With a district tournament title and runner-up finishes in region and state tournaments under their belt, the Chantilly Chargers enjoyed one of the school’s best wrestling seasons ever.
On Saturday (March 1), Chantilly placed second in the Virginia High School League Class 6 state competition in Virginia Beach with three individual champions and 165 points. The Grassfield Grizzlies of Chesapeake won with 192.5 points.
Wrestlers from 20 different high schools in Fairfax County recently earned berths at the Zone 4 qualifying event to participate in the Virginia High School League girls state tournament.
The top five wrestlers in each weight class earned those berths at Hayfield Secondary School, with the fifth-place finishers designated as alternates. The state tournament is Wednesday-Thursday, Feb. 26-27, at the Henrico Sports and Events Center in Glen Allen.
Girls wrestling continues growing as a high-school sport in Northern Virginia, and the Langley Saxons recently won the initial Liberty District tournament.
With four individual champions, Langley won with 121.5 points. The Marshall Statesmen were second (102 points), the McLean Highlanders third (58) and the host Herndon Hornets (52) fourth.
With two wrestlers finishing 5-0 and four 4-1, the Lake Braddock Bruins finished second at the 10-team Highlander Duals competition at McLean High School.
The Battlefield Bobcats of Prince William County finished first with a 5-0 record at the 10-team Saturday (Jan. 18) event. Lake Braddock was second with a 4-1 record, losing to the Bobcats, 57-18.
January opens the most important portion of the winter sports seasons for local high-school teams.
Once schools restart play following recent snowy weather conditions, the majority of the remaining regular-season contests will be against district opponents, followed by postseason tournaments.
The host Chantilly Chargers finished third while three other Fairfax County high-school teams placed among the top squads at the annual Joe Verciglio Memorial wrestling tournament.
Grassfield High School from Chesapeake won the 16-team competition with 246.5 points. Chantilly had 167.
The West Springfield Spartans continued their strong start to the wrestling season with a second victory at a big invitational high-school meet.
The squad’s most recent title came at the 58-team Battle at the Bridge event Dec. 27-28 at Woodbridge High School. The Spartans won with 228 points, having seven wrestlers finish in the top eight.
With a dozen wrestlers finishing among the top four in their weight classes, including three champions, the Justice Wolves won the recent eight-team Saxon Invitational high-school match.
Justice finished with 160.5 points, with the Herndon Hornets second with 131 at Langley High School.
With two individual champions and 14 wrestlers scoring points, the Westfield Bulldogs won the annual season-opening NOVA Classic.
The two-day event with more than 30 high-school teams was held Dec. 6 and 7 at Fairfax High School.
