St. Christopher's School Wrestling

The Saints wrestling program is proud to announce that recently hired Athletic Director John Gordon has been named Head Wrestling Coach at St. Christopher's. Gordon takes over the Saints after Frank Kiefer retired from coaching at the end of the 2010 wrestling season. Gordon comes to Richmond from Wyoming Seminary in Pennsylvania, where he led the wrestling program to a second place finish at the 2010 National Preps Tournament at Lehigh University. he will inherit a team that won its 9th consecutive VISAA State championship and finished 7th at Nationals.

Additionally, Edward Custer, a member of the Class of 2010 will join teammates Ted Gottwald and Rennie Merhige on the wrestling team at VMI in the fall. The 2009 State placer decided that he wanted to compete in college and join his comrades on the 'Rat Line' at VMI. He projects to compete at 157 or 165 lbs. for the Keydets. Class of 2008 alum Joe Munno is also a member of  the Keydet wrestling team.

Saints wrestlers David Wesley, Tyler Cornett, and Robert Janis will make the long trip from Virginia to Fargo, ND to compete in the annual USA Wrestling Cadet and Junior Nationals for Team Virginia. Wesley, a 2010 National Preps runner-up will compete at 152 lbs. in the Junior division, while Cornett and Janis will wrestle at 135 and 125 lbs. respectively in the Cadet division. The action kicks off in the Fargo Dome on Sunday, July 25th. Cornett finished 2nd at the VISAA State tournament, while Janis took 3rd.

Success seemed to come natural to the graduating wrestlers of the class of 2010, in the classroom, on the wrestling mats, and in pretty much everything they touched. Everything the seven St. Christopher's seniors undertook turned to gold, personifying the mission of the school to educate the whole boy. From academic awards to athletic success, this group of seniors overachieved. For these seven seniors, Friday May 21st's Graduation Ceremony was the culmination of their successes over the past four years at St. Christopher's; their efforts were rewarded.

Ted Gottwald won the Joseph Bryan Memorial Prize for Leadership, awarded to a young man of high character and good scholarship, who by his example and influence has been most help to the school, along with the Lexus Pursuit of Excellence Scholarship. Mark Burlee and Pat Delaney took home the School Prize for Excellence in History and English.

Loren Phillips was named the Bradford Allen Parrish Award recipient that goes to the student-athlete who has done the most to encourage and support the younger members of his and all of the athletic teams at St. Christopher's. Mark Burlee won the Athletic Director's Award for Competitive Excellence, which recognizes outstanding performance, love of competition, and commitment to excelkence in athletics. The Slater Prize for best spirit in athletics went to Ted Gottwald, and the E. Otto N. Williams Wrestling Trophy was awarded to Ted Gottwald and Loren Phillips. Head wrestling coach Frank Kiefer was named one of the winners of the Albert Luck Memorial Award for Distinguished Coaching- a fitting way to end his coaching career.

The graduating wrestlers of 2010 will be dearly missed by their teammates and coaches, as they embark on a new beginning in the fall at college. Gottwald, Rennie Merhige, and Chris Gill will all attend the Virginia Military Institute, where they will endure the infamous "Rat Line" as first year students. Burlee will also head to Lexington, VA, not to VMI, but to Washington & Lee University. Pat Delaney is heading to the University of Chicago, while Edward Custer will attend Wofford College. Phillips will enroll in Belmont Abbey College, where he will wrestle. Merhige and Gottwald plan to wrestle for VMI. This outstanding group of student-athletes leave an incredible legacy for St. Christopher's wrestling and an indelible mark on success of the Saints wrestling program. They won a combined six VISAA State championships- three by Ted Gottwald, and five National Preps All-American certificates. They will certainly be missed.

At the conclusion of the 2010 winter sports season, St. Christopher's Athletic Director Paul Padalino accepted a position at the Landon School in Bethesda, MD where he will be a math teacher, the head football coach and an assistant lacrosse coach, leaving some big shoes to fill. Those shoes will be filled by an oustanding teacher and wrestling coach- John Gordon from Wyoming Seminary in Kingston, PA.

Gordon helped develop Wyoming Seminary into a national power in a short period of time- Seminary placed 2nd at the 2010 National Preps Tournament at Lehigh University. He has 26 years of coaching experience and has developed some outstanding talent, including 11 National champions and 58 All-Americans. A number of his Wyoming Seminary wrestlers compete at the collegiate level, while some of his current wrestlers are the most sought after recruits in the nation. In addition, Coach Gordon also holds a USA Wrestling Bronze Level Coaching Certification, and served on the Team Pennsylvania Cadet and Junior coaching staff, and was recognized as the NWCA Pennsylvania Prep Coach of the Year.

