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Led by by Gough, Eagles get respect, but don't advance
One by one, Liberty's representatives at the Northwest Regional wrestling tournament spiraled into dejection Saturday afternoon.
There was 145-pound Justin Snyder, a gray sweatshirt hood pulled over his head as he perched on the Woodbridge High gym floor. Just moments later, 171-pound teammate Josh Cooper sat up against a wall, slowly taking off his shoes, disappointed and frustrated.
Later, similar scenes played out for Mike Loy at 152 and heavyweight Kory Gough.
On the plus side, Liberty took seven wrestlers to the Group AAA Northwest Region meet — a number that looks very impressive compared to the three Eagles who got through to last year's Group AA regionals.
But a promising weekend never lived up to its billing. None of the seven LHS competitors advanced to this week's state finals in Chesapeake. The best the Eagles could muster was a pair of fifth-place finishes and a wealth of added experience.
“I thought I had a shot with two individuals but it didn't pan out,” coach Dean Spahr said of the team's state final hopes. “We didn't match up well with anybody the whole weekend.”
A look back at the Eagles' regional performances:
KORY GOUGH
Gough came painfully close to becoming Liberty's lone state representative (see story, page B7). He entered the weekend ranked No. 6 in Group AAA, but his dreams ended with a triple-overtime loss to unranked Jim Leonard of Mountain View.
“Upsets do happen, and I wasn't feeling it,” Gough said.
The weekend started off well as the Liberty junior pinned Saul Hicks of E.C. Glass in his opener. His second round matchup with No. 3 Stephen Young of Gar-Field proved less promising.
Young, who handily defeated Gough earlier this year, won 7-5. Young lost to Fauquier's Nick Cook in the finals. “I had him on his back, I had him down,” Gough said of his match against Young. “I wrestled really well.”
Unfortunately, the defeat relegated Gough to the consolation bracket. There, he would need three consecutive wins for the final state spot. He took step one late on Friday, pinning Forest Park's Christian Botero in 2:48.
On Saturday, Gough needed another pair of victories. “It's just very irritating,” Gough said about slipping out of the championship bracket. “When you're in the consolations, you get more matches, and I like that for experience, but it's harder.”
Gough's consolation quarterfinal proved that point.
Matt Alvarado of Hylton and Gough battled through two scoreless periods before a feisty third. Gough escaped to take a 1-0 lead, before they briefly stopped as Gough was shaken by an apparent low blow.
Gough was ahead 3-0 before Alvarado came up gimpy, holding his already-taped right knee. The two walked out the final 15 seconds in a neutral position, with Gough victorious.
The hard-fought match may have taken too much out of Gough, as he fell to Leonard in the next round, one step short of states.
“He didn't wrestle well,” coach Spahr said straightforwardly. “He has some things he has to work on, and hopefully he'll do that.”
Gough ended up taking fifth by beating Nick Martin from Brooke Point, 10-5.
MIKE LOY
Like Gough, Loy's drive to the state finals stalled out one victory short. Like Gough, Loy won his first match 152-pound on Friday — a disqualification victory over Christian Kagarise of Colonial Forge.
“He hit me,” Loy said. “I was beating him, and he got frustrated.”
The second round proved impenetrable, though, a recurring theme for the Eagles on the weekend.
Loy ran into No. 6-ranked Jesus Lagares of Woodbridge and suffered a 17-1 shellacking. “I knew it was going to be tough,” Loy said. “But I was surprised, I didn't think it was going to be that bad.”
Loy survived into Saturday by pinning Jack Devine from Loudoun Valley 4:30 into their second round consolation match.
Loy's opener on the tournament's second day — against Kent Jackson (Stafford) — turned into a barn burner. The two traded points and leads late into the third period. Loy grabbed a late 8-7 edge, but Jackson was then awarded a tying point at the six-second mark.
Overtime ended quickly, as Loy nailed a two-point takedown. “Our coaches just push us hard, and he was gassed; I had more,” Loy said.
The LHS junior could not carry that momentum over to the consolation semis. Loy dropped a 10-0 decision to Fauquier's Neil McGuire, the third time McGuire bested Loy in 2008. “McGuire's better, I guess, a little more experienced,” Spahr said.
Loy will return next year as one of Liberty's leaders.
JUSTIN SNYDER
When Spahr said that he believed Liberty had two chances to advance to states, he had Snyder in mind.
Last year, Snyder surprisingly advanced to the Group AA state finals, but Woodbridge's Matt Smith pinned him in the consolation quarterfinals to eliminate him.
“I am disappointed,” Snyder said. “I was doing so good at the beginning of the season. Something happened at the end of the season; I kind of just fell apart.”
He kept it together long enough on Friday to down Chris Bellios of Colonial Forge, 6-1 in the round of 16. But following Liberty's weekend trend, Snyder stumbled in the quarterfinals, 3-2 to A.J. Baggott of Gar-Field.
“I expected to win that one, and after losing that match, I lost faith in everything,” Snyder said. “I think that's what happened with my last match here, why I couldn't put forth the effort to win.”
Snyder moved past David Baxter (Loudoun Valley) in the second round consolation to open Saturday before Smith sent him home. Even after his second loss, Snyder lamented the one-point defeat to Baggott.
“It's the worst feeling in the world, coming back to wrestle for third,” Snyder said. “It's tough, it's tough on your body.”
JOSH COOPER
Another senior, the 171-pound Cooper, lost his opener on Friday, 7-3 to William Fleming's Jesse Jenkins. Because of that, Cooper faced the prospect of having four straight consolation wins to get out of regionals.
He started well with a 2-1 win over Connor Alford (Stafford) and another 2-1 triumph against A.J. Fernow (Mountain View).
Against Joe Bisnett of Franklin County in the consolation quarters, Cooper fell behind 2-0 in the second period, but tied things late at 2-2 when Bisnett was called for stalling.
In overtime, with both competitors visibly fatigued, Cooper lunged low, missed the takedown chance and soon after coughed up two points.
“ I took a really bad shot and he just spun around and got two,” Cooper said.
Still, the trip to regionals and a pair of victories capped a solid final year for Cooper. “I was trying to get third or fourth; that's depressing knowing that I”m out,” Cooper said, “but I'm happy with my two wins.”
BRADLEY JAMES
Liberty's 160-pound entry used a forfeit by Bennett Whitehouse (E.C. Glass) to advance to the quarterfinals.
There No.2-ranked Conor Black of Mountain View pinned James at 3:07. James's tournament ended abruptly on Saturday with a 7-2 loss to Jason Mazariegos (Woodbridge).
Just a junior, James should be a strong competitor next season.
RYAN CAMPBELL
No Eagle found a tougher challenge awaiting then the 130-pound Campbell. After a fourth-place finish at districts, the junior drew No. 1 Joe Pantaleo from Colonial Forge in Friday's first round.
Pantaleo needed just 1:58 to register a victory via pin.
Campbell's tournament then concluded in Friday's opening consolation round with a 6-4 loss to Nick Moon (E.C. Glass).
SHAWN OTTE
Otte, another junior, finished just 1-2 on the weekend, but showed some promise. The 215-pounder lasted just 49 seconds against top-seed Amondre Johnson (William Fleming) in the opening round.
But Otte bounced back by pinning William Mejia from Freedom 2:27 into their consolation first-round contest, pushing him to Saturday. He battled well against Adam Lauer of Gar-Field there before falling 7-3.
“He probably wrestled the best he's wrestled ever,” Spahr said. “It's finally starting to click for him.”
Otte will also return next year to help form Liberty's foundation.
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