Week 3 Wrestlers of the Week

Photography by Jessica DiNovo

 

1. Connor Bryant - SR - To this point in the season, Connor has posted a phenomenal record of 14-4, while also amassing 9 pins.  Connor has bumped up weight classes numerous times and has done well as he currently leads the teams in matches, wins, pins and total team points scored.

2. Chris Lamboy - SO - An unexpected match hero has been born in Lamboy.  Three times this season when the match was on the line, Chris has come through to solidify a win for the Spartans.

3. Andre Schofield and Brandon Steel - FR - Congratulations are in order to the two Freshmen that stepped up this week to help Broad Run defeat John Champe on Thursday night.

Spartans Place 2nd at North Stafford Duals

Wins Pool Going 4-0; Falls to Osbourn Park

  Following Thursday's match, there were questions about which squad would show up to the mats on Saturday.  That question was quickly answered as the Spartans ripped off four straight wins, on its way to win Pool A and would fight for the Championship of the North Stafford Duals.

  Broad Run would meet Fairfax in the first match up of the day and on paper the match looked as if it could go to either team.  Fairfax would potentially earn 12 points before the match even started due to forfeits by Broad Run at 113 and 195.  While the Spartans could bump classes, 182 Connor Bryant weighed in at only 174, making him a rather undersized 195 if bumped.    
  But Broad Run would go at Fairfax with a straight lineup and be tied 18-18 trough the first 7 matches before losing the next 3 matches to go down 32-18.  The Spartans would claw their way back racking up 3 straight pins to take the score to 36-32 with Sophomore Chris Lamboy, a rookie to the Varsity lineup this year, winning his match to solidify a win for the Spartans.

  After an exciting, down-to-the-wire, victory, the Spartans traveled to mat 1 to challenge the home team and Region rival North Stafford.  Coming into the match, the highlight meeting was to be Senior Tarkan Martin against Willie Inserra at 138 lbs.  Starting at 160 meant that this match could decide the entire match, and as it approached it was going to do just that.  At the start of 138 the team score was 30-24 in favor of Broad Run. 

  The match started off favorable with Martin scoring the initial takedown, but would give up a questionable reversal towards the end of the period in a scramble situation.  At the start of the second period, Tarkan would start down and disaster would follow as Inserra hit what should have been a potentially dangerous power half, and ended up pinning Martin.  Due to the injury, the Spartans would lose their 2-time State qualifier for the remainder of the day's matches.

  Now it was up to the rest of the team to step up for their lost Senior, and in the following match, for the second time on the day, Chris Lamboy would be the hero and put the match away with a pin that guaranteed a 36-30 Spartan victory and a 2-0 record to start the morning off.  For the third time in 3 weeks, Lamboy would be the determining factor in only his Sophomore year.

  The third match of the day was an easier dual matching up with the depleted Garfield lineup of only 7 wrestlers.  As long as only 1 person did not get pinned the Spartans would win, and they did so easily setting up a new challenge for the team; finish against Woodbridge and potentially win the pool.

  Riding a wave of momentum, Broad Run everything they needed to and defeated Woodbridge by a score of 39-29 to lock up a chance to win the 1st Place trophy.  But to get to that trophy, they would have to go through an incredibly tough Osbourn Park team. 

  Osbourn Park, who had defeated Cosby, Green Run, Woodson, and Battlefield in their path to the finals, proved to be too much for the Spartans, and they would have to settle for 2nd.  At the end of the day, the coaching staff could not have been happier with the outcome and the effort that was seen on the mat. "We were a different team today," said Coach Josh Costa.  "We wrestled better on our feet than we have all season, and after Thursday it was great to see.  Now we go back to work on Monday." 

  The Spartans travel to Stone Bridge in Ashburn for the Ashburn Duals next Thursday and look to defend their Championship trophy from a year ago.  Wrestling starts at 6pm. 

Tri-Meet at Champe Proves Disastrous for Spartans

Illnesses, Grades Affect Performance in Outing
Photography by Jessica DiNovo

  Thursday's matches at the newly opened John Champe High School in Aldie, VA went completely backwards to how coaches J.J. Totaro and Josh Costa would have expected them to go.  With influenza infecting numerous wrestlers on the team, affecting about 30% of the JV and Varsity squads, the lineup Broad Run had was badly damaged.  Making matters worse was the doling out of interims at the half way point of the 2nd quarter, which brought more people missing from the starting 14.

Freshman Andre Schofield works for
the pin in his 1st Varsity win.