Professionally, John Gordon was a history teacher and Dean of the Upper School at Wyoming Seminary. His son, Nick Gordon, competes for the University of Virginia's wrestling team. The St. Christopher's wrestling family, as well as the school community extends a warm welcome to John and his family and hopes that their transition to Richmond will be easy. We are excited for John to continue the outstanding work outgoing Athletic Director Paul Padalino has accomplished in his tenure at St. Christopher's. We also wish Paul and his family the best as they move on to Landon!

Ted Gottwald is no stranger to hard work, whether it is on the football field, in the classroom, or on the wrestling mat. His hard work and determination has begun to pay dividends, as he recently won the Lexus Pursuit of Perfection Leadership Award sponsored by Lexus of Richmond and WRLH Fox Richmond TV and a $10,000 scholarship. According to the Fox Richmond website: “Each week Lexus of Richmond recognizes one outstanding high school senior scholar-athlete. At the end of the school year all nominees will be honored at an awards banquet where one outstanding nominee will be selected to receive a $10,000 scholarship. Students must be nominated by a school official including a principal, guidance counselor or coach and demonstrate areas of leadership and achievement in academics and sports." Gottwald demonstrated year after year the importance of academic success partnering with athletic success and a model of what every student-athlete should strive to be. He has been a tremendous asset to the wrestling program and to the school with his personality and willingness to help others.

The soon to be VMI freshman personifies the St. Christopher's mission of educating the whole boy time over with outstanding work in the classroom, in athletics, and life. He is an outstanding student leader at St. Christopher's and no stranger to hard work and dedication. Gottwald was a three-time VISAA State Champion and two-time National Preps All-American in wrestling and will compete for the Keydets next year. The Saints wrestling is proud of its first ever Lexus Award winner Ted Gottwald!

National Preps All-Americans Brandon Jeske and David Wesley, fresh off their NHSCA National title runs were both named to the Times Dispatch's First Team All-Metro wrestling team. Jeske, a freshman, fashioned a 42-3 record during the 2009-10 season, won his first VISAA State title, and became St. Christopher's first ever National Preps finalist at 119. Wesley, nearly mirrored Jeske's results in 2009-10, putting together a 46-4 record and also won his first VISAA State title for the Saints. He became the second St. Christopher's wrestler to reach the National Preps finals at 160 lbs. Wesley will start his senior year for the Saints with a 163-28 career record. He needs forty wins to break Zach Rolfe's school record 202 career wins. Senior Ted Gottwald was named Second Team All-Metro at 171 lbs.

In other news, Brandon Jeske won the 127.75 lb. freestyle title at the 2010 USA Wrestling FILA Cadet Nationals in Akron, OH. He defeated Florida's Kevin Norstrem by fall in 1:59 of the third period. Jeske posted a perfect 8-0 record en route to his second straight FILA Cadet National title. He won the 119 lb. Greco Roman title in 2009.

Freshman Brandon Jeske and junior David Wesley continued their dominating success from the 2010 wrestling season by winning their weight classes at the NHHSCA National Open tournament in Virginia Beach. Jeske, competing at 119 lbs. in the freshman division, posted a perfect 6-0 record on the weekend, an amazing five by tech fall, en route to his title. Jeske defeated Illinois state qualifier Cain Salas 15-6 in the finals. In the semis, Jeske trounced  Pennsylvania 5th placer Colt Cotten 18-3. Wesley also put together a perfect 6-0 record on the way to the 152 lb title in the junior division. Wesley majored tough Ohio two-time state placer Cody Walters 13-5 in the finals. In the semis, he beat Pennsylvania state qualifier Mark Havers 7-5. Robert Janis, competing in the 125 lb weight class in the freshman division posted a 1-2 record at the tournament.

Riding high after winning the Iowa Athletic Conference title and a birth to the NCAA Division III Championships, St. Christopher's alum Kevin Donahue ended his junior season with a 4th place finish at Nationals to become a two-time All-American. Donahue entered the tournament as the #7 seed, but dropped his first match to Southern Maine's Matt Ulrich 6-5. The Ram wrestler won four consecutive matches en route to his 4th place finish, including a 7-1 decision over Ulrich in the consolation semi-finals. Donahue finished the season with a 35-9 record and his second podium finish at Nationals. The former four-time VISAA State Champion and three-time National Preps All-American finished seventh at the 2009 NCAA Division III Championships to become St. Christopher's first ever NCAA wrestling All-American.

