It’s hard to believe that the Fauquier wrestling team has now won its seventh district title in a row as once again the high flying Falcons are Evergreen District Champs. On Saturday February 4th the 14 Falcon wrestlers did not have to travel away from their nest as they simply stepped on their home mat and carved up their prey. With 8 district champions, 1 runner-up, 4 third placers, and a fourth place finisher, the Falcons showed old and new Fauquier Nation folks that they have class and pound for pound were no match for the rest of the district teams.
Final team score Fauquier 225 pts., Brentsville 179 pts., Warren Co., 140 pts., Kettle Run 95 pts., and Liberty 65 pts.
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1st place at Evergreen Districs
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Even though the Falcons might had been heavily favored going into this Saturday’s event, that might not have been the case during the season as Coach Fisher week by week had to shuffle his line-up around as key wrestlers had been injured and or out. This may have made for some setbacks during the season but as the district tournament got underway this might have been the first time that Fauquier wrestling team had a complete line-up. On the other hand one could also say that’s its perfect timing for Coach Fisher being able to pull everyone together as the Falcons make a run for another successful post season.
Going into the semi-finals Fauquier was able to have all 14 wrestlers in this round as Jake Raines and Erik Lemus both recorded wins in their preliminary round matches. Erik Lemus came up big in the preliminaries with his first win of the year with a 12-5 win over Justin Abate of Liberty.
After the Semi-Finals Fauquier went 9-5 with 6 pins. This meant that Fauquier advanced 9 wrestlers into the finals as they would be wrestling for the gold. In the semi’s some of the big wins came from 152 pound senior Jake Raines who was seeded 4th yet won by pin over Billy Carnwell of Brentsville who was the number 1 seed. The Falcons also recorded 6 pins during this round as they took the lead of the district tourney and never looked back.
The Finals simply was more of the same as Fauquier won eight of the nine matches. Some outstanding performances came from Bennett Payne, Tyler Budd, and Max Strum who all earned two pins in both the finals and semi-finals matches.
So, how does it feel to coach the Falcons to its 7th straight district tournament?
Fisher: That is a nice accomplishment for the guys. From my perspective, more importantly, overall we wrestled well, thus meeting a critical milestone of our final goal; a state title.
Being the overwhelming favorites going into the district tournament, were there any surprises that you thought occurred?
Fisher: I am not sure if I would call it a surprise as I know they have it in them, but I thought that Jacob Raines, Evan Oddenino, Matt Raines, Max Strum, and Landon Dean all were more offensive than they have been in the recent past. I hope they carry that mentality and even improve on it in the next 2 weeks.
Both Tyler Budd and Bennett Payne both becomes a 3x district champ, how sweet is that?
Fisher: It is certainly a huge testament to both their discipline and dedication to the sport. It is a great accomplishment and they should be very proud.
Moving forward to the Regional tournament is there any concerns, issue, and or adjustments with the team that you will need to addressed this upcoming next week?
Fisher: There are always adjustments that need to be made. We did not have all of our guys wrestling perfect matches. A perfect match does not necessarily translate into a win, and a win certainly does not signify a perfect match. As a team, we are going to work on improving our pressure and pinning combinations on top, and our finishes from our feet. We will continue making individual adjustments throughout this week in preparation of the competition that we will face in the next 2 weeks.
Fauquier ended up advancing 13 wrestlers to the Regional tournament. Keeping everything into perspective the Falcons will once again get back into the wrestling room to prepare for the regional tournament.
Below are the results of the District Finals and Consolation Finals for Fauquier.
