Fauquier Wrestling Warrenton, Virginia

Program history

Six decades of Falcon wrestling, three state team championships, and a record book that keeps growing.

Fauquier High School is a public high school in Warrenton, Virginia, part of Fauquier County Public Schools, located at 705 Waterloo Road. Fauquier opened in 1963 and is the oldest high school in Fauquier County. The mascot is the Falcon and the school colors are red, pewter, and white.

Over the past two decades the Fauquier wrestling team has emerged as one of the top teams in the state of Virginia, traveling to the best tournaments on the East Coast: Beast of the East, Mount Mat Madness, the Virginia Duals, Battlefield Duals, the USMC Challenge, and Super 32. The Falcons continue to send seniors to Division I and II college programs, including Greg Flournoy (George Mason), Van Grimes (VMI), Ryan Hunsberger (George Mason), Jake Fahlfeder (Limestone), Dan McGillivray (Limestone), Conner Miller (Virginia), Chris Moon (Virginia Tech), David Yost (VMI), Trevor Marable (St. Catharine), Daniel Ariola (Campbell), Matt Raines (George Mason), and Garrett Tingen (George Mason).

Fauquier wrestlers celebrating the 2016 4A state team championship
The 2016 4A state champions — the program's second title.

The Falcons in the state

In 2015 Fauquier won its first VHSL state team title, with eight wrestlers placing at the state meet — 3 champions, 3 runners-up, a third and a fourth — alongside Conference 22 and Region championships and a 25–5 team record. It was the first time Fauquier had three wrestlers win state titles in back-to-back years.

In 2016 the Falcons repeated as 4A state team champions. Kyle Budd (113) and Garrett Tingen (160) won titles, Kyle Roche (138) and Clifford Harrison (170) took silver, and Ty Foster (126) and Caleb Strum (145) brought home third-place medals. Tingen became the first Fauquier wrestler to win three state championships. The team closed 18–4, winning Conference 22 for the tenth time in eleven years and Regions for the sixth time in seven.

2017 and 2018 brought back-to-back state runner-up finishes. Sam Fisher and Franco Camarca won individual titles both years, with Fisher becoming the first Fauquier wrestler to win a state championship as a freshman, and both becoming two-time champions in 2018 as the team went 18–8 and won a 13th district title.

In 2019 the in-season tested the Falcons, but come the post-season Fauquier won the Northwestern District and Regional championship crowns, Sam Fisher earned his third state title, and the team finished 6th at states.

In 2020 Fauquier won the VHSL 4A state team championship for the third time. DJ Richards (126), Gino Camarca (138), and Sam Fisher (182) won titles, Eric Dewald (160) took silver, Ben Bell (195) and Casey Burr (285) placed fourth, and Reece Kuhns (120) and Thomas Heisler (220) placed fifth. Fisher became the first Fauquier wrestler to win four state championships in Fauquier County history, and the Falcons were crowned district champions for the 15th time and region champions for the 9th.

Earlier benchmarks: 3rd in AAA states in 2008, 2nd in 2009, 3rd in AA in 2010, 5th in 2011 and 2012, and a state runner-up finish in 2014 — the first year the Falcons had three wrestlers win states in a single season.

Classifications and alignment

Fauquier has shifted between Virginia High School League classifications over the decades — AA and AAA in the three-class era, then 4A when the VHSL moved to six classifications for the 2013–14 school year. The Conference era (2013–2017) gave way to a return to districts with the 2017–18 realignment, which placed Fauquier in the 4A Northwestern District, Region C, where the Falcons compete today. Current alignment is published by the VHSL.

The record books