Fishburne Military School Sends Four Wrestlers to Nationals
Recap by Coach C
This past weekend 4 wrestlers (Lenardson, Farrell, May, Davis) went to Lehigh University to compete in the Prep National Wrestling Championship Tournament. This is the largest group of qualifiers that FMS has ever sent to Nationals. All 4 of thes Caissons finished in the top 4 in the State Championships last weekend in Virginia Beach.
The draw was not kind to our kids. All four Caissons drew a top-ranked kid in the first round (which is a full round of 32 wrestlers, all of whom are tops in their own region or state). All 4 of our guys lost in that round and had to then move on to the consolation round to wrestle back.
A few hours later the seasons of Andrew Davis and Anders Lenardson ended as they both lost in this round. Daniel May and Brian Farrell, however, both won to move on to the next round. At this point there were just 24 kids left in each weight class.
A few hours later, both May and Farrell took to the mat to attempt to move on to the top 16 in the nation and tie the record set by Steve Woolly 2 years ago.
May lost a tough match and finished his season in the top 24 in the Nation.
Farrell faced off against another wrestler from Virginia whom he had faced 2 times at the State Championship. They split that contest, with Farrell winning one and losing one. When this one was done, Farrell won the rubber match and moved into the top 16 in the nation.
A while later Farrell would took to the Mat against the #12 kid in the National Tournament who also happened to be the Texas State Champion. It was a great match, but Farrell lost on points to be put out of the tournament, finishing up tied for the best finish at the National Prep Championship by a FMS Wrestler.
The best part is that the top 2 finishers from FMS are both only Juniors and will be back next year to attempt to give FMS its first All American Wrestler (Top 8 in Nation).
Fishburne Military School is the oldest and smallest of all military schools for boys in Virginia. Its college-prep curriculum is built upon the structure of an Army JROTC program. Boasting a 100% college-acceptance rate for the past 10 consecutive years, FMS has also been designated as a JROTC Honor Unit with Distinction and may nominate qualified candidates to the United States Service Academics. Fishburne hosts one of only four Summer JROTC programs in the nation, accredited by US Army Cadet Command. For more information visit www.fishburne.org.
