Poquoson exceeds coach’s expectations, wins 13th title
The margin of error many Poquoson High wrestling teams enjoyed in accumulating the program’s 12 previous state championship trophies did not exist for the group that entered the Salem Civic Center on Monday aiming for No. 13.
In fact, Islanders coach Eric Decker, a corporate finance consultant and inveterate numberscruncher, calculated his team was a 12-point underdog unless everyone wrestled to expectations and one or two exceeded them. Decker got his wish, and the Islanders won a fourth consecutive Class 2 state title convincingly.
Led by five finalists, including champions Ashton Withrow (113 pounds), Karon Smith (120) and Caden Mason (170), the Islanders tallied 167½ points to outdistance Lebanon, second with 122½ points. James River of Buchanan, a veteran team Decker considered the favorite, scored 112½ points to finish third for a second consecutive season.
Although James River returned wrestlers who scored 94 points in last year’s state tournament to 47 for Poquoson, Decker saw a path to victory. He felt that if the Islanders won three individual titles and put four in the finals, they had a shot.
The Islanders surpassed Decker’s victory formula with three individual state champions and two second-place finishers, and barely missed putting seven in the finals. Three finished third and another fourth to add to the surprisingly large victory margin.
The only deviation from plan was that two of the individual winners came from a group of three that exceeded expectations the most.
“There was no bracket I imagined that had us winning by this much,” Decker said. “Several guys outperformed in every capacity.”
The biggest given was Smith. A senior unbeaten in 11 bouts this season, he needed just 45 seconds to pin Wyatt Stemberg of Clarke County for his third consecutive individual crown.
“Karon wrestled how we expected him to wrestle and was dominant,” Decker said.
Before Smith got to the mat, he had to empty his arms of Withrow, a freshman who leaped into them in joy after pinning Chance Rose of Richlands early in the second period to win at 113 pounds. Decker
was hoping simply for the points Withrow could get the Islanders by reaching the final.
“He got pinned a couple of times earlier this season, then he had a tough match with a New Kent kid who went on to win (Class 3) states and pinned him and was a whole new kid,” Decker said.
Decker was hoping before the tournament that Caden Mason simply would reach the final at 170, but when he beat a quality wrestler in a tough semifinal, he sensed more was to come. That extra proved to be Mason’s first-period pin of Lebanon’s Fisher Martin.
“He’s had some close losses to some very tough kids throughout his career, but he picked a good time to start clicking,” Decker said.
Freshman Trey Ruehl’s appearance in the 106 final was a best-case scenario he almost made better. Ruehl fell behind quickly before his rally fell just short in a 6-4 loss to Strasburg’s Heath Burks.
But Ruehl had already come up big, beating James River’s Timmy Bennett 5-2 in the semifinals. Moments later, Withrow pinned his James River opponent, Craig Bowyer, to book a spot in the finals.
“Trey and Ashton really took the wind out of James River’s sails and changed the course of the tournament with those two matches,” Decker said.
Joseph Chiappazzi helped the Islanders gain some distance on the Knights by defeating defending state champion Mason Stewart of James River 3-0 in the quarterfinals, but his day would end in disappointment. A finalist as a freshman in 2019, he missed last year’s state tournament with an injury and came up short Monday when he was taken down in sudden-death overtime to lose 5-3 to Union’s Thomas Potter.
Poquoson’s Evan Graham, a championship hopeful at 220, lost an overtime heartbreaker in the semifinals. He rebounded nicely with consecutive sudden-death victories to finish third.
Ethan Sneddon finished fourth at 152 after just missing a major upset in a 4-3 loss to Lebanon’s Cole Jesse in the semifinals, a better-than-expected performance. The third-place finishes by Christopher Barber (182) and Cody Mitchell (285) also were bright spots.
“We were in a different position this year as underdogs, but I thought the kids responded extremely well,” Decker said.