Over the past couple Saturdays, the Hargrave Wrestling team has been busy hosting the Cody Day Memorial Tournament and competing in the Fishburne Super Duals in Waynesboro. Below is a recap of both events from head coach, Tris Vaughan!
Last Saturday (12/4), Hargrave Military Academy hosted the Cody Day Memorial Tournament. In our first action on our Home Mats, your Hargrave Tigers, despite being short-handed, had a great day filled with good Wrestling. In the 106 lb. Division, 8th Grader Grayson Andrews won 1st place, going 2-0 with 2 Pins. Freshman Thomas Vaughan got 2nd place in the 106 lb. Division going 2-1 with a pin and a Technical Fall. In his first Wrestling action, 8th Grader Zachary “Rocco” Burrell got 3rd place. 8th Grader, Richard Hahn saw his day cut short with an injury after a tough first round loss. Heavyweight Michael Walton also wrestled in his first ever match, putting up a tough fight in defeat. Saving the best for last! Junior Malachi Jackson defended home Mat, going 5-0 with 4 pins, which was not only good enough for 1st Place in the 170 lb. Division, but also almost unanimously (his HC couldn’t vote for him!) being voted OW (Outstanding Wrestler) of the Tournament. It was a great day, personally, I got to see my Wrestlers improvement, but also meeting Cody Day’s family was an added treat. Lastly, I cannot thank our fearless A.D., Coach Veshi, for all of his hard work he put into this tournament, as well as the many Cadets who volunteered to help set up and helped run the tournament.
This past Saturday (12/11), the Hargrave Military Academy Wrestling team traveled through Rain, Fog, and an ill-tempered Window Defroster, into enemy territory for the Fishburne Super Duals. Other teams participating were Fishburne Military School, Woodberry Forrest, Waynesboro High School, Staunton High School, and Heritage High School. Despite a case of the injury bug, six Hargrave Wrestlers battled their way to a very respectable showing. With the team being so short-handed and only having 6 out 14 weight classes, we focused on improvement and individual success. In our first match against Woodberry Forrest High School, Hargrave lost the team match 18-60. Scoring victories for Hargrave were Seniors Eryk King (Fall) and Christopher Roe (Fall) Also scoring a win was Junior Michael Walton. In head to head matches, we were 2-2. Next, Hargrave lost the team match 21-54. However, this does not tell the true story, as we won 3 out of the 5 head to head matches. Scoring victories were 8th Grader Rocco Burrrell, his first ever win! Also, Eryk King scored his second Pin of the day as did Christopher Roe! In what was (in my opinion), our most fun match of the day, Richard Hahn, despite having to bump up to 170 lbs., beat a Senior in Overtime for an amazing 7-5 win. If you see me on Monday, and I am still hoarse, you can blame this match. Michael Walton and Trey Gravely battled hard in defeat. Next, Hargrave lost the team match to Waynesboro High School 24-72. Scoring victories for Hargrave were Eryk King, and Trey Gravely. Next up was Staunton High School. In our closest match of the day, Staunton narrowly defeated Hargrave 54-60. Scoring victories were Rocco Burrell, Eryk King, Richard Hahn, and Michael Walton. In our final match of the day, Hargrave lost to an extremely tough Heritage High School Team. Overall, I am incredibly pleased with the improvements I am seeing in our wrestlers. They are working hard right now. I am looking forward to one more week of practice and then back at it after the break!
