Westfield senior Beau Donahue won his third Northern Region championship and reached the 200-victory mark for his career on Feb. 9 at Hayfield Secondary School. Photo by Craig Sterbutzel.
Alexandria — Westfield senior Beau Donahue is nearing the end of a decorated high school wrestling career that includes two state championships --- with a chance for a third coming this weekend.
While winning multiple state titles is a sign of greatness, what Donahue accomplished on Saturday might be an even better indicator of his sustained excellence.
Donahue earned his 200th career victory on Feb. 9 by pinning Chantilly’s Walter Carlson in the 145-pound final of the Northern Region wrestling meet at Hayfield Secondary School, giving Donahue three region championships, as well.
"I never thought 200 would be somewhere I’d be looking at until the beginning of this season," Donahue said. "That was my goal coming into this season was get 200 wins, as well as follow up with another state title and that’s what I plan to do."
Donahue was one of four Westfield grapplers to win individual region titles on Saturday, but the Bulldogs finished runner-up to Robinson in the team standings. Donahue pinned each of his four opponents during the two-day tournament. His pin in the final came with nine seconds remaining in the match.
"My goal coming into the regionals [was] four pins and I wasn’t going to leave without it," he said. "We’re in this as a team, too, and I just really wanted to help my team because it’s a close race and you never know what’s going to happen at the end there."
Westfield’s Derek Arnold (138), Frank Aiello (170) and Tyler Morson (182) also won region titles in their respective weight classes.
Robinson won the team title with a score of 232. Westfield finished second with a total of 224, followed by Mount Vernon (155.5), Lake Braddock (146) and Centreville (86). Chantilly finished 16th with a score of 38.
The VHSL state wrestling championships will be held Friday and Saturday, Feb. 15 and 16 at Oscar Smith High School in Chesapeake.