FMS Wrestlers Take Top Honors in Bristol
Shorthanded Fishburne Military School Grapplers Grab Top Honors at Ed Cressel Classic
(Jan. 12-13, Bristol, VA) — Of the nine wrestlers traveling to Virginia High School, five went undefeated on Friday, earning spots in Saturday’s quarterfinals, Logan Shiflett (Stuarts Draft, VA), Levi Smith (Fayetteville, NC), Jacob
Fishburne Military School Wrestling Coach Terry Waters and FMS Heavyweight Silvio Dionisotti
Fincham (Fredericksburg, VA), Matthew Farrar (Waynesboro, VA), and Silvio Dionisotti (Sudbury, MA).
On Saturday morning, Smith, Farrar, and Dionisotti all advanced to the semifinal round.
Smith would drop his semifinal match but bounce back to finish 5th in a tournament he did not place in last year. Farrar’s streak of championship appearances, suffering only his third loss of the year. He bounced right back, winning his next two matches to win the consolation championship and taking home third place. That left heavyweight Junior Silvio Dionisotti as the lone Caisson in the finals.
The heavyweight championship featured two undefeated wrestlers. In the first period Dionisotti got the first take down but got hit with what a fat man’s roll to his back. Silvio fought off his back for 47 seconds, refusing to quit and give up the pin. The second period saw both wrestlers score. Losing 8-4 heading into the final period, Dionisotty quickly stood up, and “released the beast inside” according to the Caissons head coach, Terry Waters. Dionisotti took his opponent to his back and pinned him for the championship, saving his undefeated record.
“I wish it was recorded,” said Waters, “the place went wild, evidently the crowd was pulling for the Caissons.”
On top of the success on the mat, several parents came up to Coach Waters and Assistant Coach Eddie Summers to complement them on how well the team behaved and carried themselves.
Filling only 9 of the 14 weight classes, Fishburne still managed a 15th place finish among the 32 teams.
The Caissons Wrestling team returns to action in North Carolina at Harnett Central High for the Buzzard Brawl this Saturday.
Fishburne Military School is the oldest and smallest of all military schools for boys in Virginia. Its college-prep curriculum is built on the structure of an Army JROTC program. FMS has been designated as a JROTC Honor Unit with Distinction and may nominate qualified candidates to the United States Service Academies. Fishburne hosts one of only four Summer JROTC programs in the nation that is accredited by US Army Cadet Command.
