Christiansburg Blue Demons Win 7th Virginia State Title!

Devin Carter and Sam Rakes win State Championships!

Andrew Robertson, Derek Woody and Braden Carter are runners up!

Rich Eva, Jon Weber and Trey Dillon place 5th!

Jeff Meredith finishes 7th!

Roanoke Times Finals Article

Nice Video by Roanoke.com (Roanoke Times)

AA Brackets

AA Team Scores

A Brackets

A Team Scores

Saturday's Roanoke Times Story

Friday's Roanoke Times Article

Photos by Kourtlyn Minton

Christiansburg Wins First Ever Region IV Championship!

The Blue Demons added a new championship to their long list of crowns Saturday by winning their first ever Region IV Championship at Bluefield's Graham Middle School.

This was Christiansburg's first year in Region IV along with the other River Ridge District teams. As a whole the River Ridge made a great showing, placing 3 teams in the top 5.

In the Team score race, after ending the day Friday trailing by 2 points to Grundy, the Blue Demons put together a strong and impressive Saturday by collecting bonus points in nearly ever win and only losing 6 match on the day. That power run enabled the Blue Demons to win the Region IV team Championship, out distancing Grundy 297-249.

The Blue Demons won 6 out of 7 championship bouts and placed 12 wrestlers in the top 4, which qualifies those wrestlers to represent the region at the State Championships next week.

Winning regional championships were:

103 Champion Devin Carter tf Hurley Gru 20-2
119 Champion Andrew Robertson maj dec Anderson 14-3
140 Champion Luke Rakes dec Williams 9-2
152 Champion Sam Rakes pin Cox
171 Champion Braden Carter pin Owens
215 Champion Jon Weber pin Barbour

2nd Place

160 Derek Woody

3rd Place

112 Jeff Meredith
130 Bobby Schafer
145 Rich Eva
189 David Cheney

4th Place

285 Trey Dillon

5th Place

135 Michael Giordano

Coach Daryl Weber was awarded the 2008 Region IV Coach of the Year Award.

Region IV Roanoke Times Article

Region IV Bluefield Telegraph Article

2008 Region IV Brackets

Christiansburg Wins 2008 River Ridge Districts

PDF of Place Winners

PDF of Brackets

The Blue Demons placed 13 wrestlers into the finals and in winning 10 of those match ups won the River Ridge District on Saturday.

103 Carter cb pin kennedy bb 1:04
112 Meredith cb dec necessary sal 16-1
119 Robertson cb dec jones bb 8-2
125 Talevi CS dec brown p 6-2
130 Shafer cb pin Benitez cs 4:35
135 Meyers bb Maj dec Giordano cb 13-2
140 Williams HV pin Rakes cb 2:43
145 Eva cb dec overcash bb 4-0
152 Rakes cb tf peterson bb 16-1
160 Woody cb TF siegel bb 17-2
171 Carter cb pin wojic p 5:48
189 Phillips BB dec Cheney cb 7-2
215 Weber cb pin barbour bb :35
285 Dillon cb dec teal hv 3-2

Shawn Quesenberry rounded out the team score for the Blue Demons finishing 5th at 125.

Team Scores

Christiansburg 285.5
Blacksburg 200.5
Hidden Valley 163
Salem 132
Cave Spring 109
Pulaski County 88.5

Devin Carter was named River Ridge Wrestler of the Year

and

Coach Daryl Weber was named River Ridge Coach of the Year

Roanoke Times Article on the River Ridge Results

Christiansburg Defends Title at FreeLance Star Super 32

The Blue Demons defended their title at the FreeLance Star Super 32 this weekend. The Blue Demons, with some illness on the team this week, only took eleven wrestlers to Fredericksburg but were able to place ten of those wrestlers including 3 champions. All three champions defended crowns from last year also.

Devin Carter, at 103, won in convincing fashion, pinning his way to the championship and Outstanding Wrestler award. Devin used 8:44 to pin 5 opponents. In the finals Devin was able to put away Stephen Hinton of Forest Park to secure his second FreeLance Star Championship.

Andrew Robertson,119, continued his upswing with his second title in Fredericksburg and his second in two weeks. Andrew also won in a dominating manner, scoring two pins, two major decisions and a decision. In the finals Andrew was able to defeat Branden Greenhalgh for the second week in a row, winning 10-2 this week. Andrew has handed the Massaponax senior his only 2 losses of the year.

