans went on to smash Ocean Lakes 50-20 in their final match of the day, to close out the tournament with a 1-2 record. New Kent used a four match-winning streak in the middle of the contest to close out the Dolphins as Sanders (12-1 technical fall at 160), David Taylor (fall at 170), Ragland (6-1 decision at 182) and Godbey (fall at 3:27) scored 20 uninterrupted points to seal the win.

New Kent coach Mike Faus credited mental toughness for his team’s success at this year’s Duals.

“Overall, our attitude was better today. We were very flat (in a match) last Wednesday, and even though we were missing a couple of starters, more guys showed up today.”

The Black and Blue Division also started on Friday evening.

Smithfield started off well, polishing off Centreville 47-26 in its first match. The Packers trailed 16-7 after four bouts, but rallied as Tyler Sharon (152) won by fall at 1:03, followed by Jacob Walker’s (160) 12-4 major decision win. A forfeit gave Stanley Smeitzer (170) an easy win, but also gave Smithfield a 29-20 advantage, which remained safe after Erik McNally won by fall at 195.

Peninsula Catholic, returning to the Duals after a notable layoff, was less fortunate in its opening match, losing to Hickory 62-15. However, the Zimmerman brothers won their bouts with Nick’s 25-second win by pin at 126 being one of the more impressive performances of the day, regardless of classification. Brother Zack followed with a 7-1 decision at 170.

Three Bay Rivers District teams opened their Black and Blue campaigns in the evening session. Host school Poquoson dueled with Winchester’s James Wood. York matched up with Grassfield and Lafayette took to the mat against Oscar Smith.

Both York and Lafayette found stiff competition in their first match. The Falcons dropped a 57-24 decision to Grassfield, while Lafayette was beaten 56-19 by Oscar Smith.

The Islanders, who won the Black and Blue Division in 2014, fared better, holding off an early challenge from Wood to win 43-24 and set up a quarterfinal match with Grassfield on Friday evening. Ross Graham (182), Robert Henesey (195) and Bryce Buchanan (220) scored consecutive pins toward the end of the match to secure 18 points, and the win, for Poquoson.

In college action, the Apprentice School endured a rough 49-0 loss to Minnesota State-Moorhead in their opening round of the American College Division. But the Builders, who have only held two formal practices in the past month because of school obligations, made a formidable comeback, beating Anderson 32-19 in the consolation round. Tyrell Watkins (149) and Steven Francisco (285) won by pins, while Landon Leithauser (157) and Cameron Vaughne (165) both scored major decisions.