2010 AAA Virginia State Wrestling Tournament, By Skip Parker
Mark Mansfield
by Skip Parker
This year’s tournament was loaded with talent. Cox brought 8 of the
finest wrestlers in Virginia. Westfield qualified its entire team and
Robinson brought 11. The Central region’s James River and Hanover
followed suit with the numbers of wrestlers each had competing here.
Most of the fans were watching intently to see how the battle for the
top 5 spots would be settled. Little attention, outside of the Great
Bridge faithful, was paid to the 2 grapplers wearing the Wildcat’s
green and gold.
Unlike years past, Great Bridge sent a light contingent to the AAA
Virginia State Wrestling Tournament at Robinson High School. This
year’s two representatives were Joey Grainger, a veteran of this
event, finishing 4th his freshman year and 2nd his sophomore year and
Johnny McClanahan, a newcomer to this tournament. Joey was a serious
contender for the title. His reputation as a skilled wrestler was
well known by the competitors in his weight class. They had reason to
be concerned. While Johnny was not as well known or well respected
going into this tournament, it was a completely different story at the
conclusion of the competition.
171-Pound Weight Class. Joey Grainger (4-1), 3rd Place. In the
opening round, Joey, the East Region Champion, drew Walker White of
Douglas Freeman, the Central-4. Joey took him down took him down,
controlled him with a tight waist, tilted him and flattened his
shoulders. Result was a fall in 36 seconds and advancement to the
quarterfinals. In that round, Joey wrestled Martin Seneca, the
Northern Region runner-up. Joey took Martin down and tilted him for 2
near fall points before Seneca escaped. Grainger took him back down,
locked him up in a cradle and got the fall in 1:03. There was good
news and bad news in that outcome. The good news was that Joey
advanced to the semi-finals. The bad news is that he hit the top 171
in the state and eventual state champion, Clint Allala of Hopewell.
Joey kept this one close through the first 2 periods, but an escape
and takedown cemented the win for Allala in the form of an 8-3
decision. Joey did not lose heart. He came back in the consolation
semi-finals against Stacey Anderson (Annandale), Northern Region
Champion, by taking Stacey down straight to his back and picking up a
fall 2 seconds after recording the takedown. Pin time was 27
seconds. That put Grainger in the 3rd place match with David Reck of
Colonial Forge, the Northwest Region Champion. Joey was incredibly
aggressive in this match, taking Reck down, putting him on his back,
and getting the fall with a headlock in 52 seconds. Joey made quick
work of those he defeated. After the match, I asked Joey what was
next for him. He said he would like to go to college and compete in
Senior Nationals. He competed in and won the Freshman Nationals 4
years earlier. Joey gets an automatic qualification for Senior
Nationals, because in his sophomore year, he reached the state
finals. I have a feeling he’ll do well.
130-Pound Weight Class. Johnny McClanahan (3-2), 4th Place. Unlike
the other weight classes, the Central Region was not strong in the 130
weight class, but of course no one really knew that until the
competition had gotten underway. As the Eastern-3, Johnny’s first
draw was the Central Region runner-up, Don Lineberry (Lee-Davis). In
this one, Johnny trailed Lineberry 2-1 going into the final period,
one in which McClanahan had the top position. That choice proved to be
fatal for Lineberry. After a couple of tilts and taking a 6-2 lead,
Johnny threw in a half-nelson, took Lineberry to his back, and pinned
him in 5:45. He advanced to the quarterfinals and met Brett Garrison
(Colonial Forge), the Northwest Region Champion. Johnny’s first
period takedown of Garrison didn’t seem particularly significant at
the time, but as the bout wore on and neither wrestler seemed to be
able to do much with the other, that takedown was huge. Garrison
escaped 1:17 into the 3rd period, but neither wrestler scored and
McClanahan won a 2-1 decision and advanced to the semi-finals. Like
Joey, Johnny hit the top guy in the state and eventual state champion,
Jacob Crawford, the Northern Region Champion. Crawford, a sophomore,
did finish 3rd place at the Beast of the East and won an AA state
championship as a freshman. In his next bout, Johnny faced John
Orchard-Hayes, the Northern Region Runner-Up. Orchard-Hayes is a
technically sound wrestler. This bout was scoreless at the start of
the 3rd period. Johnny escaped and took Orchard-Hayes down 58 seconds
into the bout. He escaped with 2 seconds left, but it was too late.
Johnny won it, 3-1 and advanced to the 3rd place match against
Northwest Region Runner-Up, Jacob Kingett of Forest Park. In this one
Kingett got out to a 3-0 lead going into the 3rd period. Johnny
reversed him in that period, but couldn’t turn him and lost a narrow
3-2 decision. Johnny is a junior, so he’ll be back next season. With
this valuable experience under his belt, the competition has a lot to
worry about.
It should be noted that former Great Bridge wrestler, Michael
Chalfant, finished 2nd in the 130-pound weight class.
While the Wildcat contingent was small, both Grainger and McClanahan
made a great account of themselves, both finishing high in their
respective weight classes.