This past weekend the varsity wrestling team competed in the inaugural FUMA Invitational.  The meet was comprised of 18 teams made up of both public and private schools.  The Tigers had a very good weekend overall, having 11 competitors wrestle out of the 14 weight classes.  Some of the highlights from the weekend include:

Sam Thomas started off things off for the Tigers at FUMA and went 2-2 overall which had him on the podium for a fourth place overall.  Sam was able to grind out through sheer resiliency and toughness, earning two very close wins by decision to get himself to the consolation finals.

First year wrestler Rainey O'Malley had a fantastic tournament, won 2 matches by pins and earned a solid 5th place for the Tigers.

After falling to the eventual champion of the tournament in the initial match, Cameron Beck battled back hard in the consolation rounds and won 2 more victories for the team, and was one round away from getting himself on the podium.  

Will Thomas certainly was the talk of the tournament at 160lbs.  Will's first match put him up against his formal school, St Stephens St Agnes, but Will made quick work of his opponent.  Will had the fastest pin of the tournament and perhaps set a new school record for Woodberry.  Will took his opponent down from neutral and put him right on his back for a fall of only :08 seconds.  He then went on to dominate his next 3 opponents and earned first place.  After picking up his medal for first place it was announced that Will was also the MVP for the middle weight classes of the tournament.  

Davis Smith continues to improve his overall win record at Woodberry.  He wrestled tough through the tournament, earned 3 wins and placed first overall at 170lbs.   

Emmett Aydin won his first match at the tournament by pin, and then went on to earn one more victory for the Tigers while finishing in 8th place for the Tigers.

Bill Clark, the team's anchor at heavyweight  this season, had two hard fought victories by decision and put himself in position to challenge for first place.  Bill went out and finished the first place match early by pinning his opponent from Blue Ridge in just 45 seconds, and earned a top place on the podium.  

Overall the Tigers finished just outside of the top 5 schools at the tournament, earning a very respectable 6th place for the first tournament of the season.  The team made tremendous strides on the mat this weekend and I was extremely proud of how each individual performed.  Woodberry will have its first home matches of the season this Friday beginning at 6:30pm in the Reily Wrestling Room.  Please congratulate the boys as you see them on campus.

We are all excited for the 2017-2018 wrestling season. During first week of practice, the team, old boys and new, have been working on the basics: Double-leg shot, stance, and top and bottom work. All the boys have been working hard and the coaches are looking forward to a successful season.
 Here are some pictures from our first week of practice.

WCDC "Melee on the Metro" Tournament 2017

Melee on the Metro II

WCDC

Coach Lillard

This past weekend members of the varsity wrestling team competed in a 23 team individual tournament at Woodrow Wilson High School, dubbed the Melee on the Metro II.  While Woodberry did not fill every weight class, the students that participated were exposed to some high level wrestling from up and down the east coast.

Will Medick finished up placing 5th overall in the tournament on Saturday.  After losing a close match to a Good Counsel wrestler, Will defeated 3 opponents all by pin on his way to making the podium by the completion of the tournament Saturday evening. He made an incredible comeback and served as a great example of how every wrestler should wrestle-back in a tournament. I am immensely proud of him! 

Senior Captain Will Medick '17, 5th Place

Davis Smith continued his winning ways by placing 2nd overall in the tournament.  Davis faced opponents from Good Counsel, St Mary's Ryken, and Episcopal before facing an opponent in the finals from Bullis who sported a 48-1 record going into the finals match.  Although he did not come out with the championship, Davis is competing at a high level and looks to carry that into the VISAA state tournament this weekend.

Davis Smith '19, 2nd Place

The Tigers will be competing in the state wrestling tournament this Friday and Saturday held in Richmond.

Coach Budlong

2017 Virginia Prep League Tournament

Virginia Prep League Tournament

Left to Right: Coach Budlong, Taft Gantt '20, Will Thomas '19, Bill Clark '19, Captain Will Medick '17, Clayton Noyes '17, Philip Williams '17, Emmett Aydin '20, Davis Smith '19, Sy Duke '19, Will Harris '17, Coach Lillard 

This past Saturday, the Tigers competed in the annual Prep League Tournament. The tournament was hosted by Collegiate and included six teams: St. Christopher's, Trinity Episcopal, Fork Union Military Academy, Norfolk Academy, Collegiate, and Woodberry Forest.

Listed below are the individual finishes by Woodberry wrestlers. 