  "Grades are big to us," said Totaro, "we don't care how good you are; if you can't perform in the classroom, you can't perform here," referring to the mat.  For some, this brought the new Spartan Wrestling mantra - Live. Train. Wrestle. SpartanStrong - clearly into view.  "Being weak in the classroom equals a lack of dedication to your academics and a lack of dedication to your team.  It's not living SpartanStrong."  Totaro clarified the situation saying that the missing wrestlers were not off the team, but suspended to "get priorities back in order" and are welcomed back upon their grades being fixed.

  No matter the reason, the Spartans still had three matches against AA perennial powerhouse Brentsville, and the Dulles District's Woodgrove and Champe.  Brentsville would start the evening off with the decimating defeat of Broad Run by a score of 47-18.  Wins were tough to come by and at many times during the match it seemed as if the Spartans were no there mentally at all, and the anger from the corner was evident as the match went on.



Fossett takes his man to the air.



  Broad Run hoped to get back on track in the second match against potential Dulles District Champion Woodgrove, and the results were much the same.  Making thing even more difficult, Senior Clayton Shepherd would be hit with flu in the middle of the match and be forced out of the lineup. requiring Freshman Brandon Steel to step up in his place.  The Spartans would fall 51-29 to Woodgrove, and would guarantee a losing record on the night.

  Finishing the night was a rematch against John Champe which would be a chance to get some of the younger Spartans into the lineup.  Broad Run would win the match to gain at least one team win on the night, and would see two freshmen win their first Varsity matches, with wins by 120 Andre Schofield and 170 Brandon Steel.

  One highlight on the night was the event being held did benefit Ovarian Cancer Awareness.  The wrestlers were given teal colored socks and laces for their shoes and money was raised and donated to a local group.  Broad Run Wrestling would look to turn things around at the North Stafford Duals on Saturday and hopefully gain back some of its missing wrestlers.

Caution: Vasqui at work!

 DiNovo's Pics of the Week

Week 3 

  Once again Broad Run Wrestling's personal photographer Jessica DiNovo took to the mat with her camera  to take over 500 new pictures this week.  From that she has whittled her pics down to her Top 10 of the Week.  Sit back and enjoy (and we will try to get caption names right this week!)

Derrik MacBeth works to escape
against Osbourn Park.

Ben Paul shoots in and works to finish a single.

Zach Fossett drops his opponent - on his head!

Defending a shot is Jacob Contreras

Ewen Riordan works for the fall against Garfield.

Connor Bryant elevates and drops his opponent.

Alex West ties up his opponent against Champe and
shows off his teal socks to support ovarian cancer.

Diego Loya fights against a deep single.

Logan Shain works to pin his opponent - in :21 seconds.

Tyler Corbo works to finish an arm bar and finish a comeback.

JV Excels at John Champe Invitational

18 of 27 Spartans Place Top 4 or Higher



  This past Saturday, Coach Ausberry took the JV Spartan squad to Aldie, VA to participate in the first individual tournament of the season.  Champe broke the brackets into 8-man, double-elimination brackets and worked to find who the champions would be.  When all was said and done, the JV wrestlers of Broad Run would walk away with 18 of its members placing 4th or higher. 

  Comments came from fans and coaches alike on the size and skill of the Spartans, a definite positive sign in the growth of program.  Competing under the leadership of new JV Coach Marshal Ausberry, the team has shown marked improvement and toughness on the mat.  With JV numbers in the upper 20's to low 30's, it is clear to see that Ausberry and the Spartan program are on the rise.

  Placing for the Spartans were...

113 - Eric Potak - 5th

120 - Andre Schofield - 2nd

120 - David Brock - 4th

132 - Tamir "Batman" Batmend - 3rd

138 - Andrew Simpson - 4th

120B - Paolo Cardella - 5th 

132B - Michael Battista - 3rd

138B - Alejandro "Vasqui" Vasquez - 1st

145B - Millad Zahedi - 2nd

145B - Tristan Howell - 4th

145C - Luke Buzzelli - 2nd

152B - Conner Kleffman - 5th

160B - Matt Nguyen - 1st

160B - Diego Sanchez - 2nd

160B - Conner Maresco - 3rd

160B - Harman Sandhu - 4th

160C - Brandon Steel - 1st

160C - Alex West - 2nd

160C - Hassan Shahzad - 4th

170B - Colin Schmetzer - 1st

  The JV will continue their season on December 22nd at Warren County HS.

**NEW SECTION**

DiNovo's Top 10 Pics of the Week

Photography by Jessica DiNovo

  For those who do not know her, Jessica DiNovo, a Senior at Broad Run, has joined the program as our personal photographer.  Each event she has traveled and provided the hundreds of pictures of our Varsity squad.  In an effort to thank her for her work, we have created a new section of our blog - DiNovo's Top 10!!

