Bendure win Class 4 state wrestling title

Keagan Judd came into this year’s Virginia High School League Class 4 wrestling tournament with an undefeated state tournament record, and he clearly had no intention of seeing that legacy change.

The Sherando senior won the third state title of his career by not allowing a single point in his four matches at 150 pounds on Friday and Saturday at the Virginia Beach Sports Center. Judd was one of three local wrestlers to win state titles on Saturday, with Warriors sophomore Anthony Lucchiani (126) capturing his second title and James Wood sophomore Colton Bendure (120) taking home his first.

Judd and Lucchiani led Sherando (four state placers) to fifth as a team with 91.5 points. Great Bridge won with 202.5 points, Eastern View was second with 102, James Wood (three state placers) was 12th with 58, Handley (three state placers) was 13th with 52 and Millbrook (no state placers) was 32nd with 17 out of 51 teams.

Judd is now 12-0 in his VHSL state tourney career, having also won championships at 113 pounds as a freshman and 145 pounds as a junior. The only year Judd was denied a state title was his sophomore year in 2020-21, when Frederick County elected not to compete in the VHSL season due to COVID concerns.

On Friday, Judd (49-1) pinned Drake Puryear of Halifax County in 11 seconds in the first round and defeated Zachary Ray of Heritage (Newport News) 6-0 in the quarterfinals. After pinning Luke Rowan of Louisa County in 5:36 in Saturday’s semifinals after building up an 8-0 lead, Judd faced Nicholas Marck (52-3) of Lightridge in a rematch of the Region 4C championship.

Judd won the Region 4C finals match 4-2. On Saturday, Judd earned a 6-0 win on a takedown with 33 seconds left in the first period, a penalty point and reversal in the second period, and an escape in the third.

“I wrestled pretty decent the first day, and then the second day I felt like I really clicked and locked in with my stuff and wrestled very well,” said Judd in a phone interview on Sunday. “[Against Marck], I knew the match was going to be won on the feet. I knew if I got the takedown in the first I was controlling the whole match. I could set up my shots and control the pace of the match.”

Sherando coach Brian Kibler said no one controls a match quite like Judd.

“He pretty much dominated the entire time [in the tournament],” Kibler said. “He’s probably one of the most controlling wrestlers that you can really have. Sometimes I kind of feel like he can put more points on, but there’s no other wrestler at that tournament [at Virginia Beach] that’s more controlling than Keagan Judd. He’s able to lock opponents down where they can’t score.”

As a freshman, Judd expressed a desire to be a four-time state champion. He didn’t get the chance, but he rose to the occasion on the big stage yet again this weekend. Judd’s only defeat this year came at the prestigious Beast of the East at the University of Delaware.

“I did whatever I could and controlled what I could control,” Judd said. “I went to states three times and I’m a three-time state champion. In my career, the stuff I controlled, I’m very happy with my career. I have no regrets with my career.”

Lucchiani (50-2) wracked up a remarkable 51 points while surrendering only seven in his four matches.

He defeated Jamestown’s Spencer Moth by an 18-1 technical fall in 2:26 in the first round and pinned Courtland’s Ian Richey after leading 7-0 in 1:48 in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals against Deep Creek’s Ethan Elswick, he gave up his first offensive points of the postseason when Kibler said Lucchiani was a bit too aggressive, resulting in a reversal that cut his lead to 4-3. But Lucchiani got an escape four seconds later and started piling up points again, leading 7-3 after one period and 14-5 after two.

In the championship match, Lucchiani took on King George’s Aiden Inzana. Lucchiani pinned Inzana in the first period at the Freedom Duals on Jan. 14, and he did it again in 1:23 in Saturday’s final after building up an 8-1 lead.

“I felt like I wrestled really well,” said Lucchiani of his tournament as a whole. “Other than [the reversal], all my moves were going really smooth. I feel like I was pretty untouchable for the most part.

“[In the championship] the first takedown I had was the exact same one I had the first time against him. I hit him with an underhook hip toss, and he went right on his back. In the first match, I ended up pinning him with the first move, but it took me a couple other moves this time.”

Kibler said he sometimes finds himself looking at the scoreboard and being impressed by Lucchiani’s point totals.

“He loves scoring,” Kibler said. “Fans and his coaches and his teammates and other people around wrestling love seeing points on the board, and he certainly meets that criteria.”

Lucchiani said he’s happy with the win, but he plans on working harder to reach his goal of being a four-time state champion.

“The target on my back is just going to keep getting bigger, and people are just going to want to take me out,” Lucchiani said.

Also for the Warriors, senior Brogan Teter (5-1 in the tournament) took third at 144 pounds and senior Tyler Koerner (3-3) placed sixth at 132 to repeat as state medalists. Teter was fifth at 152 last year and Koerner was fourth at 126.

Kibler said Teter did well to bounce back from a 14-1 loss to Great Bridge state runner-up Beau Lewis in the quarterfinals. Teter won his next four matches, including his third-place match 3-1 over Powhatan’s Britton Proffitt with a takedown with four seconds left.

