O'Donnell top MC mat man at state

Much of the story could be seen in the face.

There were scratch marks, discoloration around the eyes, the usual sweat and traces of blood for the full measure.

All the things an embattled fighter or wrestler wears after a fight.

That was the face of Madison County’s Ethan O’Connell following his Group A state championship bout against Covington’s Chris Bowden Feb. 20.
The battle marks would have been shrugged off had the outcome of the match at 130 pounds been different.

Instead, O’Connell’s 7-5 decision loss to Bowden made the outward appearance more noticeable, yet much less painful than the mental anguish that comes with losing.

“I couldn’t believe how hard I worked just to get second place,” said the Mountaineer junior and co-captain. “I felt like I deserved to get first.”
Maybe next year.

For now, O’Connell’s second place finish was the team’s individual best at the combined Group A/AA state wrestling tournament at the Salem Civic Center where Madison finished in 13th place with 50 points.

Senior and co-captain Andrew Riner (152) and sophomore Anthony Jewett (160) both came in sixth, while Peter Thawngzauk (103) finished eighth.
Lynn Welch (125) and Derek Nicholson (285) competed but did not place.

Team-wise, Glenvar claimed its second straight team title with 140 points, 20 ahead of runner-up Galax (120) and 22 in front of Strasburg (118). JJ Kelly (95.5) came in fourth and Region B champion Clarke County (84.6) finished fifth.

Madison began the tournament on a positive note. Five of its six wrestlers won first-round matches with only Nicholson suffering defeat.

Thawngzauk won by decision over Mathews’ Matt Rouland, Welch pinned Daniel Hartley of St. Paul, O’Connell stuck Michael Yonts of Chilhowie, Riner claimed a 5-3 win by decision over Northwood’s Jacob Smith, and Jewett won by injury default over Angelo Taylor of Essex.

Nicholson lost a 6-2 decision to Lebanon’s Derrick Lester to send Madison’s big man to the consolation rounds where he won his first match when he pinned Glenvar’s Sean Biddle.

In the championship quarterfinals three of Madison’s wrestlers won while two suffered defeat and fell to the consolation rounds.

O’Connell won by major decision, 8-0, over Tyler Murray of Powell Valley, Riner edged Cory Burgan of Lee, 6-4, and Jewett won a 4-1 decision against Tyler O’Dell of Virginia High.

Welch fell to eventual champion Jose Rojas of Galax and Thawngzauk was pinned by Radford’s Sean Donnelly.

In the second round of the consolations Thawngzauk won by fall over Jordan Chinn of Northumberland to stay alive, while Welch lost by decision, 9-6, to Cody Riner of Patrick Henry-Glade Spring, and Nicholson was stuck by Radford’s Tanner Will.

In the championship semifinals O’Connell survived a third-period scare from Donte Ravenall of Galax and won 7-5 to advance to the finals. Riner lost by major decision, 13-3, to Jonathon Falls of James River-Buchanan, and Jewett lost to eventual champion Zach Hill of Glenvar, 4-3.

In the consolation quarterfinals Thawngzauk fell to Chilhowie’s Artie Davis (3:40) and in the consolation semifinals Riner dropped a heartbreaker to George Mason’s Teddy Reuckert, 3-2, and Jewett fell to Amelia’s Chris Pegram, 8-5.

Riner was 2-0 against Reuckert in their two previous bouts including his win at the Region B tournament. Jewett, who lost to Pegram in the regional finals, 13-6, narrowed the gap between them when he lost by just three points at the state tournament.

Thawngzauk finished in eighth place when he was pinned by JJ Kelly’s Justin Peters, Riner finished sixth when he lost 5-3 to Strasburg’s Seth Williams, and Jewett finished sixth when he dropped a major decision, 10-2, to Northampton’s Frankie Krawczel.

For Madison, that left O’Connell’s championship bout against Bowden which had its share of drama. First, the bout marked the second meeting between the two grapplers this season. In their first battle, at Buffalo Gap High School on Jan. 9, O’Connell won by second-period fall. Following that match Bowden vowed to exact some revenge at the state tournament.

The two took center state in front of a raucous and packed crowd.

Like two fighters feeling each other out in the first round, O’Connell and Bowden maintained a healthy respect with neither posing a serious threat to score a critical takedown. The first period ended scoreless with O’Connell winning choice for the second period. He deferred to the third period and Bowden chose the down position to start the second.

Working his bread and butter arm bar hoping to turn Bowden, the maneuver backfired on O’Connell when Bowden executed a reversal to take the lead, 2-0. Later in the period O’Connell worked an escape to make it 2-1 which was the score when the period ended.

O’Connell chose down to start the third and looked for an escape to tie the match. Before that transpired, drama ensued as Bowden gave up two penalty points which sent opposing coaches to confer with the official and which stopped the action. When the matter was resolved, O’Connell led 3-2, and when action resumed he negotiated an escape to lead 4-2. Then the downward turn came when O’Connell was hit for a penalty point for poking Bowden in the eye to make it 4-3.

The two jockeyed on their feet for the next minute until O’Connell made the fatal mistake of locking up and getting caught in a throw. Bowden threw O’Connell to his back only momentarily but long enough for the official to award Bowden 4 points and give him the lead at 7-4.
With Bowden now in control, O’Connell needed an escape and then a takedown to tie the match. With 30 seconds remaining he engineered the escape but Bowden thwarted his efforts at a takedown and prevailed, 7-5.

“We told our guys to stay away from the throws,” said Mountaineer Coach Mike Sacra. “There were some pivotal points in that match. O’Connell has the technique. I think the loss can motivate him for next season.”

O’Connell finished the season with a Region B title, a runner-up finish at the state tournament, and an overall season record of 46-3 to give him a career record of 137-33.

He and numerous teammates return next season as seniors to lead the Mountaineers.

“I wasn’t disappointed with our efforts,” said Sacra. “We had two good weekends of wrestling (at the region and state).”

This summer the team loses Riner, Thawngzauk, David Snellings and Trey Good to graduation. Next season the team welcomes seniors and defending Region B champions Welch and O’Connell, plus Nicholson, Cody Banks, Danny Camunas and Austin Lincoln.

Jewett, this year’s Region B runner-up, will be a junior as will Justin Farry, and the team’s sophomores will include Ryan Lincoln, Jeff Foster and Chris McHaney.

Jacob Welch, currently in the eighth grade and who competed in exhibition matches this season, will be a freshman next year.

“The anticipation for next year is good but we have some work to do in the off season,” said Sacra. “The experience our kids got at the state tournament can only be a positive. Four of our six placed and that’s good, not great. (Looking ahead) we’re not in a bad situation.”