Fishburne Military School Wrestling Rolls to 7-1
The Fishburne Military School Wrestling Team improves to 7-1 after a Tournament Victory at Ritchie County (WV) meet
recap by Coach Chiorlanzio
The Fishburne Military School (VA) wrestling team was up, dressed, and on the road at 8 am Friday for a 5-hour ride to Ritchie County, WV for a 2-day duals tournament where they would wrestle 9 matches between Friday night (4 matches) and all day Saturday (5 matches).
The Caissons would kick off the tournament with a match against Grafton HS in round 1, when it was all said and done the final score was FMS 60 Grafton 24.
Round 2 would not go as well. The effects of the long trip seemed to kick in as the team squared off with a tough Wirt HS team. The final score would this time go the other way with Wirt beating FMS by the score of 44-33. After a quick team meeting and refocusing, it was on to round 3.
Round 3 would see the Caissons take on Tyler HS and a much better performance. earning the Caissons a victory by the score of FMS 63 – Tyler 15 and moving the team to a 2-1 record.
Round 4, the final round for Friday night, would see the caissons wrestle St. Mary’s. Another great performance for the Caissons gave Fishburne the edge and a final score of FMS 66 – St Mary’s 15.
The team would then make its way over to the Davis home to spend the night. After placing all the air mattress for 14 wrestlers, it was bed time for the team. It was another early morning as the team was up and cleaned and headed back to the gym at 7am.
Fishburne would kick off day 2 and round 5 of the tournament by facing South Harrison HS. It was another good match ending in a Caissons victory by the score of FMS 66 – South Harrison 16. Fishburne’s record was now 4-1.
Round 6 would see the Caissons take to the mat against Parkersburg South HS. This match was HUGE for the Caissons as Parkersburg was 5-0 on the weekend thus far. The Caissons stepped up their game and a hard fought match saw the Caissons come out on top by a score of FMS 47 – Parkersburg South 36. Now FMS, Parkersburg and Wirt all sat with 5-1 records in a 3-way tie for first place.
Following a very short lunch break and lots of rules-checking to see which school held the advantage in tie-breaker rules. The Caissons found themselves on top at that point; but in the end, tie-break rules would not matter. Ritchie County knocked off both Wirt and Parkersburg in the next 2 rounds.
Rounds 7 and 8 for the Caissons were both walk-overs, with FMS winning over Buffalo HS in round 7 by a score of 78-4 and over Notre Dame HS by a score of 82-0 in round 8.
Now, sitting with a record of 7-1, it was on to the final round where FMS would face off with the home team, Ritchie County HS, on the center mat with the tournament title on the line. This was another great match…it was back and forth early on, until the Caissons took control and pulled away winning by a score of FMS 51 – Ritchie County 28.
Then it was in to the final places and the announcement came “The 2014 Ritchie County Duals Team Champions are FISHBURNE MILITARY SCHOOL”.
The team ended the weekend with a record of 8-1 headed into break. Next up will be a Home Quad on 15 Jan, as the Caissons host VIC rivals Miller School, Blue Ridge School, and Covenant.
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.