  Each week, Jessica will pick her Top 10 Pics, and we will post them right here.  All picks are made by her and we thank her for everything she does - so sit back and check out DiNovo's best pictures of the NOVA Classic!!

Contreras fighting out of a single leg attack

Chan readying for his offense

MacBeth working to control before tilting

Kimbrel scrambles to finish his shot

Bryant hand fights to gain control

Paul popping out of a loose cradle

Fossett muscles his way into better position

Shain works to score from the top

Bryant works the cross wrist before hitting his half



Shain begins to hit his sitout to score the reversal

Week 2 Wrestlers of the Week



Logan Shain - SR (170) - placing 4th at the NOVA Classic was enough to earn Shain his 2nd wrestler of the week award.  Logan continues to be a strong leader on the team and looks strong on the mat.

Diego Loya - SR (220) - Diego placed 5th at the NOVA Classic and moves ever closer to amassing 100 career wins.  Loya looked good on the weekend and is looking to continue towards his goal of a District championship.

NOVA Classic Provides Challenge to Spartan Squad

Tournament Provides New Level of Difficulty to Most

  Broad Run traveled to Fairfax High School this weekend for a two-day individual tournament against some of the toughest local AA and AAA teams, including Cedar Run District opponents Battlefield and Freedom, as well as Potomac Falls from the Dulles District.  The NOVA Classic is known for its annual high level of competition, and this year was no different, having teams such as Centreville, Fauquier and Annandale all in the mix. While the team did not fare as well as it did last weekend, there were bright spots from some, and definite learning experiences for others.

  Starting off Friday morning the smallest members of the Spartan squad looked good in the 106 class.  While wins were tough to come by, seeing both Tyler Corbo and Timmy Brown score and hold their own against tough competition showed the growth the BR coaches wanted to see from them.  While opponents like Matt Asper (SR-Battlefield) makes for a tough match up, being able to improve over last season's results is definite improvement.

Loya places 5th in the 2012 NOVA Classic

  The mid-lower weights had a difficult time, but Junior Mauricio Ballon was able to win his first two matches and get to the Championship Quarterfinals, and B-teamer Ben Paul was able to gain a win or two, both in the 132 class. Kimberl, Chan, Lamboy and Owens faced some stiff competition in their respective weight classes, but did show signs of significant growth in their matches.  Much of it being shown with grit and toughness against their opponents, but even with losses, the experience of a high level tournament such as the NOVA Classic always helps to prepare wrestlers for the District tournament.

  The upper weights had the best results for the Spartans, with 5 of the 6 returners to the second day of competition came from the 152 class or higher.  At 152, Zach Fossett (Junior) faced what was referred to by many coaches as "the meat-head class" due to the sheer size and musculature of almost all the challengers.  Fossett wrestled well and fell only one match short of medaling at the Classic.

  Connor Bryant (Junior) and Phillip James (Senior) also fell a match short at 182 and 285 respectively, but looked good for most of the weekend.  Both bring much needed experience and toughness to a relatively inexperienced squad and help to keep those not used to the big stage grounded.  

Shain places 4th in the 2012 NOVA Classic

  Placing for BR Wrestling were Diego Loya (Senior), who placed 5th and 220, and Logan Shain (Senior) who placed 4th at 170.  Loya also made the quarterfinals before going 2-2 on Saturday to take 5th and taking a few steps closer to amassing 100 career wins, as Shain followed suit going 2-2 and placing 4th.  Logan has been an incredible bright spot for the Spartans, going 5-0 last weekend with 4 falls, and placing 4th this weekend.  Coaches noted that their expectations for Shain have always been high, but feel that he is on the right track to achieve them, maybe even faster than they expected.

  Broad Run continues their season Thursday at John Champe for a quad to raise awareness and funds for ovarian cancer and will travel to North Stafford on Saturday for another set of duals.  Be sure to check back to see this week's Wrestler's of the Week and results from the week's events!

Week 1 Wrestlers of the Week

Photos by Jessica DiNovo

1. Logan Shain - SR - Logan went 5-0 on the weekend recording 4 pins, 2 of which were done in less than 35 seconds.  

2. Phillip James - SR - Phillip also went 5-0 on the weekend and amassed 3 pins as well.

3. Zach Fossett - JR - Returning from a season where he could not wrestle due to concussion symptoms from football, Zach returned with style going 5-0 on the weekend, making our wrestlers of the week a total of 15-0!!

