Great Falls — The Langley High wrestling team finished ninth place overall at last Saturday’s Northern Region Championships. The 30-team, two-day event took place Feb. 10-11 at Hayfield High School in Alexandria.
The Saxons, this year’s Liberty District champions, earned 69.50 team points at regionals to finish ninth, one place ahead of district rival Madison (10th place, 68 points).
The team champion was Westfield High (193), which finished ahead of defending region champion Robinson (2nd place, 174.50). Annandale (129.50), Mount Vernon (126.50), and Lake Braddock (105) finished third, fourth, and fifth, respectively.
Marshall High, which finished second place at the recent Liberty District Championships, finished an impressive sixth place at regionals with 81 points, ahead of seventh place South County (79.50), eighth place Oakton (73.50), and the ninth place Saxons.
Langley had two wrestlers qualify for the upcoming Virginia State AAA Championships. Top four individual finishers at regionals earned automatic seedings for the state meet. The two Langley wrestlers to advance were Leland Jenkins (4th place at 126 division) and Jay Ives (4th at 138).
Also for Langley, Tate Dulany earned a fifth place medal at 220 division. In the match for fifth place, Dulany defeated Robinson’s Andre Kendall by major decision, 14-4.
Langley’s Matt Sahm finished sixth place to earn a medal at the 145 weight class. Also, Austin Miller from Langley took sixth place at 132 weight class.
From McLean High School, Adilet Uspeev finished in sixth place at 138 weight class.
MARSHALL HIGH had one first place region champion, James Cusack at 113 weight class, and another wrestler (Matt Crawford, heavyweight) who finished in second place.
Also for the Statesmen, Sam White (195) and Christian Valencia (106) both earned sixth place medals.
Cusack, the top seed from the Liberty District, won all four of his region matches to earn the crown – pin victories over Annandale’s Anour Sakta and Chantilly’s Ali Nadri over the first two rounds; an 11-1 major decision win over T.C. Williams’ Ibrahim Bunduka in the semifinals; and an 8-0 major decision triumph in the finals over Westfield’s David Aiello.
Crawford, at heavyweight, won his first match at regionals with a pin win over Stuart High’s Alan Lara. He then defeated Oakton’s Spencer Conley, 3-1, in a quarterfinals match. Then, in the semifinals, Crawford, the top seed from the Liberty, edged Yorktown’s Charlie Whelden, 2-1. That put Crawford into the championship match where he lost by pin to Robinson’s Jake Pinkston.
AT THE LIBERTY DISTRICT championships at Langley High School two weeks ago, the host Saxons captured the team title with 216.50 points, ahead of second place Marshall (216.50). South Lakes (144), Fairfax (138.50), and Madison (134.50), finished third through fifth, respectively. The sixth through eighth place finishers were Jefferson, Stone Bridge, and McLean.
Individual weight class champions for Langley at districts were: Tate Dulany (220 division), Matt Sahm (145), Jay Ives (138), and Leland Jenkins (126).
From Marshall, district champions were James Cusack at 113 and Matt Crawford at heavyweight.