Donahue defeated unseeded Luther College's Kevin Bokoski in his first wrestle back match and the #8 seed from Wabash College, Jake Strasbaugh 11-3 in the second round of consolations before pinning #4 seed John Starzyk from North Central  in 4:40 to gain his rematch with Ulrich. In the match for third place, Donahue dropped a tight 8-5 decision to Wartburg College's Matt Kelly. Cornell finished in 12th place as a team at Nationals with two All-Americans. Augsburg College won the team title by five points over UW-La Crosse. Donahue will take a 79-35 career record into his senior year for the Rams.

In other NCAA action, Joe Munno placed 3rd at the Southern Conference for NCAA Division I VMI, Zach Rolfe took 5th at the New England Conference for NCAA Division III Wesleyan, and JP Welch went 0-2 for NCAA Divsion III Washington and Lee at the Centenial Conference Tournament. Air Force Academy's Tyler Spangler did not compete in the NCAA Division I West Regional for the Division I Falcons.

Two of the team goals at the beginning of the 2009-10 wrestling season for St. Christopher's included winning a VISAA record ninth straight State team title and placing in the top 5 at the National Preps Tournament. After winning the 2010 VISAA State tournament by over 100 points, the Saints were halfway home with their season goals. With four returning All-Americans and a plethora of experienced athletes on the roster, there were many associated with the Saint's wrestling team who thought that both goals were definitely attainable. St. Christopher's nearly met their lofty goal, finishing in 7th place at the 2010 National Preps Tournament at Lehigh University, topping their previous best finish of 10th and improving on last season's 12th place finish. The Saints were just five points behind sixth place Germantown Academy in the team standings. Even the threat of bad weather could not stop the annual showcase of the best private school wrestling in the US and St. Christopher's school record of twelve qualifiers from competing.

The Saints were led by freshman Brandon Jeske at 119 and junior David Wesley at 160 who both finished in second place. Jeske had an excellent tournament, posting a 4-1 tournament record, dropping a close 5-1 decision to Blair Academy's Mark Grey in the finals. He finished his first season in a Saints singlet with an outstanding team best 42-3 record. Wesley proved that his 6-3 victory over Cape Henry's Sam Law in the VISAA State finals the previous week was no fluke, upending the Dolphin senior 11-3 in the quarter-finals, en route to his second place finish at 160. Wesley lost 3-1 to Wyoming Seminary's Chris Moon in the final to end his season at 39-4.

Seniors Loren Phillips (145) and Ted Gottwald (171) both ended their final season for St.Christopher's as two-time National Preps All-Americans. Phillips improved upon last season's eighth place finish at 145 by wrapping up his high school career by finishing in fifth. Phillips defeated Mercersburg Academy's Cody Barrick 5-2 to end the season at 35-9. Gottwald's 6th place at 171 was an improvement over an 8th place finish in 2009. He finished the season at 35-7.

 Chris Gill, a 2009 All-American, fell one round short of placing in 2010 at 215 lbs. ending his season at 35-9. Trey Tarr posted a 2-2 record at 140, while Mark Burlee (189), Rennie Merhige (152), and Ben Thompson (285) went 1-2. Tyler Cornett (135), Robert Janis (125), and Andy Pitts (112) dropped both of their matches at the tournament, in each wrestler's first appearance at Nationals.

Blair Academy won the tournament team title by 37 points over Wyoming Seminary. Bishop Lynch ended up in third, with the Kiski School taking fourth and Mt. St. Joseph's rounded out the top five.

Top 10 Teams 

Individual Results

Six St. Christopher's wrestlers were seeded in the top 12 of their weight classes for the 2010 National Preps Tournament, which will be held 26-27 February at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. In the preliminary seeds, Freshman Brandon Jeske (119) is seeded second, junior David Wesley (160) is seeded third, while Chris Gill received the #4 seed at 215. Three-time VISAA State Champion Ted Gottwald (171) is seeded fifth, while State Champ Loren Phillips (145) is seeded sixth. Trey Tarr (140) and Rennie Merhige (152), who were both runners-up at last week's State tournament have been seeded 11th and 12th respectively.

Action at the National tournament will begin Friday, February 26 at Lehigh University's Stabler Arena.

