Wrestling 4A West Region Finals

By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI THE WINCHESTER STAR | The Winchester Star

AMHERST — During the introductions for the championship finalists on Saturday at the 4A West Region wrestling tournament at Amherst County High School, there were a few amused looks and noises from spectators when it was mistakenly announced that John Borst had “2,007” career wins.

The Sherando senior is one person whose resume needs no embellishment. Borst’s actual accomplishments are legendary enough.

For the second straight year, Borst pinned all four of his regional wrestling opponents in the first round.

The two-time state champion and three-time regional champion spent a total of three minutes and 20 seconds on the mat in winning at 182 pounds last year.

This year, he needed just three minutes and 11 seconds to win at 195 pounds. He capped the two-day tournament by pinning Liberty Christian Academy’s Josiah Murphy in 1:56 in the championship match for his “208th” career win.

“I wanted to keep the pace high, keep the pace steady, and I went off the mat as fast as I can,” said Borst, who has pinned all six of his postseason opponents so far. “I wanted to dominate and show people that I’m not here to play games.”

After pinning his first three opponents in the first period, Borst said he hoped to do the same in the final.

It looked for a moment that Borst might have to wait until the second period, but with a 7-1 lead Borst was able to drop Murphy (47-4) with less than 15 seconds to go, secured his arm, then moved in a circle before putting him on his back.

“Most kids, in the last 20 seconds, if they’re on top they’re going to wait that period out,” Borst said. “But the whole way I’ve lived my wrestling career is, ‘Why wait? Don’t wait for things to come, go make things happen.’ ”

Borst was one of two local wrestlers to claim region titles on Saturday, with Handley’s Mac Gordon claiming the other at 113 pounds. The freshman rallied from a 3-0 deficit late in the second period to beat Kettle Run’s Justin Hall 4-3 in the final.

Two-time defending Group 4A state champion Fauquier won its third straight regional title with 184.5 points to edge Liberty (183). Millbrook (five state qualifiers) and Sherando (four) tied for sixth with 94 points, Handley (three) placed 10th with 79, and James Wood (two) took 13th with 63.5. Colonels senior Aaron Black lost for the first time this year, falling 1-0 in the 120-pound final to the person he beat in last year’s 113-pound region final but lost to in last year’s state final, Fauquier’s Kyle Budd.

The top six finishers in each weight class qualified for the Group 4A state tournament that will take place Thursday through Saturday at the Salem Civic Center.

Borst improved to 59-1 with 41 pins with his victory over Murphy.

Though it’s never surprising to see Borst dominate, the Virginia Tech signee said his training sessions this week with first-year Sherando assistant coach Jim Straight, an NCAA Division I All-American at 177 pounds at Edinboro University in 1997, were particularly helpful with his preparation for regionals.

“[Straight’s] a lot bigger than I am, so it’s good to get heavy hand fights that I’m not used to,” Borst said. “It translated really well, because every single kid that I saw was lighter in comparison. It was like pushing around a middle schooler compared to Coach Straight.

“Coach Straight knows his stuff. He’s definitely taught me a lot, him and [Sherando assistant] coach [Joel] Elmquist both. They see stuff in me no one else can, so working out with them on a daily basis is just something that not a lot of people get, and I’m so grateful for it.”

Sherando coach Pepper Martin said it’s definitely a struggle coming up with new things to say about Borst, but he never gets tired of saying of how much he‘s impressed by him.

“Prior to the postseason, he was working a lot on his feet, working on his various setups and takedowns, and then worrying about the pin later in the match,” Martin said. “Going into the postseason, he said, ‘Coach, I’m going to work on getting my setup and my takedown, and then work the turn and pin him.’ So far he’s stuck totally to the script.

“He’s got his goals, and he’s on a mission again. He respects all the opponents he wrestles, but he fears none. He won’t look ahead and will take it one match at a time.”

Sherando will also send sophomore Timmy Dieter (third at 120 pounds, 49-9), junior Zack Kales (fourth at 220, 39-19) and junior Jacob Stevens (fifth at 138, 58-5) to the state tournament.

“Unlike last week, when we laid an egg in the conference tournament, our coaching staff felt we wrestled pretty well all weekend,” Martin said. “We had a couple close matches where we didn’t pull through, but overall, we’re pleased with the way we wrestled.”

Dieter lost in the championship quarterfinals, but he fought back to finish 5-1 and capped his tournament with a pin of Woodgrove’s Jarrett Tardiff, who had defeated Dieter each of the previous two weeks.