Spartans Start Off Season on the Right Track

Broad Run Posts a 4-1 Record on the Day

  The Spartans started the season on a solid note this weekend posting 4 wins; 3 of them in their pool and a quality win over crosstown rival Potomac Falls.  Broad Run entered Tuscarora with a team that has a mixture of young and old on its roster, but also a team with a definite lack of Varsity level mat time.  Of the 18 members traveling to the event, only 4 had seen more than 50 Varsity matches.  Even with the level of inexperience, the coaching staff was setting high expectations and hoping on a perfect record on the day.

  And that plan started on the right track as Broad Run dismantled the 3rd year program of Tuscarora by a score of 57-17.  Not only did the Spartans win 10 of the 14 matches, the recorded 9 pins, and rolled off 8 in a row at one point!  Recording the fastest pin of the round was Senior Logan Shain in only :23.

  Up next for the Spartans was another former Dulles District rival; Dominion High School.  Again, Broad Run was able to easily handle the Titans, defeating them by a score of 60-23.  Much like the first match, the Spartans went pin crazy, linking 7 straight pins together to start the match, going ahead 42-0 before giving up even a single match point to an opponent.  Shain once again went to work quickly, recording his 2nd of 4 total pins on the day, but missing his fastest pin time by :11, pinning his second opponent in 34 seconds.

  Warren County ended the short undefeated streak for the Spartans as they brought BR back to earth with a disappointing 50-16 loss.  While the Wildcats are a tough, physical team, the Spartans were only able to find 4 wins and only a single pin against their opponent.  Logan Shain, Phillip James and Zach Fossett all were able to stay undefeated on the day, and Shain was able to record a 3rd pin, to lead the team overall.

  The Spartans would come back strong in the final round of pool matches against the Knights of John Champe, a new Loudoun County school splitting off from Freedom.  Champe held 5 forfeits in their lineup, making for a relatively easy 67-12 victory for the Spartans.

  Finally, in the most exciting and intriguing match of the night, the Spartans faced off against long time rival Potomac Falls.  Coached by former BR alum Rob Puterio, the Panthers finished 3-1 in their pool, as did the Spartans.  As they started at the 220 weight class, the Spartans jumped out to an early lead pinning their first 3 opponents.  The match tightened as Broad Run lost 3 of the next 4 but they were able to come back strong winning 5 of the last 7 to solidify a 4-1 record for the day with a 42-27 win.

  Winning Most Valuable Wrestler for Broad Run on the weekend was Tyler Corbo who went 3-2 with some key victories for the team.  The Spartans travel to the NOVA Classic next Friday for an individual tournament over 2 days.  Be sure to check into Facebook and Twitter for updates and results.  

Spartan Starting Line Up Set for Season Opener

Wrestle-Offs Determine the Starting 14, Varsity Practice Squad

     With the completion of Friday's wrestle-offs, which were started on November 17th, the Spartans have finally set their line-up for the season opener at Tuscarora High School.  Not only have the 14 starters been chosen, the majority of the varsity room - those that will travel with Varsity and attend dual events - has also narrowed, with only a few positions still being fought for.

     Below is the starting line-up for the upcoming weekend...

106 - Timmy Brown - Sophomore - returning to the Varsity line-up with an additional 8-10 pounds, Brown went undefeated to earn his spot at 106 lbs.

113 - Tyler Corbo - Sophomore - also bulking up in the off season, Corbo is officially a 106lber, who went 1-1 in a close match to Brown, but will continue to challenge week after week to gain the 106 spot.

120 - Dennis Chan - Junior - a part-time Varsity wrestler last year, Chan went 2-0 with a 5-0 victory in his first match and a pin in his second.

126 - Alex Kimberl - Sophomore - an unexpected winner who won a tough match and steps up from the JV roster last year for his first official Varsity start!!  Follow along to see how he does in his first weekend!

132 - Mauricio Ballon - Junior - Ballon defeated 2 opponents, Mauricio locked up the 132 spot.

138 - Robert Owens - Junior - Owens earned the starting spot through default but will keep the spot until he is challenged and defeated.

145 - Tarkan Martin - Senior - Martin was not able to attend the 138 final match and defaults to 145, but will be unavailable for the first week due to SATs.  Martin will challenge Owens for his desired spot of 138 this coming Wednesday.

152 - Zach Fossett - Junior - following a year off due to concussion symptoms, the Spartans are excited to see what Fossett can bring to the mat and are hoping for big things this season. Posting two wins along the way to his spot, Zach has looked tough in the early going.

160 - Clayton Shepherd - Senior - in one of the Spartans deepest weight classes, Shepherd came out the winner and has looked fantastic and much improved from the off-season work that he has put in.