Taft Gantt-4th Place
Sy Duke-4th Place
Philip Williams-4th Place
Will Harris-4th Place
Will Medick-2nd Place
Will Thomas-3rd Place
Ward Bissell-3rd Place
Davis Smith-3rd Place
Emmett Aydin-3rd Place
Clayton Noyes-2nd Place
Bill Clark-3rd Place
Team Rankings:1st-St Christopher's
2nd-Fork Union Military Academy
3rd-Collegiate
4th-Woodberry
5th-Norfolk Academy
6th-Trinity Episcopal

                      Overall, the Tigers placed fourth for the day. Woodberry was 16 points away from 3rd place and 29 points away from 2nd place overall. This was a big tournament for Woodberry wrestlers, and the boys made great strides as the season builds up for next weekend's 32 team WCDC Tournament and then the state tournament in two weeks.

Senior Philip Williams '17
Fourth Place

Senior Will Harris '17
Fourth Place 

Senior Captain Will Medick '17
Second Place

Will Thomas '19
Third Place

Davis Smith '19
Third Place

Senior Clayton Noyes '17
Second Place

Bill Clark '19
Third Place

Emmett Aydin '19
Third Place

-Coach Budlong

  

The Dual '17

        WFS @ EHS 2017

          After drawing at random one of the 14 weight classes in order to see where the dual meet would begin, Ward Bissell was the first Tiger wrestler to step out on the line.  He would set the tone for the team and the entire meet once the referee's whistle blew.  Ward got right to his offense from neutral, took his opponent down and pinned him within the opening minute of the dual-a great start for the Tigers! 
Team score: WFS 6 EHS 0

          Davis Smith continues to score points at a rapid-fire pace, dismantling and dominating his opponents match after match.  Davis moved his record to 25-0 on the season and is set to have a strong run at Preps and the state tournament in February.

WFS 12 EHS 0

          Woodberry forfeited @ 170lbs then the next wrestler up for Woodberry was first year wrestler 4th former Alex Kim at 182lbs.  Alex has really worked hard this season and he is a solid contributor to the team.  He is just really beginning to understand the sport of wrestling from the technical aspect to go along with his physical ability level.  EHS ended up winning the match by fall in the second period.  WFS12 EHS 6

          Double forfeit at 195lbs.  WFS 12 EHS 6

          Bill Clark wrestled the next match for Woodberry at 220lbs.  In the first period, Bill set up and executed an impressive arm drag which completely took his opponent by surprise.  Bill has become relentless wrestler from the top position and manhandled his adversary through sheer effort and enthusiasm-earning the fall in the first period. WFS 18 EHS 6 

          Next up were forfeits to Billy Solms, Taft Gantt, Sy Duke while Woodberry did not fill the 120lb weight class.  WFS 36 EHS 12

          At 126 Philip Williams was the next wrestler for the Tigers.  After a low scoring first period (Philip was up 2-0) it was a back and forth second period where both wrestlers were offensive minded, with Philip leading 5-1. Philip then took over in the 3rd period, scoring off of a reversal and back points-nearly earning the pin.  t is great to have Philip back!  WFS 39 EHS 12

          Will Harris at 132 lbs. was hands down the match of the evening! Will Harris found himself down 5-2 with 30 seconds remaining in the match.  The EHS team thought they had themselves a victory at the weight class but Harris was not going to be denied in this last match against the Goons. Will forced his opponent into a bad shot and then with 15 seconds left threw his opponent to his back from neutral and got the pin with 1 second remaining in the match.  It was one of the best comebacks by a Woodberry wrestler that I have had the privilege to watch!  WFS 45 EHS 12

          Will Medick had a solid match at 138lbs but ended up losing by a final score of 7-6.  It was a back and forth affair with EHS, but in the end Will fell just short of victory.  WFS 45 EHS 15

          The final match of the evening was a forfeit to Will Thomas which put the dual meet score WFS 51 EHS 15.  It was a great night for the Tigers, the atmosphere was electric and all competitors wrestled tough.  I am so proud of the team as we have now beaten EHS for two consecutive years. 

          The Tigers will next be competing in the Prep League Tournament at Collegiate on Saturday.

Following the meet, the team stopped by Firehouse Subs for dinner.

Coach Budlong

  

V.I.S.A.A. Prep. Duals

          This past weekend the Tigers competed in the VISAA Prep Duals, a 10 team tournament made up of some of the best private schools in the state. 

          Woodberry wrestled 5 dual matches on the day and finished up with a 2-3 overall record, with wins coming against Collegiate and Covenant while the losses were to Paul VI, St Christopher's, and Fishburne Military Academy.  

Team Scores from Saturday:

WFS 24 Paul VI 38

WFS 18 St Christopher's 62

WFS 30 Fishburne 45

WFS 42 Collegiate 31

WFS 48 Covenant 21

          Some highlights include:

Davis Smith goes 5-0 on the day.  Davis' record now stands at a perfect 24-0 on the season as he continues to dominate his opponents from all 3 wrestling positions.  

