Madison’s Nick Hoy (top), at last Saturday night’s Northern Region Wrestling Championships at Hayfield High School, won his 182-pound finals match over Robinson’s Daniel Mika. Photo by Craig Sterbutzel.
Vienna — The Madison High wrestling team finished 10th 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 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 two weeks ago, finished an impressive sixth place at regionals with 81 points, ahead of seventh place South County (79.50), eighth place Oakton (73.50), ninth place Langley, and the 10th place Warhawks.
Madison had two wrestlers earn region crowns on Saturday – Nick Hoy at 182 weight class and Robert Dooley at 120.
Dooley, the top seed from the Liberty District, won all four of his region tournament matches to earn the title. He opened with a pin win over Woodson’s Frank Boa-Durgammah, then defeated Chantilly’s Joey Rivetti with another first round pin in a quarterfinals round matchup. In the semifinals, Dooley edged Robinson’s Austin Riggs, 5-3, in overtime to qualify for the finals. There, in the championship match, Dooley once again saw his match go into overtime. And once again, he was victorious, 3-1, over Westfield’s Brett Campbell to earn the region championship.
Madison’s Hoy, meanwhile, entered regionals as the No. 2-seed from the Liberty District. He opened up his region tournament with a third round pin victory over Mount Vernon’s Xavier Craig, then defeated South County’s Keegan Sullivan, 7-1, in a quarterfinals match. That put Hoy in the semifinals where he defeated Westfield’s Austin Knies by major decision, 13-4, to advance to the title round. There, he won a close 3-2 decision over Robinson’s Daniel Mika.
Top four individual finishers at regionals earned automatic seedings for the upcoming state meet.
Madison’s Kolton Starr earned a sixth place medal in the 113 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.
OAKTON had three wrestlers qualify for states as a result of garnering top four finishes at regionals. Those three Cougars were second place region finisher Austin Murga (195), third place Eddie Gerow (126), and fourth place Albert Borges (152).
Murga, the top seed from the Concorde District, reached the region finals at 195 with wins over South County’s Aziz Osmani, South Lakes’ Michael Shoebottom, and Marshall’s Sam White in the semifinals. In the title match, Murga lost by technical fall to Jefferson’s Patrick O’Connor.
Gerow, at 126, earned his third place finish with a consolation finals win over Langley’s Leland Jenkins, 9-4.
Oakton’s Spencer Conley earned a sixth place medal in the heavyweight division.
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 Marshall at districts were Christian Valencia (103 division), James Cusack (113), and Matt Crawford at heavyweight.
Madison High district champions were Robert Dooley (120) and Connor Eckhardt (132).
IN THE RECENT CONCORDE District championships, Oakton High (119 points) finished third place overall behind first place Westfield (207) and second place Robinson (165). Oakton had one champion, Austin Murga (195 weight class). Five other Cougars earned second place finishes – Spencer Conley (heavyweight), Josh Newman (182), Matt Notarangelo (160), Albert Borges (152), and Eddie Gerow (126).