Wrestling Notebook: The Skinny on the Dulles District Finals

VivaLoudoun editor Dan "Half Nelson" Sousa covered the Dulles District wrestling meet Thursday and besides taking photos, he also jotted down these notes on the finals ...

10:24 p.m. National Anthem over ... time to crown some district champions! Two mats of action so plenty to watch and everywhere I look there is a Freedom High School wrestler warming up, wrestling or celebrating a victory!

Championship
103 Tuan Dang, Park View High School Fall Zack Zedan, Potomac Falls High School, 0:38
The Skinny: Dang that was quick! This Patriot should go far at regionals

112 Steven Marquina, Freedom High School Fall Brian Hulcher, Briar Woods High School, 5:25
The Skinny: All eyes shift to Matt 2 with the fall on Matt 1. How even matched are these two? Try 0-0 after the first and 0-0 after the second with Hulcher riding out Marquina. The Freedom wrestler not only scores points from the bottom to win but pins Hulcher with just under 36 seconds left in the match

119 Choung Le, Freedom High School Dec Tyler Anthony, Loudoun County High School, 7-6
The Skinny: One of the best matches of the night and if this match had been another 10 seconds, Anthony might have been standing tallest on the podium. Le controlled it early and led 7-1 late but then Anthony charged back with a reversal and near fall at the end but he needed the fall for the win.

125 Michael Hosti, Freedom High School Fall Neil Hartman, Broad Run High School, 1:45
The Skinny: Hosti made it three straight Freedom wins with a pin with just 15 seconds left in the first.

130 Sean Gaetani, Freedom High School Dec Denis Murray, Broad Run High School, 6-2
The Skinny: Gaetani used two takedowns inthe first to post a 4-1 advantage. It stayed 4-1 into the third when Gaetani chose to let Murray up to start the period and then another takedown secured the win.

135 Vince DiRenzo, Broad Run High School Dec Thomas Philbrick, Freedom High School, 3-2
The Skinny: Wow. A great match to watch. It was 0-0 after the first between two evenly matched and highly-skilled wrestlers. Philbrick escaped in the second to take a 1-0 lead into the final period but DiRenzo knew exactly what he had to do and he escaped and took down Philbrick late for a 3-1 lead. Philbrick was able to get away and almost took down DiRenzo in the final seconds but the Spartan held on for the 3-2 win. DiRenzo's is closer to Loudoun's all-time career wins mark. The Spartan senior now has 152 career wins and 156 by former Potomac Falls standout Paul Rowane is thought to be Loudoun's most ever!

140 Mike Oswald, Potomac Falls High School Fall David Richardson, Loudoun County High School, 3:20
The Skinny: Richardson fought Oswald to a 0-0 standstill in the first but Oswald was able to put Richardson into a fall position in the second to end the match with 40.3 seconds to go before the third.

145 Joseph Sheptock, Freedom High School Fall Pablo Garcia, Park View High School, 3:23
The Skinny: Sheptock was in control from the start, working a 5-0 lead in the first period. In the second period he ened it with 36.2 seconds to go for the pin over the Patriot.

152 Kenton Perez, Loudoun County High School Dec Steve Warden, Potomac Falls High School, 3-0
The Skinny: We think Perez is worth the price of admission just to watch him warm-up (think Braveheart meets Vision Quest). This match was 0-0 heading into the third when Perez escaped and then took down Warden for a 3-0 win.

160 Aaron Rowane, Potomac Falls High School Fall Zack Stevens, Loudoun County High School, 0:41
Is there a rule there has to be a Rowane champion at a Dulles District meet? His first period pin assures this wrestling family's legacy.

171 Charles Constantino, Freedom High School Dec Morris Mendoza, Broad Run High School, 3-2
Another fun match to watch. It was 0-0 before activity picked up the second with Constantin0 leading 3-1 after scoring an escape and takedown from the bottom. Mendoza was able to pick up the escape in the final period but Constantino stood his ground for the 3-2 win.

189 Chris Freda, Freedom High School Dec Gabe Sosa, Briar Woods High School, 13-8
The highest scoring match of the night. Freda led 7-4 after the first and never trailed but that didn't stop Sosa from threatening to come back. It was 11-5 Freda heading into the final period and Eagle held off Sosa for another Freedom win.

215 Zack Duffin, Potomac Falls High School Dec Ali Gill, Park View High School, 10-4
Injured for part of the year, Duffin went up big in this match, 6-1 in the first but Gill hung tough and basically wrestled even towards the end. Leading 8-3 going into the final, Duffin secured the 10-4 win.

285 Daquante Timbers, Freedom High School Fall Robert Hayes, Park View High School, 3:41
The most entertaining match of the night! It was 6-4 Timbers after the first but both wrestlers had each other in positions to get a fall but couldn't seal the deal. When Hayes was pinned late in the second ... the two showed great sportsmanship as Timbers helped Hayes off the mat and then the two embraced. It is why we love wrestling!

11:48 - Timbers walks off the mat and we still had some weight class award ceremonies to go and Freedom needed to claim the team trophy for the dual meet season and the meet itself ... it was just after midnight when they rolled up the mats!