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WAVE SENIOR Aaron Stiltner
(top) uses his strength to put the head and shoulders of Carroll
County’s J.R. Barr on the mat and down for the count in the
championship finals of the 135-pound weight class Saturday at
Abingdon High School. Stiltner, a defending state runner-up, won
by fall over Barr in a 1:38 to earn his Region IV crown. (Staff
photo/Sam Bartley.)
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Grundy Dominates in Claiming 24th
Straight Region IV Mat Crown
Four Individuals Claim Titles |
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by Lloyd Combs
Sports Reporter
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It was somewhat appropriate that
Grundy would finish an even 100 points ahead of second-place Magna
Vista, because the Golden Wave have dominated Region IV wrestling
for over a quarter of a century.
Grundy, which won its first regional crown
some 30 years ago, notched its 24th straight Region IV wrestling
title last weekend at Abingdon High School.
Freshman 103-pounder Derek
Anderson was the first of four individual champions Saturday
evening and was the first of three Wave wrestlers to earn their
first trip to the Group AA state tournament.
Grundy qualified 11 wrestlers for state
overall, including Kris Stiltner, who won his second straight
regional crown at 125 pounds; Aaron Stiltner, a defending state
runner-up who won the 135-pound title Saturday and Jerami Bartley,
who earned his first Region IV championship.
Six Grundy wrestlers reached the finals
Saturday. Demarco Owens was the runner-up at 171 pounds, while
Josh Lee was second at 189 pounds.
Among the Golden Wave’s five consolation
finalists, Brandon Hankins (130), Josh McCowan (145) and Andy
Stiltner (275) placed third, while Patrick Yates (112) and Matt
Stiltner (215) took fourth.
Derek Anderson got things started for
Grundy in the finals, pinning previously unbeaten Tony Gravely of
Magna Vista in 4:28.
“I thought having a freshman lead off
with a big win got the ball rolling,” Grundy Coach Travis Fiser
said.
“Having an undefeated kid, two
freshmen battling, but Derek was able to overpower him and take it
to him.”
All four regional champions won by
fall. In the 125-pound finals, Kris Stiltner pinned Magna Vista’s
Gary Copeland in 30 seconds, while Aaron Stiltner earned a first
period fall (1:38) over the same wrestler he defeated in the
district finals, Carroll County’s J.R. Barr.
“Kris gave a top-notch performance,”
Fiser added.
“Aaron pretty much just
dominated. He showed why he’s one of the best in the state.
“Aaron and Kris have showed good
leadership skills, on the mat and in the room, for the other guys
on the team.”
For more of the
story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at
newsstands now. For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer,
call 276-935-2123 today.
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Top-Ranked
Panthers
Ready to
Host
Radford
in Group
A Boys'
State
Quarterfinals
Showdown |
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by Lloyd Combs
Sports Reporter
There won’t be a single Nichols or Nuckles when Radford takes on
the BDD this time around.
Radford, which lost to Council three
times in four state tournament games from 2000-2004, will travel
to Clinchco to meet Twin Valley this time around.
The Group A quarterfinals contest is
scheduled to tip off at 6:00 p.m. Saturday evening. Tickets will
be $6, in advance and at the door, and they’re available in
advance at Twin Valley High School.
Former Radford star Darius Nichols is
a key player at nationally ranked West Virginia, while his brother
Shane Nichols is a starter at Wofford. Unlike the Nichols era, the
Bobcats don’t rely on one or two star players.
In Fact any one of about nine players
is able and willing to fire away, mostly from the perimeter, for a
team that has little post presence and relies on defense and
outside shooting.
They play aggressive defense,”
Twin Valley coach Brian Moore said. “They shoot a lot of threes.
They don’t look to post up much.
“For the most part they look for a
quick shot, they like to push it down the floor. It seems like all
of them can shoot the three.”
Nine Radford players have taken
32 or more three-point attempts this season (through 25 games).
Seven have converted a
significant number and seven average 6.4 or points per game.
The only double figure
scorer is 6-0 Chuck Crowder, who averages right at 10.0 ppg. The
Bobcats have converted 32 percent of its shots from three-point
range. Through its first 25 games, over half of Radford’s shots
have come from behind the three-point arc.
All five Twin Valley
starters have scored 20 points or more in a game this season, from
6-foot-7 junior Matthew Baldwin to seniors Jeremiah Lester, Logan
Shortridge, K.T. Vandyke and Kent Goodman.
Taking care of the
basketball against the Bobcats overplay man defense is a key, as
is countering its depth.
“They go about 10 deep,”
Moore said. “Nobody is listed over 6-feet. They play straight-up
man most of the time, so we hope to be able to take advantage of
our size. But we have to be able to take care of the basketball.”
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Grundy Advances 11 Wrestlers to Group
AA State Mat Tournament
Christiansburg Favored to Repeat as State Champs |
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by Lloyd Combs
Sports Reporter
Grundy will take 11
wrestlers to the Group AA state wrestling tournament this weekend,
including 2005 runner-up Aaron Stiltner and seven teammates with
state experience.
The 2006 combined
Group A-AA state tourney runs all day Friday and Saturday at Salem
Civic Center, starting with first round matches at 10:00 a.m.
Friday.
The
quarterfinals are Friday evening, and the semifinals begin around
10:00 a.m. Saturday morning. The championship finals begin around
6:00 p.m. Saturday evening.
Four-time
state qualifiers Aaron Stiltner (135 pounds) and Kris Stiltner
(125) are among the leaders for Grundy, which finished second
overall last season.
Aaron
Stiltner reached the state finals last year. Kris Stiltner placed
fourth last year and sixth the year before that.
Also headed
for Salem from Grundy are regional champs Derek Anderson (103) and
Jerami Bartley (152), along with Patrick Yates (112), Brandon
Hankins (130), Josh McCowan (145), Demarco Owens (171), Josh Lee
(189), Matt Stiltner (215) and Andy Stiltner (275).
Hankins, McCowan and Demarco Owens wrestled at state last year,
while Bartley and Matt Stiltner competed at state in 2004. The
brackets aren’t kind, to Grundy, or perhaps, any other team, with
four-time state champion Christiansburg a heavy favorite, and the
entire state of Virginia vastly improved.
“In the 10
years I’ve been here,” says Grundy Coach Travis Fiser said, “you
would usually have a tough semi or maybe a final. Now we’re
hitting it in the first round or second round. It’s a good credit
to how much the state of Virginia has improved the past ten
years.”
Five state
champions return. Christiansburg’s Cody Gardner is back at 215
pounds. The other four have moved up a weight or two.
That group
includes Grafton’s Denny Herndon won last year at 103 pounds, and
is now at 112; Turner Ashby’s Joey Metzler (125, now at 140),
Orange County’s Bryan Seal (130 to 135) and Matt Epperly of
Christiansburg (145 to 160). There are multiple returning placers
in every weight.
“We have some tough
matches in there and some of them are in the quarters and semis,”
Fiser said. “It’s starting to turn into a really tough state
tournament.” Fiser says things are too unpredictable to make any
kinds of predictions. It’s also not worth worrying about
Christiansburg, or any other team in an individual sport.
“Our main
goal is to make sure when we’re on the mat, we’re fighting and
wrestling 100 percent the whole time,” Fiser said. “I try not to
look at how Christiansburg is doing. It’s about what we’re doing.
You can get too caught up in those things.
“Right now, it’s about
the individuals and getting our guys prepared. It’s just about
getting some guys down there and getting some gold medals. If we
do the little things, everything else will take care of itself.”
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