With a Victory Against Fork Union, the Tigers are Undefeated and Looking for a State Title.
By John Hale
This article is reprinted online with permission from the Register & Bee. “Hargrave Turns Up Heat” first appeared January 27, 2006, in the Register & Bee. John Hale is a Register & Bee sports writer.
Chatham, VA – Wrestling at Hargrave Military Academy means it’s summertime all year round.
That is if you like summertime in the Mojave Desert.
Wrestling coach Richard Motley keeps the two-hour practice room for his team at a toasty 105-degrees, although the overworked heating system sometimes can’t keep pace with the outside chill.
Team captain Andy Halonen, of Herndon, Va., and 112-pound wrestler Adam Radan, of Tampa, Fla. Said some of their practices practices are held in a more temperate 100-degree climate.
“I’d say our team is the best conditioned team in the state,” Halonen said. “I think it just says a lot that everybody has to go through everything we have to, all the military stuff and practice for two hours. It takes a lot of discipline.”
Fork Union Military Academy found out how tough those practice regimens make the wrestlers of Hargrave. The visiting Blue Devils were thumped 63-3 by Hargrave on Thursday.
The only points Fork Union won against Hargrave came in the 145-pound match, when the Blue Devils’ Bryant Barnes recorded a two-point takedown in the final 10 seconds of the third round to defeat John Nelson, 5-3.
Hargrave, which improved to 16-0 on the season, won six matches by pinfall and one by major decision. Four other Hargrave matches were won by forfeit, and the 103-pound match was a double-forfeit.
“We’re old-fashioned. We’re old school,” Motley said of the hot practice conditions. “I grew up wrestling. That’s the way we did it.”
Rules have changed in the Virginia. In Motley’s day, wrestlers would sit in a sauna or spit into a garbage can to lose a pound or two to make weight.
Now, wrestlers must pass a hydration test, among other tests, to ensure they are competing at the proper weight class.
Motley uses the hot practice room as a conditioning tool, not weight control.
It has led to confidence that Radan hopes to convert into state meet success.
“I plan on getting top three at least,” Radan said. “There’s going to be some good competition there… Our (1)19-pounder, (Patrick) Kelley, he’s definitely going to place in the top four.”
Halonen, who is 21-1 on the season, has higher aspirations. His only loss was in a dual meet in overtime.
“I’d like to win state,” Halonen said. “I’ve been wrestling for a long time.”
Halonen, who also quarterbacked the Tigers’ football team, has been accepted at Limestone College in Gaffney, S.C., to play lacrosse. He also is looking at the University of Massachusetts and University of Delaware for lacrosse.
Radan, a junior who has an 18-2 record, wants to continue his wrestling career in college.
“We’re having a good year,” Motley said. “I’m not ready to declare victory yet.”