          Will Harris split on Saturday, going 2-2 with wins coming against St Christopher's and Fishburne.  Will is really finding his stride on the mat while executing solid technical moves.  

          Ward Bissell had a good weekend on the mat and continues developing the technical skills needed at this time of year, finishing up with a 2-2 record.  Ward pinned two of his opponents in the first period on Saturday, getting to his offense early and having an attack-style mindset!  

Other records from Saturday:

Taft Gantt 1-4

Sy Duke 2-3

Philip Williams 2-3

Will Medick 3-2

Will Thomas 2-3

Alex Kim 2-3

Clayton Noyes 2-2

Bill Clark 2-3

          This upcoming Saturday, the Tigers will be wrestling in the Prep League Tournament at Trinity Episcopal School.

Coach Budlong

  

WFS Quad

          The Woodberry Forest wrestling team competed in the Reily wrestling room on Friday, January 20, hosting 3 schools; Douglas Freeman from Richmond, Massaponax HS from  Fredericksburg and Grace Christian School from Staunton. The Tigers as a team went 1-2 overall on the day, losing 43-33 to Freeman and 44-36 to Massaponax, but ended the evening with a resounding 60-12 dual meet victory over Grace Christian.  

          A few highlights are below:

Billy Solms moved his record to a perfect 5-0, winning by two pins at heavyweight.

          Taft Gantt earned a pin at the 106 lbs weight class as he went 1-1 on the day.  Taft continues to push himself in the wrestling room while developing the technical skills that is needed to have success on the mat.

          William Harris had his best day on the mat this year, winning all 3 matches by pins.  Will's continued work on the mat during practice is certainly beginning to pay huge dividends for him as he enters the final month of the season.

          Philip Williams finished off the day going 1-2, winning his last match by pin over Grace Christian School.  Philip has made tremendous strides since being back at practice due to an earlier injury and has solidified his spot at the 126 lbs weight class.

          Will Medick went 1-1 on the afternoon, losing a nail biter to a tough Massaponax opponent by a score of 4-3, who is also one of the top wrestlers in his weight class.  Will nearly pulled off the victory in the final seconds of the match.

          Austin de la Torre had one of the best matches of the night, wrestling up a weight class at 145.  Austin found himself down 7-1 after the first period and then down 9-3 after the second period.  Austin then stormed back in the third period, scoring 10 points and earned a hard fought 16-11 victory over a tough Freeman opponent.  

          Will Thomas continues to improve on the mat every time he steps out on the line.  Will went 2-1 on the day overall while becoming a more dominant wrestler from both the neutral and top positions.  

          Davis Smith has an unblemished record of 21-0 at this point in the season, winning his matches on Friday by a pin and technical fall (15-0).  Davis continues to completely dominate his opponents from all 3 wrestling positions and is one of the top wrestlers in the state at his weight class.  

          Clayton Noyes went 1-1 on the afternoon.  Clayton has been out of the lineup since the beginning of the season due to a head injury so it was great to have him back on the mat after such a long absence.  

  

                              

Landon Quad

          The varsity wrestling team traveled to Landon High School on Friday, January 20, to participate in a quad against Landon, Gonzaga, and St Vincent Pallotti.   Woodberry finished up the day with a 1-2 record, beating Pallotti 44-27 in the second match of the day. The Tigers lost a close match to Gonzaga 43-26 after giving up a forfeit in the dual. Host school Landon was the top team at the quad and handed the Tigers a 55-19 loss in the final match of the evening.  

          Some of the highlights from the quad include:

Bill Clark wrestling to a 3-0 record on the night.  Now at 220lbs his is as formidable a wrestler as there is in the state of Virginia at his weight class.

          Billy Solms, in his first action on the mat this season, pinned all 3 of his opponents at heavyweight in dominating fashion.

          Philip Williams' return to the lineup this season at 126lbs for the Tigers.  Philip was injured for the first part of the season and we missed his attitude and leadership.

           Will Medick finished off the night with a 1-1 record.  He ran into one of the top wrestlers in Washington DC from Gonzaga but bounced back and nearly earned a technical fall in his last match. (win by 15)

          Mack Daniels and Ward Bissell both went 1-2 on the evening, and both pinned their opponents from Pallotti which helped the team secure the win in the dual meet.

          The standout wrestler from the entire quad was unquestionably Will Thomas.  Will wrestled a tough opponent from Gonzaga and earned a hard fought 6-5 win with the match going down to the final seconds.  Will then got down in his second match 7-1 after the first period, fought back to tie it up at 11-11 by the end of the second period, and then earned a pin in the final period, capping one of the most exciting matches of the night. 

Coach Budlong