Joshua Carter was one of three West Potomac wrestlers to advance to the state meet. Photo by Craig Sterbutzel.
West Potomac senior Joshua Carter wasted no time establishing physical dominance in the 160-pound final of the 6A North region wrestling tournament on Feb. 14 at Centreville High School.
Carter picked up Osbourn Park’s Shane Curtis and tossed him to the mat on multiple occasions, scoring takedown after takedown en route to a 10-2 victory.
“I knew I had to come out hard; he’s a good wrestler,” said Carter, who played running back in the fall for the West Potomac football team. “... [I] came in hard, trying to get all the takedowns I can.”
Carter was one of three Wolverines to qualify for the state tournament.
Jeremiah Carter placed third in the 126-pound bracket, earning a trip to states. He defeated McLean’s Eric Johnston, 6-5, in the third-place match. John Holzworth will also compete at states after finishing fourth at regionals in the 220-pound bracket. Holzworth lost to Osbourn Park’s Spencer Hayes in the third-place match, 7-4.
T.C. Williams’ Majik Blanco-Nethery qualified for states by finishing third at 113 pounds.
Other individual winners include: Patriot’s Killian Cardinale (106), Centreville’s Victor Echeverria (113) and Tyler Love (195), Battlefield’s River Curtis (120), Lake Braddock’s Ryan Haskett (126), Westfield’s Justin Yorkdale (132), Ryan Yorkdale (138) and Austin Knies (285), Robinson’s Austin Riggs (145) and Cole DePasquale (182), McLean’s Conor Grammes (152) and Mack McCune (170) and Annandale’s Tony Gibbs (220).
Battlefield won the team title with a score of 188.5, followed by Osbourn Park (142.5), Robinson (141) and Westfield (134.5).
West Potomac finished 12th (62) and T.C. Williams was 20th (22).
A reporter interested in the performance of Centreville's Love during the 195-pound championship match decided to first interview West Potomac’s Joshua Carter before turning his attention to Love.
Too late.
Love, the defending 195-pound state champion, pinned Yorktown’s Jason Kappel in 31 seconds to win a second straight region title in his home gym.
“He stopped the first move I tried to do,” Love said. “We got back on our feet, he took a shot and it was almost just instinct. I just kind of tossed him right to his back and then squeezed real tight and hoped for the best.”
The win was part of a dominant performance for Love, who earned Most Outstanding Wrestler for the tournament and was recognized for pinning three opponents in a combined 2 minutes, 6 seconds.
“It’s an awesome win because it’s at Centreville — the home turf,” Love said, “but ... it’s just a stepping stone to the state tournament.”
The state tournament is scheduled for Feb. 20-21 at Robinson Secondary School.