Wrestling - Judges Invitational

WINCHESTER — With 58 seconds left in the second period of the 138-pound championship match at Saturday's Judges Invitational, the referee stopped the match to penalize Powhatan's Talon Harness.

"He was digging his knuckles into my mouth during the tie-up," Handley junior Hayden Thompson said.

Given how difficult it was to score against Thompson on Saturday, you can almost understand why Harness was a little too aggressive against him at Maddex-Omps Gymnasium.

Thompson did not give up any offensive points while posting a 5-0 record on Saturday to capture his first career Judges Invitational. Thompson's opponents only accumulated five escape points, with Thompson winning two matches by fall, two by major decision, and closing out his tournament with a 2-0 win over Harness.

"He just took care of business and was solid," Judges coach Troy Mezzatesta said. "He's not going to do anything that puts him in crazy danger. He puts himself in good positions. When he gets into an awkward position, he can scramble out of it or stalemate it. He's just been wrestling really well and dictating the match to his strengths."

Three of the area's better wrestlers were held out of the tournament as a precaution, but Thompson was one of three local champions in the 17-team tournament. James Wood sophomore Max Mooney (120 pounds) and Clarke County junior Blake Jacobson (157) also finished at the top of the podium.

Woodgrove won the team title with 519 points, more than 100 ahead of runner-up Fairfax (413.5). James Wood was fifth with 288.5 points, Handley was 12th with 242.5 and Clarke County was 14th with 187.5.

After going 3-0 in pool competition to advance to the championship bracket, Thompson (33-2 record) defeated Chancellor's Evan Ross 9-0 in the semifinals before his match with Harness. Thompson got an escape 21 seconds into the second period before going up 2-0 as a result of the penalty to Harness.

"I didn't know what to expect," said Thompson, who hadn't wrestled Harness before. "I just went out there and wrestled my match."

Thompson then rode out Harness in the third period and never really came close to allowing Harness to score.

"For a person who watches a lot of wrestling and knows wrestling, they enjoy seeing [low-scoring] matches," Mezzatesta said. "In wrestling, those better matches are low scoring where it really takes a lot to score a point or stop your opponent from scoring. [Thompson] rode really well and did the things he needed to do to score points."

Thompson has had a successful career at Handley, placing fifth in Class 4 at 106 pounds as a freshman and sixth at 120 as a sophomore. Though he's in the same weight class as two-time state champion Anthony Lucchiani of Sherando (Lucchiani defeated Thompson in their only matchup this year), he looks capable of having his best state finish yet.

Thompson said his success with freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling helped with his confidence for this season. Thompson qualified for nationals in Fargo, N.D., over the summer, and he feels his experiences made him a better wrestler in general, including with high school's folkstyle wrestling. Thompson said the training he put in with Winchester's Red Lion Wrestling Club also made a difference.

"My goal is to qualify for states again," Thompson said. "My goal is to always place there."

In the present, Thompson is just glad he could give Handley a champion at its own tournament. Thompson took third as a freshman and fourth as a sophomore at the Judges Invitational.

"It's really special winning at home," Thompson said.

Handley sophomore Thomas Thorpe made a strong bid for a championship as well at 175. He won two matches by fall and one by forfeit in pool action and won his semifinal 10-6.

In the title match, Martinsburg (W.Va.) sophomore Terrell Cofield led 5-3 after an escape 10 seconds into the third period. At the end, Thorpe made a low shot and forced Cofield to the mat after grabbing one of his feet, but Cofield eventually fought it off and got around Thorpe's back for a 7-3 lead with three seconds left. Thorpe got an escape for a 7-4 final.

"Thomas just making the finals is a positive," said Mezzatesta, who wasn't able to watch the championship match because he was needed on another mat (all of the final placement matches took place at the same time). "Every time you make it to a final, you're learning something about yourself and your wrestling style. I think he did that today. What I hear from my coaches is that [his championship match] was one of the best matches they've seen him wrestle, and that says something when one of your coaches says that in a loss."

Mezzatesta held out two of its best wrestlers in Nick Baker (132) and Jace Culotta (113), who have been dealing with injuries. The Judges were also led by Alex Sardelis (4-1 on Saturday, fifth at 106) and Marvin Rivera (2-1, fifth at 285).

"You like to see people bounce back from a loss, and both Alex and Marvin each had two wins after their losses," Mezzatesta said.

Mooney (25-2 for the season) won his first two matches by fall and his last three by decision on Saturday. His won his third match against Fairfax's Akram Guliyev 9-3, but not without getting banged up. He needed to plug up his nose the rest of the day as a result of contact that resulted in a bloody nose in that match.

He then had two more tough matches in the championship bracket, both against Martinsburg wrestlers. (Schools had the option of entering multiple wrestlers in some weight classes to help fill out the brackets.) After a 3-0 win over Kaden Riggleman in the semifinals, Mooney defeated Keagan Everhart 9-6 in the final.

