Only one Central Virginia wrestler, Woodberry Forest’s Taylor Reuss, managed to lock up a state title at the VISAA wrestling tournament, but a slew of products from the region racked up top eight finishes.
Reuss’ path to the 160-pound title moved through Episcopal’s Will Stewart, Cape Henry’s Kevin Riggins, Pope John Paul’s Jason Willoughby and St. Christopher’s Trey Tarr in the final. Reuss pinned Stewart in 1:59, tech-falled Riggins 16-1 and pulled a 10-4 decision over Willoughby. Reuss then held off Tarr in a 6-3 decision to win the title.
Four other area wrestlers, including three from Woodberry finished second in their weight clases, with the Tigers’ Josh Trudgeon at 119, Duke Pickett at 152 and Cary Jones at 215 all finishing as the runner-up. Covenant’s Josh Zodhitates wrapped up the second place spots at 135. Zodhiates edged out Bishop O’Connell’s Curtis Jeney 10-8 in overtime to make the final against Norfolk Academy’s Taylor Whitt, who is bound for the University of Virginia’s program next year. Whitt rolled 16-1.
Pickett, the one-seed at 152, had an easy path to the final with two pins and a17-1 tech fall win, but St. Christopher’s David Wesley pulled out a 3-1 victory in the final to knock off the Cornell-bound Pickett. Trudgeon beat top seed Dargan Hufhand of Liberty Christian to make the final, then lost a heartbreaking 7-6 decision to Bishop O’Connell’s Jacob Ramos. Jones pulled out a 3-2 semifinal win and then fell 2-1 on a decision in the final to Bishop Ireton’s Andrew Lutterloh.
Eight other wrestlers finished in the state’s top eight, starting with Woodberry’s Brandon Walker in third at 112 and Covenant’s Nathan Sieminski in seventh at 130. Woodberry’s Spencer Brewer finished fifth at 171 and teammate Isreal Arana took sixth at 189. Covenant’s David Collmus took eighth at 189.
At 215, Fork Union’s Jacob Anderson came out of the weight class’ 10th seed to finish third, making a huge leap out of a tough bracket. He nearly edged Woodberry’s Jones in the semifinal after a pair of pins in the first two rounds.
At heavyweight, Blue Ridge School’s Cameron Njomo took third place while Woodberry’s Rogers Clark grabbed the fifth place slot.
Next up for a number of those finishers will be Prep Nationals this weekend in Pennsylvania.
