By Marty Gordon
NRVsports@ourvalley.org
Plenty of drama was experienced on the second day of the state Class 3 wrestling tournament as New Kent slipped by Christiansburg for the second state year. The Blue Demons held a slight lead when the day began, but New Kent sent six wrestlers to the finals while Christiansburg wound up with only four in the finals.
Onlookers knew it would come down to several head-to-head matches and hopes for some upsets.
The central Virginia party wreckers started Saturday off on a good note when Matthew Eberly took the 106-pound weight class. Neither school had a competitor at 113 so the big match of the day was at 120 where Christiansburg’s Brandon Crowder sent a message with 3-0 decision over Trace Ragland of New Kent.
Luke Robie gave the Blue Demons some points with a third-place finish at 126, but Brentsville’s John Carayiannis stopped Garrett Kuchan 7-4 to slow the roll.
New Kent’s Patrick Jordon then took the 138 state championship to increase the team’s lead.
Kip Nininger had a chance for Christiansburg at 145 but fell to Travis Ragland of New Kent in a 7-1 match. New Kent extended its lead at 152 when Nicholas Vafiadis took down Abingdon’s Jack Campbell. New Kent’s Brayden Hohman was the runner-up at 160 and Gannon Jones took the 170 class final.
But the Blue Demons still had some hope. Nathan Warden downed Brentsville’s Kosei Cuyler en route to the 182 state title. Neither team had finalists in the final three weight classes of the day, so the final deficit was decided.
Christiansburg coach Cliff Warden said afterward his team simply did not score points when they needed to.
New Kent changed the state’s wrestling landscape last season after stopping Christiansburg’s 17 consecutive state titles.
New Kent finished with 235.5 points; Christiansburg finished with 216.5 points. Skyline was third with 216.5 points.
In other wrestling news, Auburn High School’s Devin Davis finished in third place in the Class 1 state competition. Auburn tallied 16 points to finish 20th in the team competition. Grundy took the team title with 230.5 points. Rural Retreat was second with 202 points.
