Poquoson and Cox wrestled their way into Saturday’s semifinals of the Virginia Duals at Hampton Coliseum, while Grassfield put on an eye-popping, dominant display in gaining another semifinal berth.
At night, three other Beach teams besides Landstown advanced to the semis. But the display of the day belonged to Grassfield.
The Grizzlies, ranked first among all classes in the state and seeded first in the TowneBank American High School Division, won every bout Friday as they shut out Jamestown 79-0 and then Lakeside of Arkansas 73-0.
Grassfield’s Luca Schinelli (132 pounds) and Hunter Johnson (150) pinned both of their opponents.
The semifinals in every division are set for 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Grassfield will take on No. 4 West Deptford of New Jersey, while third-seeded Cox will take on second-seeded Nazareth, which beat Grassfield in last year’s finals.
Cox won 67-11 over Broad Run of Northern Virginia and 41-27 against Liberty of Pennsylvania. The Falcons’ Vicente Granada (150) pinned both of his foes, as did Karl Ludwig (165) and Izaque Tomaz (285).
Against Liberty, the Falcons trailed but rallied by winning at the heaviest five classes, starting with a Ludwig pin.
Islanders advance in Cliff Keen Division: Meanwhile, in the Cliff Keen American High School Division, sixth-seeded Poquoson won a pair of matches to reach a semifinal at 1:30 against No. 2 Corner Canyon from Draper, Utah.
The Islanders handled injury-plagued traditional southwest Virginia power Grundy 57-24, winning by forfeit at seven weights for 42 of its points, before upending third-seeded Delaware Military Academy 39-25.
The Islanders lost at the lightest four weights against Delaware Military but won eight of the next nine to ensure the victory. In that span, Jared Goodson (132), Bryan Latta (150), Darek Kennedy (157), Nathaniel Quiroz (190) and Brayden Agnese (215) posted pins.
Beach teams excel in Black and Blue: Three of the four teams remaining in Black and Blue High School Division contention are from Virginia Beach. That 16-team bracket is comprised entirely of public schools from Virginia.
No. 1 seed Landstown and No. 4 Ocean Lakes both had little trouble advancing to a 1:30 p.m. semifinal clash against each other.
The Eagles beat Mills Godwin 66-6 and Richlands of southwest Virginia 74-3. Meanwhile, Ocean Lakes handled Grafton 60-18 and Orange County 60-17.
Landstown’s James Elam (138), Malik Adedoyin (190), Jake Detrick (215) and Chase Nilo (285) pinned both of their foes.Ocean Lakes’ Noah Xiong (138), Aiden Nichols (150/157), Stone Wagner (157/165), Gabriel Santillanes (175) and Michael Trusty (215) posted a pair of pins each.
Second-seeded Kellam zoomed past York 78-4 and Western Branch 63-14. That moved the Knights into a semifinal against Independence from Northern Virginia, which downed Maury 62-15 and Eastern View 57-15.
The Knights’ Bryce Vigeant (120) and Juancarlos Keener (138) earned two pins apiece.
Builders go 1-1: Apprentice School, the 16-team American College Division’s only local squad, fell 48-6 to seventh-seeded Findlay of Ohio but recovered to defeat Greensboro 46-5 in the back draw.
The Builders’ Owen Cherry, a freshman from Kellam High, pinned his Findlay opponent in 6:44 at 165 pounds and won a 14-1 major decision vs. Greensboro.
Apprentice next will wrestle Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania.
The semifinals will pit Glenville State of West Virginia against Frostburg State of Maryland, and Newberry of South Carolina against Findlay.