Sam Rakes, 152, kept his outstanding senior season going with his second title in two weeks also. Sam was the usual Sam scoring at will until finding a his combination to put his opponents. Sam scored two Tech Falls and 3 pins, including his 2:59 fall in the finals of Jesus Largares of Woodbridge.

In the team scores Christiansburg was able to hold off both AAA Western Branch and AA Poquoson, even without a full team, thanks again to the bonus points scored by the team in nearly every 1st and 2nd round match. That trend carried on to the finals as all three finalist were able to score bonus points.

2008 Team Champions-Christiansburg High School

Christiansburg Wins the 2008 Big Blue Tournament!

Roanoke Times Article

Individual Results

Devin Carter 103 Champion

Jeff Meredith 112 Runner-up

Andrew Robertson 119 Champion

Bobby Schafer 130 Champion

Michael Giordano 135 7th

Luke Rakes 140 7th

Rich Eva 145 Runner-up

Sam Rakes 152 Champion

Derek Woody 160 Champion

Braden Carter 171 Champion

David Cheney 189 3rd

Jon Weber 215 3rd

Trey Dillon 285 3rd

Phillip Dowdy 215 7th (CburgB)

Final Championship Brackets Big Blue Results!

Big Blue Consolation Round Results!

Vinnie Ranauto of Caravel Academy wins OW

Andrew Miller of Bassett wins most pins

Big Blue Seeds for 2008

Big Blue Bout Sheets 2008

Big Blue Stats 2008

Blue Demons Win 2008 Va Duals!

The Blue Demons broke through with a most unlikely team to win it's first National High School Division crown. As Coach Weber told his team, "You may not be the most talented team we have brought here, but you are definitely one of the gutsiest".

Roanoke Times Article on 2008 VA Duals

Here's a recap from Wrestling411usa.com :

CHRISTIANBURG WINS VIRGINIA DUALS: After a tournament where upsets were the rule of the day, the second-seeded Christiansburg VA squad came out of it with the Virginia Duals National Division title after a 34-20 victory over Eastern Regional NJ. On their way to the final, the Blue Demons defeated Phillipsburg NJ 37-18, Nazareth PA 39-18, and Chantilly VA 64-6. Devin Carter (103), Rich Eva (145), Sam Rakes (152), Derek Woody (160), Braden Carter (171), Jon Weber (215), and Trey Dillon (285) went undefeated as Christiansburg went 41-15 in matches during the dual meets. In order to advance to the final, Eastern Regional had to survive close matches with St Mark’s DE, 30-26, and Great Bridge VA, 34-32. Daymien Scott (160) came up with the pivotal win in each dual, an overtime victory over his opponent from St Mark’s and a two-point defeat of his Great Bridge opponent. In the opening round, Eastern Regional upended Langley VA 38-19.
Phillipsburg took third place defeating Buchanan CA 28-23 in the final bout, which was their second defeat of Buchanan during the tournament; Phillipsburg having won a quarterfinal bout 29-27. In both dual meets, Phillpsburg won eight of the bouts. In the consolation semifinals, Buchanan defeated St Mark’s 36-20, and Phillipsburg upended Camden Catholic NJ 42-20.
Grundy VA won the American High School Division with a 34-25 victory over Canon-McMillan PA, and Kellam VA defeated Poquoson VA 42-19 for third place. The Black and Blue division was won by Western Branch VA, defeating Hampton VA 41-21 in the final.

One Team, One Dream, Champions!

The PowerAde Tournament in Canonsburg, PA

December 27th and 28th

The Team finished in 4th at the 2007 PowerAde Christmas tournament. With 4 placers, the team was able to finish this high thanks to the work of all the wrestlers and coaches. Through the first two rounds that everyone wrestled, the team won almost every match by bonus points by winning by major decision, tech fall or pin. After a rough 2nd round where 7 wrestlers were lost from the championship side, Coach Weber was able to get the team fired up for a great consolation round where everyone that dropped down was able to win.

Video of the finals is available at the PowerAde site.

The finalists:

Devin Carter showed his usual aggressiveness in winning his way to the finals. For the 3rd straight tournament Devin was facing another nationally ranked wrestler in the Nico Meguludis of Franklin Regional. In the final, Devin jumped out to a lead with a takedown BUT the official missed the back exposure Devin had because he seemed to be posing in his awarding of the takedown instead of watching the action. The crowd booed but no points were awarded.

As the match progressed the score was tied 3-3 late and Meguludis was able to get an escape and led 4-3. Devin attempted a desperation arm drag and slipped and Meguludis was able to cover him for the takedown and the final score of 6-3.

