JV Wrestlers Take on Woodberry
On Saturday February 9 Jv wrestlers from Episcopal high school traveled to Orange, Virginia to compete in the Woodberry Forest Jv Tournament.
The JV team’s participation in the Interstate Athletic Conference B tournament earlier in the week awoke a competitive fire in their ranks. The Woodberry tournament is viewed as a right of passage: a bridge to the land of varsity wrestling. No medals, no podium, just a single T-shirt for the winner of each weight class.
Episcopal was represented by Connor Evans ‘22, Yoyo Lu ‘21, Alex Manoogian ‘22, Stefan Olsen ‘21, Dylan Sexton ‘22, Max Smith ‘22, and Justin Yi ‘21.
Connor Evans (0-4): Connor started the tournament well scoring first in his match against an opponent from Woodberry.Later in the match he was unlucky as the referee missed two separate instances of lock hands during his attempts to escape. Connor continued to fight on but was unable to score the escape going on to lose the match by fall. Connor next wrestled his practice partner Justin Yi in two consecutive matches that he lost by technical fall and fall. In his final bout the tournament he wrestled a strong opponent from Orange County. Connor shot first, but was unable to make it through his opponents defense. He survived near fall, and tilts, but eventually lost the match by fall.
YoYo Lu (2-1): Yoyo once again demonstrated his ability to capitalize on his opponents errors. He rolled through a throw attempt to win his first match by fall. Down on points in his second match Yoyo scored a reversal and chained wrestled his way to a cross face cradle to win the match by fall. Yoyo’s final match of the day was against the eventual winner of his weight class. He battled hard surviving near fall but ultimately lost the match by fall.
Alex Manoogian (5-0): Alex did not hesitate to impose his will in any of his matches. He won his first match by fall in less than a minute. Alex’s second match was against his practice partner Max Smith. He was cautious in the early moments but found his footing going on to win by minor decision. Alex scored early in his 3rd match and won by fall after securing a tight cradle. The final match of his day was against an opponent he struggled against at a Jamboree previously this season. Alex timed his sprawl perfectly, secured a front head and arm, and followed the extremely effective technique of our program ( head in the hole to near side cradle) to win his t-shirt.
Stefan Olsen (3-2): Stefan wrestled some of his best matches of the season at the tournament. In his first match he snapped down his opponent and scored on a go behind. He was relentless on top attempting to secure a cradle before jamming in deep half-Nelson, which he turned his opponent with, going on to win by fall. Stefan won his next match by fall via cradle after snapping his opponent down. In his third match a late reversal led to him securing a headlock and winning by fall. A technical oversight in his fourth match after a great start ended with him losing by fall. In his final match of the day he was taken down and unable to escape going on to lose the match by fall.
Dylan Sexton (2-2): Dylan rebounded well after a tough first match that he lost by fall. Dylan has been on the rise lately and demonstrated that in his second bout. He capitalized on his opponents mistake securing a tight head lock and won the match by fall. In his next match Dylan used the hammer lock (which was re-explained to him by a Varsity teammate the prior day at practice) to turn and eventually pin his opponent. Dylan’s final match of the day began well with him working towards an inside tie up. He was caught off guard by his opponents shot and unable to sprawl in time. He went on to lose the match by fall. Congratulations on your first wins of the season.
Max Smith (4-1): Max had a great day at the tournament. In his first match he scored two takedowns and nearfall points before pinning his opponent late in the 11st period. Max’s second match of the day was against his practice partner Alex Manoogian. They match was tight at the beginning but Max would go on to lose by minor decision. Max rebounded well winning his next match by fall in 25 seconds. He took a longer path to victory in his next match winning the match by technical fall early in the 3rd period. In his final match of the tournament Max scored off of low level lift before jamming in a deep half Nelson, turning his opponent and winning by fall.
Justin Yi (3-1): After a table error pitted him against a wrestler in the wrong weight class Justin went on to have a good day. He lost his first official match by fall after battling to escape for most of the match. In his next match he wrestled his practice partner Connor Evans and won by technical fall. He again wrestled Connor winning the rematch by fall. In his final match against an opponent from Woodberry Justin pulled off a great series of moves. He escaped off of bottom while holding on to his opponents wrist then took a shot and scored a takedown, He scored 17 points in the match before winning by fall.
As a whole it was a successful day down in Orange. Seeing the boys demonstrate what they have learned and retained during this season is always great. I appreciated the determination and desire they all demonstrated in their matches. I was appreciative of the fellowship we shared at dinner after the tournament. They have all earned their place in the fraternity of EHS wrestling. Congratulations gentlemen.