District Finals
103 Brenden Velez (BD) won 4-2 OT over Kyle Montague (WC)
113 Matt Raines won 17-0 TF over Jeffrey Walker (BD)
120 Michael Villalobos lost 4-1 to Tyler Fake (BD)
126 Bennett Payne won by pin over Caleb Yost (KR)
132 Chuck Hilleary won 11-10 over Kyle Combs (LB)
138 Tyler Budd won 12-0 over Wesley Mirro (KR)
145 Landon Dean won 10-1 over Joe McDaniel (LB)
152 Jake Raines won by pin over Josh Newman (WC)
160 Robert Candy (WC) won 2-0 over Quinlin Langford (BD)
170 Max Strum won by pin over Jacob Hill (WC)
182 Zach Roseberry (BD) won 16-0 TF over Adam Breaston (KR)
195 Juan Funes (BD) won 8-7 Jeffrey Budwash (WC)
220 Brandon Thompson (BD) won by pin over Todd Parker (LB)
285 Evan Oddenino won 16-5 over Zach Poehler (WC)
Consolation Finals
103 Mark Tcheukado won by pin over Ryan Keckley (KR)
160 Erik Lemus lost 7-2 to Jacob Schwind (KR)
182 Aldair Ramos won 15-0 TF over Travis Bolwing (WC)
195 Henry Weber won bye forfeit
220 Marvin Ventura won by pin over Dylan Ross (WC)
Currently the Falcons are ranked 5th in the state in AA. Each match from this point on will be harder and harder for these birds as the best kids in the state are getting closer to meeting. Just two weeks away until states but to get there team Fauquier will now compete in the Regional tournament at Kettle Run High School, next Friday and Saturday February 10th and 11th. The top four wrestlers in each weight class will then advance to the State meet. For the 7 Fauquier seniors this will be their last chance to put their name on the wall as one of the 2012 best.
Seven years ago the Falcon wall was built with their first ever district crown as second year Coach Fisher is keeping the streak alive. Once again Coach Fisher and Coach Wells will have to refocus the Falcons for even bigger goals as winning Regional’s for a third straight year will present a more problematic challenge. Fauquier Nation, are you ready?
Interview with Bennett Payne after winning the Evergreen District Title AA, VA
Interview with Chuck Hilleary after winning the Evergreen District Title AA, VA
Interview with Tyler Budd after winning the Evergreen District Title AA, VA
Interview with Jake Raines after winning the Evergreen District Title AA, VA
Interview with Evan Oddenino after winning the Evergreen District Title AA, VA
Below are more reults of the Evergreen District first rounds
Con-Semi-Finals
103 Mark Tcheukado won by pin over Elizabeth Easily (LB)
Note: After the first round of the consolation rounds Fauquier still holds the lead with 167 pts. Brentsville 135 pts., and Warren Co. with 130 pts.
Semi-Finals
106 Marco Tcheukado lost 4-2 to Kyle Montague (WC)
113 Matt Raines won by pin over Terrace Thompson (WC)
120 Michael Villalobos won 5-2 over Joseph Souza (WC)
126 Bennett Payne won by pin over George Ngoh (LB)
132 Chuck Hilleary won 19-4 TF over Collins Kratzer (KR)
138 Tyler Budd won by pin over Noah Jacobs (WC)
145 Landon Dean won by pin over Adam Abrams (KR)
152 Jake Raines won by pin over Billy Carnwell (BD)
160 Erik Lemus lost by pin to Robert Camby (WC)
170 Max Strum won by pin over Rudy Guerrero (LB)
182 Aldair Ramos lost 12-10 to Adam Bresson (KR)
195 Henry Weber lost 8-5 to Jeffery Bushwash (WC)
220 Marvin Ventura lost by pin to Branding Thompson (BD)
285 Evan Oddenino won by pin Jeff Phillips (LB)
Note: Fauquier went 9-5 with 6 pins. Fauquier is in first place with 160 pts, second is Warren Co. with 112 pts., and currently third place is Brentsville with 109.5. Kettle Run has 70 pts and Liberty has 59. Fauquiers 5 wrestlers that lost are still in and will be trying for 3rd place.
Preliminary Round
152 Jake Raines won by pin over Edward Carrol (LB)
160 Erik Lemus won 12-5 over Justin Abate (LB)
Note: Fauquier goes 2-0 with 1 pin in the Preliminary Round. Erik Lemus wins his first match of the year.