Against Everhart, Mooney had a takedown and two near-fall points for a 4-0 lead after one period, then an escape and takedown for a 7-0 lead with 55 seconds left in the second period. Mooney was never in danger of losing the match, but Everhart made it more interesting with a reversal in the second period and two takedowns in the third. Everhart conceded escapes after his two takedowns, but Mooney prevented Everhart from scoring for the last 1:12 of the match.

The 5-foot-5 Mooney said he would have liked to have wrestled better in the third period, but he got the job done.

"[Everhart] definitely picked up the pace a little bit," Mooney said. "He was a lot taller than me, so most of it was trying not to get thrown, trying not to let any big moves happen, just trying to sustain the match. We're going to learn from our mistakes and wrestle like I wrestle the whole match next time."

Like Thompson, Mooney is also looking to make an even bigger splash at this year's state tournament. Mooney placed fifth at 106 pounds as a freshman.

"I feel like my mindset has gotten a lot better [this year]," Mooney said. "Just working hard in the room, asking a ton of questions. I'm just trying to elevate and get better and learn from every mistake I make, and just try to perfect everything. I'm hoping to secure my spot at states and hoping to get a shot at a state title."

James Wood coach Cory Crenshaw liked how Mooney wrestled throughout the tournament.

"His early attacks were good, putting pressure on kids, doing what he needs to from all positions," Crenshaw said. "He was on his own, choosing to cut people [and concede escape points]. From a coaching perspective, that's great. It shows his confidence level that he's ready to get back into the attack.

"In the finals match, he started out really well. [Parts of the match] didn't really go the way we wanted, but at the end of the day we wrestled smart and wrestled strong."

James Wood junior James Battulga pinned each of his first four opponents to advance to the 150-pound final, but he couldn't generate any offense against Woodgrove's Austen Watson. Watson had a takedown 18 seconds in, led 6-0 after two periods, had another takedown 35 seconds into the third for an 8-0 lead, then controlled Battulga on top until an escape just before the final whistle.

Crenshaw said Battulga and Watson have wrestled each other outside of the Virginia High School League season, and Battulga told Crenshaw that their matches are usually closer.

"[Watson] broke us down and didn't let us get to our offense," Crenshaw said. "If we see him again, hopefully, it will be a little bit different outcome."

Colonels freshman Hayden Black (106) was held out as a precaution due to a lingering injury. James Wood was also led on Saturday by Seth Merryman (fourth at 132, 3-2, three pins); Aiden Henry (fourth at 157, 3-1, two pins, suffered an injury to Clarke's Jacobson in the semifinals and forfeited his third-place match); Orion Cox (sixth at 160, 3-2, three pins); Hayden Franks (seventh at 138, 3-2, one pin, one major decision); and Blake Tidwell (seventh at 175, 3-2).

"We kind of preached over the last couple of days about not giving up on yourself and continuing to battle, even when you're losing or you're wrestling a tougher opponent," Crenshaw said. "A couple of kids stepped up to the plate today and got a couple of wins for themselves, and stayed in contention even if they lost. That's all we can ask for at this point in the year."

Clarke's Jacobson improved to 30-1 and spent just eight minutes and 31 seconds on the mat in winning his five matches. The only points Jacobson's opponents managed on Saturday came on escapes, and Clarke County coach Jon VanSice said those were a product of Jacobson letting his foes loose.

In pool action, Jacobson won two matches by tech fall and one by fall. He was up 8-3 in the semifinals on Henry when his takedown 1:13 into the match resulted in an injury for Henry, and then Woodgrove's Cameron Owens elected to forfeit the championship match.

Basically, Jacobson — who placed third in Class 2 last year at 144 pounds — had one of his typical performances. Jacobson's only defeat this year was to Class 6 Langley.

"He's just dominating people he goes against," VanSice said. "He's lost one match, but he hasn't had many close matches other than that. Some of his matches when we moved him up to 165 were a little tighter because he was giving up a lot of weight. He's having a great season, and hopefully, it continues and he stays healthy."

Jacobson feels he's gotten better at wrestling on his feet this year.

"[Today], I felt I was consistently good at scoring on my feet, just taking people down and working my offense," Jacobson said. "I think I'm definitely capable of winning a state title this year. I just need to go out and compete and do my best."

Clarke County was also led by Kutman Turdubaev (fifth at 150, 4-1, four pins); Kolton Vincent (seventh at 120, 3-2, two pins); and Camden McCarty (ninth at 165, 3-2, two pins).

"I don't know if that was attributed to the seedings we had, but the first two rounds, we wrestled really well," VanSice said. "Then we hit the third round, and it was like we hit a brick well. It just goes to show the level of competition at this tournament. It was a good tournament, and hopefully, it will pay dividends down the road. Hopefully, we'll learn from this and improve in the next couple of weeks."

The Most Outstanding Wrestler awards went to Woodgrove's Sawyer Jones (144) for the lower weights and Fairfax's Ali Khawaja, who pinned all four people he competed against at 165.

— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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