Brentsville pins Clarke
NOKESVILLE — Luke Siler was looking for a challenge, so he moved up to a higher weight class on Wednesday night.
Normally, giving up weight is difficult enough. But by moving up, he met Clarke County’s Matthew Parr, who has already won a state championship. Siler wrestled even with Parr, and took advantage of a late mistake to beat Parr 3-1.
That win helped propel the Tigers — the state’s top-ranked Group A team — to a commanding 45-16 win over Clarke, which entered the match as the state’s No. 2 Group A team.
Brentsville was in good shape by the time Siler stepped on the mat: Ben Truschel opened the match with a pin, and Stuart Crane — Siler’s backup at 140 — won by major decision.
After a scoreless first period, Siler started the second on the bottom and eventually recorded an escape and a 1-0 lead. In the third, Parr began on the bottom and recorded an escape on his own, despite getting slammed to the mat four straight times by Siler.
With about :15 remaining, Siler found his opening and took advantage. Siler scored on a takedown and held his position until the buzzer.
“I was kind of waiting for overtime, so I could get a fresh start. But then he started getting frantic,” Siler explained. “He made a bad shot and I took advantage. He made a mistake. When you wrestle good wrestlers, you can’t let them get away.”
“He wrestled smart, and I’ve got all the confidence in the world in him,” said Tigers coach Mark Smaltz. “He wrestled a great match, and he beat a state champ. Next week he’ll be back at 140, and this is a big boost for him.”
Siler’s win preceded another dramatic Brentsville win: In a frenetic final minute, Jacob Orr rallied from four points down to beat Clarke’s Ryan Gatterdam. Orr, down 4-0, scored on a reversal and got two back points to tie the bout. After Gatterdam escaped, he was hit with stalling, and the score was tied again at 5-5.
Orr squeezed in a buzzer-beating takedown to get the win. Orr’s victory gave the Tigers a 16-0 lead. And though Brentsville’s Keoni Medici lost the next match — a 10-0 decision to Dan Haney — the Tigers reeled off five straight wins to take a 39-4 lead.
Medici, in trouble for most of his match, managed to stay alive and prevent Haney from getting a pin — a two-point difference in the team score.
“Medici wrestled a tough kid, but hat’s off to him for staying off his back,” said Smaltz.
Stephen Yanchuk, Bryan Martin and Nick Gehlsen also registered pins for Brentsville.
The convincing win helps Brentsville erase memories of a week ago, when the Tigers came out flat and got handled by Osbourn Park. Brentsville had easily beaten Fauquier and Courtland in the quad at OP, but suffered a 40-18 loss to the Yellow Jackets.
“We were flat last week against OP, and the score should have been much different,” said Smaltz. “I know how we’re capable of wrestling, but we’ve still got a long road ahead of us.”
That road continues on Saturday with a quad at George Mason, which includes AAA Hylton, before a meeting with local rival Manassas Park next Wednesday.
BRENTSVILLE 45, CLARKE COUNTY 16
135 — Ben Truschel (B) pin Clay Ferrell in 3:01
140 — Stuart Crane (B) maj. dec. John Crockett 13-2
145 — Luke Siler (B) dec. Matthew Parr 3-1
152 — Jacob Orr (B) dec. Ryan Gatterdam 7-5
160 — Dan Haney (CC) maj. dec. Keoni Medici 10-0
171 — Wes Basham (B) maj. dec. Keith Lichliter 11-3
189 — Dan Easley (B) maj. dec. Jon Clawson 8-0
215 — Stephen Yanchuk (B) pin Drew Loy in 2:41
Hwt — Jon Jackson (B) dec. J.W. Cox 7-6
103 — Bryan Martin (B) pin Kris Kelly in 3:50
112 — Jason Jenkins (CC) dec. Josh Hastings 7-6
119 — Brett Childs (CC) dec. Corey Rudder 7-0
125 — Nick Gehlsen (B) pin Tyler Sponseller in 3:42
130 — Marzelo Azeudio (CC) pin Trevor Selke in 2:44