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Making the grade in AA won't be easier for FHS
Pencil in the Fauquier High wrestling team as a state champion next season.
The Falcons finished second at the AAA state tournament this season and will return a strong core of wrestlers when they drop down to the AA classification next season. Finishing first is the only logical step.
“Not true in wrestling,” Fauquier coach Bryan Hurst said. “The No. 1 team in the state right now is Christiansburg…I’m hoping we’re going to fight for a [AA] state title, but it’s not a gimme at all…Us moving down doesn’t guarantee anything.”
There’s no doubt the Falcons will contend for the championship, but in AA Christiansburg is every bit the daunting foe Colonial Forge has become in AAA. Forge won its third-consecutive AAA title this season with 121 points to Fauquier’s 97.5, but with seven top-eight finishes it had few medalists relative to Christiansburg in AA. With 11 medalists, Christiansburg won its eighth-consecutive AA championship, beating runner-up Poquoson 210.5-131.5.
“Christiansburg is ranked top-10 in the nation right now,” Hurst said. “They lose some kids, but they’re going to reload.”
Christiansburg loses seniors Derek Wood (160 champion), Jon Weber (215 champion), Braden Carter (171 runner-up), David Cheney (189 runner-up) and Phillip Dowdy (seventh at 285), but six state-placers will still return next season. Junior Devin Carter won the 112-pound title this season, sophomore Rich Eva won the 125 title, freshman Brady Epperly was the 130 runner-up, freshman James Linkous was the 135 runner-up, sophomore Luke Rakes finished seventh at 140 and freshman Tyler Miles finished seventh at 152.
Plus, Grundy also looms large in AA. It finished third at state this season, but won 14 of 15 AA championships between 1987 and 2001, similar to Great Bridge’s AAA run between 1987 and 2006, when it won 18 of 20 championships.
Meanwhile, Fauquier will return six state qualifiers that contributed to the best finish in school history last season. They improved on the Falcons’ third-place finish last season and ninth-place finish at the 2006-07 state tournament...See the Wednesday print edition of the Fauquier Times-Democrat for the complete story.
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