Fishburne Military School Champions at Peninsula Catholic Classic

Recap by Coach C

The Fishburne  Military School Caissons Wrestling team took to the road Saturday and took to the road EARLY, with an 0530 departure from campus in order to make it to weigh in in Newport News Va for the Peninsula Catholic Classic. The team had to wrestle 4 team duals to see which of the wrestlers would advance to the individual Medal Round for the Tournament for their 5th Match of the day (5 is the most allowed under rule in one day).

Fishburne opened against Trinity Episcopal in the first match of the day. The boys sent an early message to everyone in the gym that the Caissons were there to wrestle by winning the first round with a score of 72 – 6,

The second round would see the Caissons resting, as this was the one break they would get throughout the course of their day.

In round 3 the team was back to the mat to face off against a very tough Bishop Sullivan Catholic. Once again, the team stepped on the mat ready to go and walked away with 63 – 7 victory.

With only a 5 minute break, the Caissons came out for round 4 and took on Covenant School. Covenant was the only other VIC team present at the tournament. Fishburne was ready for them  and won by a score of 58 – 12.

Next, Fishburne moved on to the final dual match round confronting the host team, Peninsula Catholic. This match would determine the team duals Champion. Again, the boys from Fishburne Military School were ready for the task and walked away with a 58 – 21 victory and the over all duals team Championship.

The Caissons racked up 244 points in 4 duals, the second place team (Peninsula Catholic) trailed with a total of 136 points on the day.

Following a quick Coaches meeting to set up the individual medal rounds, it was determined who would wrestle for 3rd and 4th and who would wrestle for 1st and 2nd. Two Caisson wrestlers wrestled back for 3rd and 4th: Zach McIntyre (152 pounds) would have to settle for 4th place, and Chandler Wright (160 pounds) who had to wrestle against a kid he had lost to 40 minutes ago in a very tough match, avenged his earlier loss and won took 3rd place on the day. Bou Shebel (285 pounds) would also take home a 3rd place medal on the day.

Then it would be on to the introductions for the Individual Championship Round. When they started reading the match ups, a lot of people were looking on in awe. It looked something like this:

At 106, Finchem from Fishburne
At 113, Baan from Fishburne
At 120, Lenordson from Fishburne
At 126, Farrell from Fishburne
At 132, Biggie Morrison-Rogers from Fishburne
At 138, May from Fishburne
At 145, Davis from Fishburne
At 170, Hale from Fishburne
At 182, Taylor from Fishburne
At 195, Oglivie from Fishburne

In all, TEN wrestlers from FMS earned their way into the Championship finals.

Things started slowly for FMS, with wrestlers losing at 106, 113, and 120 all taking home 2nd place. Then the tide turned as Farrell would start a mini-run of FMS Champions, winning at 126. Next. Biggie took the title at 132, and May did the same in the 138-pound weight class.  Davis then captured the title for 145.

The Ciassons hit another slow patch as Hale and Taylor would both fall short and take home 2nd place.

The final wrestler, Oglivie, would take to the mat and, after 2 injury stoppages (both for Oglivie who got banged up but kept fighting hard through the pain), he emerged as the final FMS Champion of the day.

When the smoke has cleared, the Caissons from Fishburne had amassed: 5 Champions, 5 runners-up, 2 third-place finishers, and 1 4th-place finisher.

The Caissons took home a total of 13 medals (having only entered 13 boys) and were presented with the over-all Team Championship.

Fishburne now holds a team record of 17 – 1 for the season so far. Their only loss came in the season opener and now the Caissons have reeled off 17 straight wins.

Next up: the Caissons travel to Roanoke Catholic on Tues, 28 Jan, where they will wrestle against a tough host team and will take on the defending State Champions (and 7-time defending VIC Champions) Liberty Christian Academy.

With a win over Roanoke Catholic, Fishburne Military School’s match against LCA would be for the regular season team title. Both will enter the contest unbeaten in the VIC.

Special thanks goes out to the Ciassons’ fans, as FMS was represented very well with parents and friends cheering on the team all day long.

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.