“Brogan’s been a very, very good wrestler for a long time for us,” Kibler said. “He did a real nice job of letting it rip there the second day, especially with 30 seconds to go in the third-place match.

“Tyler’s been battling injury all year. He had hip surgery last spring and a shoulder injury toward the tail end of this year. So top six was a good tournament for him.”

Last year, Sherando placed second as a team. The Warriors had nine state qualifiers, eight regional top three seeds and five top two seeds last year compared to this year’s seven state qualifiers, five regional top three seeds and four top two seeds, so Kibler said he knew approaching last year’s team finish would be difficult. Kibler said it was good to finish a half point ahead of Region 4C champion Loudoun County.

“Anytime you’re in the top five [at states], you’ve got to feel pretty good about your season,” Kibler said.

James Wood’s Bendure (45-2) pinned Grafton’s Christian Smith in 3:26 in the first round and Monacan’s Austin Jeffrey in 1:23 in the quarterfinals.

Bendure lost in the state finals at 113 pounds last year to then-Great Bridge senior Noah Ortiz by fall in the second period. This year, Bendure viewed a semifinal match with Great Bridge’s Kyle Kuhlmey as the true state championship.

Bendure led 3-2 after one period, 5-3 after two periods and 7-4 in the third period after a takedown with 1:18 left. Kuhlmey tied it up with an escape and takedown with 22 seconds left, but then Bendure had a reversal four seconds later for a 9-7 lead in what turned out to be a 9-8 win.

“I didn’t let my motivation get down,” said Bendure of Kuhlmey’s takedown. “I was still always believing.”

In the championship match, Bendure faced Luke Wells of Powhatan. Bendure needed a takedown with 14 seconds left to break a 1-1 tie and beat Wells 3-2 in last year’s 113 semifinals. This year, Bendure took the drama out of the match, breaking a 2-2 tie with a five-point move starting at the 40-second mark of the second period in a 7-2 win.

“I was able to look back at the last match I had against him, see what I did wrong, and just fix the details, and I think it worked out,” Bendure said. “I just used a hip toss [in the second period].

“It’s amazing [to be a state champion]. After coming short last year, and putting in all the work I did over the summer, and the wear and tear on your body over the long season, it was all worth it. It’s a lot better feeling than last year.”

James Wood coach Cory Crenshaw said Bendure did an excellent job of attacking against Kuhlmey, especially since Kuhlmey had the first takedown. Crenshaw said Bendure then wrestled confidently against Wells and never put himself in a bad position.

“He knew what he had to do, and he capitalized on it,” Crenshaw said.

Also for the Colonels (five state qualifers), sophomore James Battulga placed fourth at 138 and freshman Max Mooney placed fifth at 106. Each went 3-2 in the tournament.

“As a whole, I thought they all wrestled very well,” Crenshaw said. “Max and James wrestled hard through the first day to put themselves in great positions.”

Handley junior Nick Baker (132) and senior Simon Bishop (165) each took second with 3-1 tourney records. Judges coach Troy Mezzatesta said it believes it’s the first time the Judges have had two state finalists in the same year since 2014.

In the finals, Baker fell behind 4-0 after one period and 6-0 after two in an 8-2 loss to Great Bridge’s Myrin Nixon. Baker won his first state tourney match by fall and his next two by a combined 18-3 to reach a state final for the second straight year.

“Nick had a fantastic tournament and a fantastic year,” Mezzatesta said. “He amped up the level of energy. Guys in the third period were having a tough time keeping up with that motor of his. He just hit a buzz saw [with Nixon].”

Bishop avenged his regional semifinal loss to Broad Run’s Tyler Staub with a 7-0 semifinal win, but he dropped to 1-4 this year against Liberty’s Noah Hall in the final. Hall had a takedown in the first period and a reversal in the second period for a 4-0 win and his second state title.

Bishop finishes with 152 career wins, 99 career pins, three All-State medals (third at 160 in 2022, third at 152 in 2021) and announced his commitment to NCAA Division III Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland in December.

“Simon had an amazing tournament,” Mezzastesta said. “We’re just so proud of him. To get to the finals was a beautiful ending to an amazing career. He’s been a great team leader and captain, and we’re going to miss him.”

Sophomore Hayden Thompson (2-3 tourney record) picked up his second All-State medal, taking sixth at 120 after finishing fifth at 106 last year.

Records for other local wrestlers:Sherando: Zachary Hayes (138) 2-2; Storm Miller (190) 1-2; Jake Dann (165) 0-2.

James Wood: Blake Messick (132) 2-2; Orion Cox (190) 0-2.

Handley: Thomas Thorpe (157) 1-2.

Millbrook: Julian Cusick (150) 2-2; Jett Helmut (285) 2-2; Jason Coleman (175) 1-2; Ezra Doyle-Naegeli (215) 1-2.

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