Martin was also pleased with senior Jose Guevera (285), a football player who wrestled for the first time this year and came up one win shy of qualifying for the state tournament, losing 1-0 in the consolation third round to Liberty Christian Academy’s Stephen Murphy.

“He almost had a takedown right at the buzzer,” Martin said. “He was a nice addition to our team when it was sorely needed. He stepped up to the challenge and has learned to enjoy the sport. He said it was probably one of the best decisions he’s made as far as high school athletics. He caught on to it quickly, and we’re real proud of him.”

Millbrook’s state qualifiers are senior Brandon Bye (second at 126 pounds, 41-14), junior Tavon Blowe (second at 285, 53-8), senior Edwin Ramirez (third at 152, 45-12), senior Kevin Valyear (third at 160, 44-5) and senior Gabe Neaverth (sixth at 182, 51-9).

In the 126 final, Bye faced Woodgrove’s Derek Shockey (40-3) in a rematch of the Conference 21 West final won by Bye by fall in 1:49.

Shockey never trailed on Saturday, leading 2-1 after one period and 4-3 after two periods after Bye tied the match at 2-2 with an escape. Shockey recorded an escape to go up 5-3 25 seconds into the third, then added two more takedowns to give himself a 2-1 record vs. Bye.

‘[Shockey] was avoiding being head-locked,” Millbrook coach Jeff Holmes said. “Brandon kind of forced the issue a little bit. That wasn’t really our game plan going in, Brandon’s got other ways to score. Sometimes it’s tough when you beat a a good kid a certain way, because you think that way is always going to work. But good kids adjust and adapt.

“They could run into each other again. It’s tough beating a good kid two times in a row. You saw that with him beating Shockey, and Shockey beating him.”

Blowe wasn’t able to get anything going against defending state champion Elijah Boldin (29-3) of John Champe in a 5-0 loss in the final, but he won overtime decisions in both the quarterfinals and semifinals to get to that match. Blowe beat Liberty’s Julian Sams - who defeated Blowe 3-1 at the Mayhem at Millbrook tournament - 4-3 in the semifinals.

Blowe said he felt his conditioning paid off in advancing to his first state tournament.

“I’ve worked on that the last couple of weeks, and getting in on the legs, and finishing my takedowns,” Blowe said. “My shots have gotten a lot better this year. Last year I didn’t shoot a lot, but I’ve had more opportunities to get in on the legs this year.”

Holmes said he was hoping to get six wrestlers to the state tournament, but after taking only one last year five is a positive sign.

“Edwin wrestled really well to take third,” Holmes said. “He battled and won a lot of close matches. It’s great we have a lot of seniors going to the state tournament, and hopefully they’ll perform to their potential.”

Trailing 3-0 late in the second period, Handley’s Gordon (39-8) picked up one point when Hall (33-9) was penalized for stalling with five seconds left. Gordon then earned an escape with two seconds left to cut his deficit to 3-2. Gordon then picked up the winning points on a reversal with 54 seconds left in the third period.

“That switch is a move I’ve been working on for the past three years, so I’ve gotten pretty good at it,” said Gordon of his reversal. “I needed a big move like that to take the lead.”

Gordon has definitely gotten better as the season has gone on. Until winning last week’s Conference 21 West tournament, he hadn’t won a tournament all year.

“At the beginning of the season, I was too nervous in every match,” Gordon said. “Now I’ve figured out the moves I want to use. I’ve put them to work, and that got me here.”

Handley coach David Scott said Gordon’s composure is impressive.

“He’s just such a calm kid,” Scott said. “He doesn’t get flustered by tight matches or situations. He really wrestled well with [Hall]. He got on tight with the kid and slowed him down. [Gordon] pushed the action a little bit more than the other kid I thought, and that’s why he won the match. I think he’s the first freshman ever from Handley to win regionals, so this is a really big accomplishment for him.”

The Judges will also send seniors Jimmy Vitola (second at 182 pounds, 36-10) and Cam Bentley (third at 138, 38-7) to the state tournament. Vitola lost by fall in 1:09 in his finals match to William Byrd’s Adam Catron (32-3).

Fauquier’s Budd (37-8) scored the only point of the match against James Wood’s Black (30-1) 23 seconds into the second period on an escape.

“He did a good job of keeping his hips low, and he has a different stance than most people,” Black said. “I’m just going to have to work harder and push the momentum.”

In addition to Black, James Wood will also send senior Bailey Eichelberger (third at 170 pounds, 38-6) to the state tournament.

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