CHESAPEAKE – After finishing runner-up in the past two Region 6A tournaments, Grassfield entered the 2024-25 season on a mission to return to the form of the team which won the region championship in 2022 and then placed third at the Class 6 state finals, the highest in school history.
After Saturday’s convincing win at this year’s regionals, held on the mats at Oscar Smith High, their updated mission will now include a first-ever team state championship.
Grassfield had eight wrestlers win individual titles, en route to a 100-point win over runner-up Landstown. In the process, the Grizzlies, who scored 328 team points, qualified all 14 wrestlers for the state finals, which will be held next weekend at the Virginia Beach Sports Center.
“Chantilly, who may be our toughest competition, probably had 11 wrestlers qualify,” said coach Patrick Shuler, whose team is undefeated at 18-0 against in-state competition. “A couple of others have nine or ten, so we’re expecting everybody to score.”
He credited the first finals match as one of the most important for the team, as Nolan Mather led off with a win by fall (2:44) over Landstown’s Lucas Bundy.
“That was big,” said Shuler, adding that the two grapplers had traded wins in their first two bouts of the season.
Leland Mendez followed with a win by fall at 113. Grassfield would strike heavily in the mid-weights, winning four straight final bouts with Simeon Barrett (144), Hunter Johnson (150), Nick Moore (157) and Nate Moore (165) each winning their weight class, effectively cementing the team win.
“Nick and Nate did what they were supposed to do. They continued to dominate. Simeon and Hunter were impressive.”
Grassfield also won the two heaviest divisions with Chase Burns (215) and Chris Funches (285) winning their brackets. “That was big for us,” added Shuler.
Landstown wrestlers won three individual titles in consecutive order. Hayato Otero defeated Carl Andrade 14-8 at 126, and the Phoutasen brothers – Elijah and Michael – defeated Grassfield wrestlers to win the 132 and 138-lb. classes. The Eagles totaled 238.5 points in a runner-up effort to also qualify for states.
Oscar Smith placed only one wrestler in the finals with Cameren Holley-Wingfield reaching the 144-lb. final against Barrett. However, the Tigers scored wrestlers in the top six for the final 12 weight classes and finished third with 154.5, to reach the state finals.
Western Branch’s Brandon Cynar extended his perfect season record to 44-0, winning at 120 pounds with a win by fall (5:12) over Jaymar Custodio of Landstown. Bruin teammate Kyler Swensen won the 175-pound class to raise his season mark to 41-2.
2A
The Islanders placed ten wrestlers on the gold medal podium, dominating the 113 to 190-pound weight classes, to win easily on their home mats at Poquoson.
In all, the Bull Islanders scored 318.5 points, 140 ahead of second-place Nandua. Bruton was seventh with 78 points.
Winning for Poquoson was Brayden Bunting (113) and Logan Keese (120). At one point Poquoson had eight titlists in a row with Jared Goodson (132), Keegan Webb (138), Bryan Latta (144), Reed Booth (150), Christian Leonard (157), Darek Kennedy (165), Nathaniel Quiroz (175), and Austin Conley (190) each capturing their weight class.
Cre’Shawn Keitt (19-4 record on the season) was the lone Bruton wrestler to reach the finals, dropping a hard-fought 18-14 decision to Tre Wheeler of Randolph Henry of Carroll County. Freshman Jamin Davidson (18-6) scored well for Bruton with a third-place finish at 106.
3A
New Kent scored eight first place finishes and the Trojans easily won their region championship, scoring 283 points at the Region 3A tournament, hosted by the winning team.
Bay Rivers District teams placed 1-2-3 and advanced to next week’s state tournament.
Grafton was second with 183 points. For the Clippers, Sebastian Campbell (35-4 this season) won the 144-lb weight class with a win by fall at 2:47 over Lafayette’s Hunter Tifft. Amauri Lymon also made the final bout at 175.
Tabb was third with 174 points. Their two individual championships were won in back-to-back weight classes as Jayden Wright (126) won by fall over Nathan Powell of Hopewell, followed by Alijah Franklin’s surprising win over LeVontae Johnson from Lake Taylor. Tabb’s Jayden Crotty (26-3), one of the state’s top female wrestlers, advanced to the finals at 106, but fell 11-0 to Carter Roy of New Kent.
5B
Granby withheld a strong charge by Nansemond River to win the Region 5B tournament held at the victor’s mats in Norfolk on Saturday. The Comets totaled 261 points, while the Warriors scored 235.5.
Led by their three undefeated grapplers – Keith Fernandez, Alex Rippel and Joseph McAuliffe - the Comets held a narrow edge from start to finish and pulled away from their Southeastern District opponent with final wins by Rippel (157) and McAuliffe (175).
The Comets and Warriors both had wrestlers in four straight final bouts, between 113 and 132 pounds, which directly affected the outcome as Granby entered the final round with a 12.5-point lead. While the teams split the four bouts 2-2, Granby pulled away as Rippel (29-0) narrowly escaped Carmen McDaniel of Woodside 3-2 in their final. Two bouts later, McAuliffe (21-0) won by fall at 57 seconds over Bless Marshall of Norview.
Jaylan Hughes of Granby also placed first, winning the 126-lb. class, with a 15-3 major decision over Anthony Thompkins of Nansemond River. Brayden Galicia was the other NR champ, winning by fall at 1:49 over Granby’s Trazonte Towns.
Third-place Warwick (181.5 points) had two champions, Joshua Barnhart at 144 and Robert Tucker, who won the 165-lb. category.
Other Peninsula District wrestlers to win region championships included Zachariah King (138) and Carnell Sheriff (285) of Bethel, and Nehemiah Mix of Woodside, who won a 12-10 tiebreaker over Warwick’s Jackson Robbins. Bethel qualified for states with their fourth-place finish with 164.5 points.
Kings Fork was represented in the winners’ bracket by Zymihr Dabbs, who won at 150, while Breon Epps of Norview claimed the 215-lb. crown.
VISAA
Two Hampton Roads won their weight class at the Virginia Independent School (VISAA) tournament, held at the Potomac School in McLean.
Luke Murray of Peninsula Catholic (48-2 this season) topped Ryan Barone of Fishburne Military Academy 7-0 to claim the 165-lb. class. Townsend Winans from Cape Henry won by fall (at 1:32) over Hunter Wagner, also of Fishburne to win the 175-lb bracket. Their respective teammates Connor Walck (CHC) and Thomas Montgomery (PC) also advanced to the finals, at 132 and 157 pounds.
Peninsula Catholic placed highest of the area squads, finishing fourth with 201.5 points. Cape Henry was fifth, tallying 155. Richmond’s St. Christopher’s won with 358.5.
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