Sam Rakes changed his weight and changed his fortune from the last couple of weeks by bringing home the PowerAde Championship for the second straight year. Sam looked strong all weekend. He wrestled very well and in his last 2 wins wrestled wrestlers that some national pundits thought would beat him. Sam also showed his team-score awareness by pulling out majors in the last seconds of the match to score bonus points for the team.

In the finals, Sam faced Donnie Tasser, a PA State Champ from Belle Vernon. Sam hit a quick takedown to take a 2-0 lead. Again, Tasser was able to get an escape with 1 second left to make it 2-1. Tasser took down and was able to get another escape to make it 2-2.

Then followed some of the best wrestling of the year. Sam and Tasser battled shot for shot, defense for defense for the entire second and third periods. Sam was able to get his escape to take a 3-2 lead. Both wrestlers battled but in the end Sam was victorious and brought home the gold!

Braden Carter continued his climb to becoming one of the top 171 pounders in the nation by placing in his 3rd straight national tournament. Braden finished 5th but should have been higher after a questionable call cost him a win to move into the 3rd/4th place match.

Braden continues to be one or the most enjoyable wrestlers to watch anywhere as he almost always finds a way to hit the big move to win!

The sup rise placer to some would be Richy Eva. The freshman was able to win some big matches to place 7th. Again, he very well could have finished higher except for a questionable call in the wrestle backs. Richy will benefit greatly from the experience he gained this weekend.

Overall, the team wrestled well for the most part. What stood out was that at this level, a simple mistake can, and most likely will, cost you matches. Several of the guys lost 1 point matches or overtime matches-matches they could have won if not for a simple mistake earlier in the match.

Hopefully this will get the team ready for the tough dual events coming in the next couple of weeks.

I would also like to congratulate Phillip Dowdy for his PowerAde JV championship!

Beast of the East

The Blue Demons finished 8th at the Beast of the East the weekend of December 15th and 16th in Newark, Delaware.

The Blue Demons again were able to place 3 wrestlers on the medal stand. Led by Devin Carter's 2nd place finish. Devin dominated his way to the finals with pins in four of his five wins. In the finals, again Devin ran into one of the top 2 or 3 kids in the nation in Sean Boylan of St Marks of Delaware. After a tough, scoreless first period, Boylan was able to build a lead and defeated Devin 10-4.

We had Sam Rakes finish 6th, wrestling a good tournament. Sam defeated two seeded wrestlers before losing to the nation's number one ranked 160 pounder, Scott Winston.

Braden Carter continued his early season climb with a solid 7th place finish. Braden also made it to the quarterfinals, there losing a wild 16-12 match to the number 4 seed.

The big surprise of this weekend was the great run Jeff Meredith had at the 112 lbs weight class. Jeff, after a first round win, lost in the 2nd round to the 9th seeded wrestler. Jeff was then able to work his way back with 3 straight wins to make to the second day. Even though he did lose in the next round, it was a great run and showed a lot of potential for the young freshman.

Trey Dillon also had a very good tournament, losing to the 2 kids that finish 3rd and 4th. Trey again finished one round from placing.

Each member of the team was able to win at least one match and many left with better than a .500 record.

Walsh Ironman

The Blue Demons finished 14th at the Walsh Ironman, just 4 points out of 10th.

Devin Carter was the highest placer-finishing 2nd after an outstanding tournament where he best some of the toughest wrestlers in his weight class. In the finals, Devin ran into one top kids in the nation in Hunter Stieber who is ranked in the top 3 or 4 in the nation. Stieber won by a 11-2 count.

Photo from Tech-fall.com. Click photo for link.

Sam Rakes and Braden Carter were our other placers, each finishing 8th.

Andrew Robertson, Jon Weber and Trey Dillon were knocked out one round from placing. David Cheney also had a good tournament, going 2-2.

For many of the young Blue Demons this was their first taste of the big time. This will only help them as the team heads to The Beast of the East tournament in Newark, Delaware.

Team records:
Devin Carter 4-1
Jeff Meredith 0-2
Andrew Robertson 3-2
Jacob Phillips 0-2
Bobby Schafer 1-2
Michael Giordano 0-2
Luke Rakes 0-2
Derek Woody 1-2
Sam Rakes 4-3
Braden Carter 3-3
David Cheney 2-2
Jon Weber 2-2
Trey Dillon 3-2

For Brackets, information click InterMat

For Photos click Tech-Fall.com

For Video of Devin Carter, Andrew Robertson, David Cheney and Jon Weber click Flowrestling.org