Cox, Great Bridge set for showdown
Falcons have more qualifiers; Wildcats have more pedigree
The Class 5 wrestling state tournament appears to be a numbers game. Which numbers make which team the state championship favorite at the Virginia Beach Sports Center today and Saturday depends on whom you talk to.
“I’d say Cox and the other teams with 12 qualifiers will be the favorites,” said Steve Martin, coach of defending champion Great Bridge. “We got nine through.”
Cox coach Dalton Head, whose Falcons upset Great Bridge in the Region A tournament, said, “I still think Great Bridge is the team to beat. Great Bridge is still the champ and you’ve got to knock out the champ to win.
“It’s going to be a race to 125 points, and Great Bridge is going to ride four horses who are pulling most of the weight. Cox High School’s road to victory is two state champions and 10 state place-winners (top six).”
The Great Bridge “horses” Head refers to are defending state champions Myrin Nixon (138 pounds) and Caleb Neal (157 pounds) as well as 2023 runner-up Beau Lewis (144) and 285-pounder Jayden Cuevas.
Region champs Caleb Rafel (126), William Wagner (190) and Graydon Howard (285) should be Cox’s prime individual contenders. But Karl Ludwig (144) lost to Lewis by just a point in their region final, while Seth Pringle (106) and the Falcons’ other five qualifiers have been solid.
Other teams hope to keep the tournament from being just a Cox-Great Bridge battle. Region D champ Independence, of Ashburn, qualified 12, as did Region B winner Nansemond River. First Colonial has three wrestlers — Thomas Stofka (150), Leonard Ashley (165) and Schey Huff (215) — who should score a lot of points as they vie for individual titles.
But if it is a Cox-Great Bridge battle for the win, the Falcons’ unexpected region title adds a layer of intensity.
“We had the momentum, the bulletin-board material if you will, the last time because they beat us (in the regular-season dual match) and we were the hungry one,” Head said.
Martin said, “Our kids will be plenty motivated for this tournament. You won’t have to worry about that.”
Other region individual winners in the Class 5 tournament are: Nansemond River’s Terryl Wright (120 pounds), Matthew Shodunke (126), Benjamin Hanson (165) and undefeated Camden Bauswell (190); Granby’s Keith Fernandez (106) and unbeaten Joseph McAuliffe (175); Woodside’s Gabe Izzo (113) and Carmine McDaniel (144); King’s Fork’s Amari Edwards (132), Zymihr Dabbs (150) and Malachi Nixon (157); Warwick’s Joshua Barnhart (138); Norview’s Breon Epps (215); Maury’s Bless Mack (285); Kellam’s Zander Brewer (106) and Brodie Altman (132); Tallwood’s Josiah Irizarry (113); and Deep Creek’s Amir Wray-Hill (120) and Samuel Diggs (175),
Class 6
Landstown is the area’s top hopeful in the Class 6 tournament, also at the Virginia Beach Sports Center. Landstown individual region champions were Ethan Rocks (144 pounds), Ethan Farrell (157) and Naasir Edmonds (285). Grassfield’s Nick Moore (132), Nate Moore (138), Matox Allen (150) and Chase Burns (175) also won region titles along with Western Branch’s Brandon Cynar (113).
Class 4
The Class 4 tournament at the Virginia Beach Sports Center includes Region A team champion Phoebus, which got individual titles from Laurence Rene (175 pounds), Braydon Williams (190) and Willie Tillerson (215). Gloucester individual winners were Aiden Sheesley (113), Corey Skay (138), Karl Dean (144), Kenneth Hamilton (165) and JR Jones (285).
Other region winners were Denbigh’s Byron Peter (106), Jamestown’s Spencer Moth (120), Smithfield’s Blaine Reynolds (126), Manor’s Rodney Vaughan (132), Warhill’s Jay Wolanzyk (150) and Hampton’s Randy Smith (157).
Class 3
Bay Rivers District school New
Kent aims for a team title at the Class 3 tournament in Salem. Heritage’s Zachary Ray (157), Tabb’s Xavier Turpin-Thompson (165) and Lafayette’s Christian Gordy (175) enter that event as region champs.