National Prep Tournament

Woodberry qualified five wrestlers for the National Prep Tournament: Josh Trudgeon, Duke Pickett, Taylor Reuss, Cary Jones, and Chad Kolumber.

It was a great experience for the Tigers, as all wrestlers got at least one win. Woodberry placed 26th out ouf about 150 teams. Josh went 1-2, with a dominant 16-1 win by technical fall in the first round. Josh was seconds away from winning his last match.

Taylor Reuss was one win away from placing at Nationals. He went 3-2, with 3 hard-fought wins and two extremely close losses in matches that could have easily gone Taylor’s way.

Cary went 2-2, with a huge win over a wrestler from Episcopal High School who had beaten Cary 3 times over the past 2 years.

Chad had tough draw in the tournament, and went 1-2, losing matches to the second- and eighth-place winners. Chad finished his Woodberry wrestling career competing at the highest level possible.

Duke Pickett had an outstanding tournament. Entering the tournament as the second seed, Duke worked his way to the finals upsetting the second seed in the semifinals by a score of 5-0. In the finals Duke lost a tough and hard-fought match to Evan Henderson from the Kiski School.

Duke ended the season with a 41-3 record and represented the team’s values throughout the season. Duke also earned the weekly Hammer Award for his tough performance.

Hard Work

Tigers Place 8 at State Tournament

7th Overall, 8 Placers
Josh Trudgeon- 3rd, Duke Pickett- 1st (OW Middle Weights), Taylor Reuss- 3rd, Jeff Smith- 7th, Phil Rogers- 8th, Charlie Hilliard- 8th, Cary Jones- 4th, Chad Kolumber- 5th

The Tigers traveled to St. Christopher’s School in Richmond for the Virginia State Prep School Tournament. Things started well for the team, as thirteen wrestlers moved on to wrestle on the second day of the tournament. Nick Cirillo, Will Choate, and George Sutherland all picked up wins in their first State Tournament appearance. The tigers wrestled well on Saturday as well. Josh Trudgeon lost in the semi-finals, then came back to take third, avenging a loss from earlier this season in his third-place match.

Taylor Reuss also battled back from a tough semi-finals loss and won two key matches to take third. Jeff Smith had a solid performance, earning a takedown against the eventual state champion and national prep finalist in a quarterfinals loss, eventually placing seventh. Team co-captain Phil Rogers ended his Woodberry wrestling career on a high note, placing eighth in the tournament. Charlie Hilliard battled through an injured wrist and wrestled above his ninth-place seeding to take eighth, avenging Rogers Clark’s loss to Collegiate along the way. Cary Jones wrestled a good tournament, placing four and competing hard in his two losses. Chad Kolumber placed fifth, earning another win over St. Christopher’s and finishing the year undefeated against Prep League opponents. Duke Pickett came into the tournament seeded #1, and did not disappoint. Duke dominated all his opponents on the way to a state championship, and earned the Outstanding Wrestler Award. Because of his dominating performance, Duke earned the team’s weekly Hammer Award. Duke’s performance also earned him All-Prep honors. Overall at States, the team finished with eight placers, and finished seventh in the team standings only ten points out of fifth place.

Tigers go 2-1 at Home Quad

On Saturday, February 13, The Woodberry Forest wrestlers hosted three Prep League rivals—St. Christopher’s School, Fork Union Military Academy, and Collegiate School--in a quad meet. The day started with the Tigers taking on Collegiate, and earning a strong 48-16 win over the Cougars. Josh Trudgeon, Duke Pickett, Taylor Reuss, and Jeff Smith all had big wins, leading the team to victory. The Tigers continued to have success against FUMA, earning a 48-19 win. Josh, Duke, Taylor, and Jeff were all victorious again, and Cary Jones also added a big win. The last match of the day for the Woodberry grapplers was against St. Christopher’s School. The Tigers wrestled some very tough matches, but fell 58-3 to the state champion Saints. Chad Kolumber had a very close win over a tough opponent, in his first victory against a St. Christopher’s wrestler. Taylor Reuss had a very close match in a two-point loss to the eventual state champ. Taylor wrestled well all weekend, and earned the team’s weekly Hammer Award for his three very tough matches. Rogers Clark went into the weekend as a varsity starter for the first time. He wasn’t able to earn a win, but wrestled three tough opponents, and was very competitive with all three.