There aren’t many more daunting paths to the podium than trying to wrestle back after losing your opening match of the state tournament in one of the sport’s most challenging classes.
That’s exactly the feat that Fluvanna County’s Sean Oliva pulled off last weekend in Salem to highlight a solid local showing in the Class 1, 2, 3 Wrestling State Championships.
The Flucos’ 145 pounder endured a frustrating opening match losing by technical fall to the eventual state champion, New Kent’s Evan Holloway 18-2. Holloway notched two tech falls and a pair of pins including a pin in the state title match to earn his championship.
Oliva, on the other hand, had to reset and refocus immediately and he did just that. Oliva pinned Goochland’s Grant Heidel, then won 14-1 and then 13-2 to force his way into the consolation semifinals.
That’s where he ran into Spotswood’s Josh Hartman and won an absolute knockdown, drag out battle to earn a spot in the third place match. Oliva trailed 3-2 going into the third period and with 27 seconds left in the match got a reversal to take a 4-3 lead that held up for the win.
After that, Oliva beat Skyline’s Wyatt Bosley in the third place match, pinning him late in the second period to wrap up third place after a six-match weekend.
Goochland senior heavyweight Alex Rosenbaum placed fourth in the tournament. Rosenbaum won in the first round, lost in the quarterfinals to LCA’s Gavin Womack 6-3, then reeled off three straight wins, two pins and a 3-1 decision in the consolation semifinals before facing Womack again in the third place match. This time around, he lost just 1-0 to Womack and finished in fourth.
Also in Class 3, William Monroe’s senior 220 pounder Connor Marcotte took sixth in the tournament. Marcotte lost in the quarterfinals, then won a 4-1 decision, then a sudden victory battle, then dropped the consolation semifinals and the fifth place match, an 8-4 decision enduring six matched in two days to grab that coveted spot on the podium.
Madison County’s 106-pound sophomore Evan Pack made a run all the way to the state semifinals (the lone run to the semifinals by a local wrestler in Salem) with a pin and a 10-8 decision to get there before falling 9-0 in the semis. He finished sixth for the tournament after dropping a pair of consolation matches.
