A couple of top-five finishes and a notable performance by a freshman highlighted Arlington participation in the Virginia High School League’s Class 6 boys state wrestling tournament.
Fifth-place finishers in Virginia Beach were junior Anthony Morales at 175 pounds for the Wakefield Warriors and senior Zachary Capps at 150 for the Washington-Liberty Generals. Each finished with 4-2 records at the state tourney, with a technical fall and pin among their victories.
It took a referee’s warning for stalling to propel Washington-Liberty’s Liam Sloan to a region wrestling crown.
Sloan, a junior competing at 190 pounds, wasn’t having much success before receiving the warning midway through the first period during the Feb. 12 6D North Region high-school wrestling tournament at Centreville High School.
In existence since 2008, the Arlington Wrestling Club now has more growth potential after officially becoming a certified nonprofit organization in August.
“We needed to set up the club this way to follow more guidelines and make it [easier] to operate,” said club director John Leinberger, also the head wrestling coach at Wakefield High School. “This gives us opportunities for expansion and fundraising, and wrestlers can practice, work out and improve year-round.”
With a couple of champions and other top finishers, the Arlington Wrestling Club had a strong showing at the Virginia Wrestling Association’s freestyle and Greco-Roman state tournament.
The individual champions were Basheer Hadi in the USA junior boys 185 freestyle and Greco divisions and Cameron Millsapps in the USA junior freestyle girls 155 weight class.
With the most individual entries, the host Arlington Wrestling Club had a strong showing at the second annual Warrior Classic.
The club had two champions and six other top-four finishers at the Saturday (April 19) event at Wakefield High School. There were 109 wrestlers participating from some 30 club teams, made up of high-school-age grapplers.
An organization giving Arlington wrestlers wanting a place to compete outside the winter high-school season is gaining in popularity.
The Arlington Wrestling Club, for girls and boys, offers practice sessions and various competitions for the months following and leading up to the winter high-school campaign.
Two Yorktown High School wrestlers recently were recognized with all-state selections for their standout performances during the winter season.
Seniors Cambyses Khani and Basheer Hadi were chosen to Virginia High School League Class 6 all-state teams as a result of top finishes in the state-championship meet.
The Kenmore Cougars finished on top at the multi-team middle-school wrestling championship in Arlington County.
The team title, captured on Tuesday (March 11), was the second in a row for the Kenmore grapplers.
Basheer Hadi turned in the top performance from an Arlington school at the state wrestling tournament, when the Yorktown High School senior placed second at the 285 heavyweight division.
Hadi lost by a 7-2 score in the title match at the Virginia High School League Class 6 state competition in Virginia Beach.
It was as if there was no learning curve when Cameron Millsapps took up the sport of high-school wrestling two years ago.
The Wakefield High School grappler was pretty much a natural at the sport the first time she took the mat last season as a junior. She lost just four matches last winter and placed sixth in the state at the 152-pound weight class, in what was a new girls high-school sport for Virginia public schools.
In the Virginia private-school state tournament held at the Potomac School in McLean, Bishop O’Connell Knights’ freshman Peyton Friedman finished second at 106 pounds.
Friedman had a 3-1 record with a pin and a technical fall in the high-school meet. He was pinned in the final.
As expected, seniors Cambyses Khani and Basheer Hadi repeated as region wrestling champions this season for the Yorktown Patriots.
Khani won the 6D North Region tournament title at 120 pounds and Hadi was the heavyweight winner at the 285 weight class. Each had 3-0 records in the high-school competition, hosted by Centreville High School.