170 - Logan Shain - Senior - coming off football season as the starting MLB, Shain returns and has looked tough at 170 through the first 3 weeks with a much improved work ethic.

182 - Connor Bryant - Junior - while officially challenging for 170, Bryant cannot legally make 170 until next week, and will challenge for it then.  In the meantime, Bryant has grown stronger and is ready to hit the mat.

195 - Unknown - currently an open weight class for the Spartans, but should be filled later when people are down to weight.

220 - Phillip James - Senior - also coming right off the football field, James takes the starting 220 position for the first week and looks to use his additional Cross-fit style personal training to defeat his opponents.

285 - Ewen Riordan - Sophomore - getting the chance to move to the Varsity ranks, Riordan will become the starting HWT for the Spartans and will be experienced to a new world after a year of JV last season.

Other Varsity Members 

Diego Loya - currently a 220, Loya is working his way down to 195 for the season.  
Derrik MacBeth - looking to fight for a spot in the 160 lb weight class this season.
Alejandro and Rogelio Vasquez AKA "The Vasqui" - two of the most dedicated people in the program and looking for battle for spots at 126 and 132.
Alex West - coming into his sophomore year and looking to stay in the room and compete for a 160 or higher spot.
Jacob Contreras - pound for pound one of the strongest in the room and hoping to be able to break out at 160 or 170 this season.
Matt Nguyen - another sophomore who will challenge for the 152 spot and a portion of the incredible depth in the middle weights.
Edward Polanco - a sophomore with strength and size looking to prefect his technique to help the team out at 170 or 182.

Fighting For Positions

Battles still rage for the last 3 positions in the room and will be decided Monday.  Challenging for the spots will be...

132 - Tamir Batmend v. Ben Paul - Tamir is a sophomore with good hip instincts against Ben who has an unstoppable motor.  Should be a great match.

138/145 - Chris Lamboy v. Anthony Wills - Due to incredible depth in the middle weights, there is just not enough room for both.  This will be an ongoing challenge between these two and it should be exciting to see who comes out on top from week to week.

145/152 - Burak Ocak v. Ramsey Hammad - again affected by roster depth, these two also will battle for a practice spot in the varsity room almost on a weekly basis.

     By the end of Monday, the Varsity 24 will be selected and Broad Run Wrestling will be on its way to create the best competition team for duals and tournaments it can establish, and from the looks of it, the team should live up to its mantra; SpartanStrong.  Who will rise up from the JV squad to steal a spot?  How will people train to keep their spots firmly in their grip?  That becomes the interesting part, and the storyline to follow as we progress through the season.

     Be sure to check back for all the updates on the season and notes from the Coach all season long.

Spartans Start Season with Inter-Squad Scrimmages

Event Aids in Understanding for Parents, Rookies

Photography by: Jessica DiNovo

     Saturday, Nov. 17 - The Spartan Wrestling team opened its season with its first event - an inter squad scrimmage of wrestle-offs - and used it as a way to help rookies and parents alike better understand the way a match, and the sport in general work.  

   

    Officiating was done by a referee from the local association who was working on his craft as much as some of the newcomers to the sport.  After a quick introduction to new rule changes and how a match and brackets work, it was off to the start of matches. 

     With it being the opening event of the season, matches were run in a 1/1/1 format - or basically one minute periods for the entire three minute match.  That bracketing format was slightly altered to allow rookies to face other young rookies in the early rounds versus having them see Varsity starters in the first round, as might happen in true formatting.  "Our goal is to let the kids have a 'first match' experience, not scare them off by facing a stud on the first day," said Coach Totaro.  He continued by saying, "if we can get a few jitters out and also be able to evaluate our team after two weeks of practice, its a successful event."

     And successful it was.  The wrestle-offs were open to the public and free of charge and numerous parents showed up to cheer on their sons and for some, to experience it for the first time.  Though the crowd was filled with cheers and moments of fearful looks, the overall support of the program parents was outstanding.  "You always want parents involved, and from what we saw today, we have some great parents" said Coach Costa. 

     While not all the matches were able to be finished, many of them were able to get to the final rounds,whichh will determine the starting roster for Week 1 of the season.  Each wrestler was able to get in at least one match, but the remaining matches will be completed this Friday at 10am at practice.  Following the completion of the wrestle-offs, starting line-ups and depth charts will be posted, as well as choosing the 20-22 wrestlers who will make up the Varsity practice room.

     "All in all, we are happy with our progress" says Totaro, "we had a few surprises - nice surprises - and a couple of kids who look like they can help us this year on Varsity."  Look for full results on Saturday, November 24th, right here on the BR Wrestling Online Newsletter.