Blue Demon Broadcasts
Christiansburg Demons turn back Wave in wrestling victory
Christiansburg nips Grundy with pins at 215 and 285.
By Aaron McFarling | The Roanoke Times
Justin Cook | The Roanoke TimesChristiansburg’s Zach Epperly (right) defeats Grundy’s Jon Dotson in the 135-pound division at Cassell Coliseum.
JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times
Christiansburg’s Brady Epperly slams Grundy’s Ethan Owens in the 140-pound class at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg. Epperly decisioned Owens 6-2.
BLACKSBURG — Hands cupped over the mouths, bodies leaning forward, the entire Christiansburg wresting team began hopping, shouting, cheering, imploring.
You might say this wasn’t a typical January dual meet.
The two most successful wrestling teams in Group AA history rattled sabres in the lighter weight classes before back-to-back pins by Zach Weller and Nick Criner spurred the Blue Demons to a 37-27 victory at Cassell Coliseum on Friday night.
“There was a lot of excitement in the air, that’s for sure,” Christiansburg coach Daryl Weber said.
Christiansburg has won the past eight Group AA championships, second only to Grundy’s 15 state titles. Both teams were coming off victories in major area tournaments last week, with the Golden Wave winning the Big Orange at William Byrd and Christiansburg dominating its invitational, the Big Blue.
After Grundy’s win in Vinton, senior John Dotson looked ahead to facing Christiansburg, telling The Roanoke Times “there’s no doubt in my mind that we’ve got a better team. We’re stronger and we’re working a lot harder than they are.”
Not exactly Muhammad Ali-level stuff, but still the closest thing Christiansburg ever sees to trash talk.
And it got the Blue Demons’ attention.
“It really had us pumped up all week,” Criner said. “We were looking at it. Nobody works harder than Christiansburg wrestling. I know that. Everybody else knows that. But it just feels good to come in here and get a win over a top team.”
Criner clinched the team victory with a pin of Dalton Cox 30 seconds into their heavyweight match. In the match before that, Weller pinned Daniel Lowe in 1:05 to win the 215-pound division.
Weller, a football player in his first year of wrestling, pumped his fist three times after the pin. Lost in jubilation, he nearly tripped over the referee — who shot him a good-natured grin.
“That was probably one of the most intense wins that I’ve had,” said Weller, a senior. “It kind of came down to me and Nick, and me and Nick knew that. We were kind of nervous. To get a pin like that is really exciting.”
The team match began to turn at 135, as Christiansburg’s Zach Epperly trailed Dotson 6-4 late in the third period.
“I knew it was going to come down to the wire and be a good match,” Epperly said. “I knew it would turn our whole entire team score around.”
Epperly rallied in the final 20 seconds for a 9-6 victory. Brady Epperly followed with a 6-2 win over Ethan Owens at 140 in another tightly contested match.
“Thirty-five and 40,” said Grundy coach Travis Fiser, when asked where the biggest surprises occurred. “Big time. They knocked us out with them.”
Fiser said he was disappointed to see several of his wrestlers tire near the end of matches.
“Those are things that conditioning-wise we can fix,” he said. “I guess it’s back to the drawing board.”
Joey Dance (112), Devin Carter (130), Rich Eva (152, by forfeit) and Brandon Taylor (189) also secured wins for the Blue Demons. But back-to-back victories by Tyler McClanahan (160) and Tanner McClanahan (171) kept Grundy in it, and Christiansburg led by only one point heading into the 215 match.
“They stepped up and did a great job, man,” Weber said of his two big guys. “Those were kind of the matches where I was interested to see how they would perform, and they came through.”
Of course, there’s more performing to do if Christiansburg is to win its ninth straight title and get closer to Grundy’s longest streak of 12, set from 1987-98.
“This is just round 1,” Weber said. “This doesn’t mean anything if you don’t win the state. So we’ve got to feed off of this and realize that we’ve got some good things going and build on it.”
103 — Austin Compton (G) d. Jacob Bonds (G) 11-9
112 — Joey Dance (C) md. Sean Vandyke (G), 11-3
119 — Jeremy Hurley (G) p. Gabe Lumpp (C), 4:39
125 — Justin Street (G) d. Keith Krafft (C), 5-2
130 — Devin Carter (C) p. Dakota Vance (G), 1:13
135 — Zach Epperly (C) d. John Dotson (G), 9-6
140 — Brady Epperly (C) d. Ethan Owens (G), 6-2
145 — Cody Rife (G) d. Garrett Dowdy (C), 15-12
152 — Rich Eva (C) d. Anthony Potter (G), forfeit
160 — Tyler McClanahan (G) p. Ryan Wade (C), 3:58
171 — Tanner McClanahan (G) p. Mark Garnand (C), 2:55
189 — Brandon Taylor (C) d. Jake McCowan (G), 4-2
215 — Zach Weller (C) p. Daniel Lowe (G), 1:05