Despite losing a number of precious weeks of competition due to a snow laden lay off, the St. Christopher's wrestlers made the most out of an opportunity to travel to Woodberry Forest to face off against the host Tigers, Collegiate, and Fork Union in what was billed as the Virginia Prep League quad, dropping just two individual matches in three dual meets- one by forfeit and the other by a narrow 3-2 decision to boost the Saints' record to 12-2 on the season. Coach Frank Kiefer's charges will use the momentum gained from the Prep League quad to head into next week's VISAA State Tournament, where they will attempt to make history by trying to win their 9^th consecutive State title, which would break the previous record of eight, currently held by Woodberry Forest and St. Christopher's.

The Saints began the day with a 74-0 drubbing of Fork Union, highlighted by Edward Custer's dismantling of 2009 VISAA State runner-up Daniel Burke. In the process of scoring the necessary points to earn a technical fall, Custer dropped Burke's shoulders to the mat for a stellar pin at 171 lbs. Brandon Jeske (119), Trey Tarr (140), Rennie Merhige (145), David Wesley (160), Mark Burlee, and Chris Gill (215) all scored pins for the Saints. St. Christopher's followed the Fork Union match by pounding Collegiate 71-6, only losing (by forfeit) at 103. Quent Alcorn (152) made his first start of the season a memorable one against Collegiate, taking home a 6-2 decision over the Cougar's Elliot Pate. Alcorn rode Pate for about four out of the six minutes of the match along the way. Andy Pitts (112) won his match by pin, as did Tarr, Wesley, and Custer. Robert Janis scored a decisive 16-3 major decision victory at 125, while Mark Burlee defeated Jake Ragsdale 8-2.

In the headliner final dual meet, St. Christopher's whipped host Woodberry Forest 59-3. Loren Phillips won a nail-biter 7-5 decision over the Tiger's Taylor Reuss in the best bout of the day at 145 lbs. Brandon Jeske won by technical fall at 119 over Herbert Hernandez, scoring 17 points in less than two minutes, while David Wesley also won by technical fall, defeating Jeff Smith 29-13. Edward Custer was the third Saints grappler to win his match by technical fall, routing the Tiger's Phil Rogers 20-3. Andy Pitts, Robert Janis, Tyler Cornett (135), Trey Tarr, and Rennie Merhige all pinned their Woodberry Forest opponents, while Josh Setliff (130) earned his first varsity victory of the season, by a 9-1 major decision. Mark Burlee also won by major decision at 189 and Chris Gill brought home a 5-0 win over Israel Irana. Ben Thompson nearly made it a perfect day for St. Christopher's, hitting a lateral drop in the waning seconds of his match against Chad Kolumber, only to miss out on near fall points to drop a 3-2 decision. The highly anticipated marques matchup at 140 between the Saints Trey Tarr and Woodberry's top ranked Duke Pickett never materialized, as Pickett suffered an injury in warm ups and did not compete against St. Christopher's.

St. Christopher's will now spend the week preparing for the VISAA State Tournament, which it will host on Friday and Saturday, February 19-20. Pictures from the Prep League quad will be posted shortly.

Despite losing the past two weekends to inclement weather, St. Christopher's will travel to Virginia Prep League rival Woodberry Forest on Saturday, February 13th for a pre-States quad against the Tigers, Liberty Christian, Fork Union, and Collegiate. Because of the cancellation of the St. Albans Tournament, the coaches wanted the team to get some matches in before the beginning of the 2010 VISAA State Tournament on February 19th and Woodberry Forest was willing to host the event. The Saints last competed on January 26th when they destroyed Meadowbrook on Senior Night  58-12. Back to back to back events were cancelled because of the snow each of the past three weekends. St. Christopher's could not travel to Ocean Lakes January 28th and to Norfolk Academy for the Virginia Prep League tournament on February 6th. Even the make up date for the Prep League event (February 10) was cancelled because of more snow.

Woodberry Forest and LCA will present some tough, pre-States match ups for indvidual St. Christopher's wrestlers. The action will begin at 1:00 pm on Saturday. Come out and support your Saints grapplers once more before they take to the mats in search of their ninth straight VISAA State championship and head off the National Preps tourney at Lehigh University.

The St. Christopher's wrestling team made the most of Senior Night by knocking out Meadowbrook 58-12 in dual meet action last night (January 26). All four dressed seniors won their matches helping the Saints to a 9-2 dual meet record. Captains Loren Phillips, Rennie Merhige, Ted Gottwald, and Mark Burlee along with Chris Gill and Pat Delaney and their parents were honored for their hard work and dedication to the wrestling program just before the beginning on the match.

Then the team made short work out of the Monarchs, dropping just two matches, including one by forfet, on the way to a 58-12 drubbing that took less than one hour to complete. Brandon Jeske got things started for the Saints at 119 with a 16-1 tech fall, followed by David Monse getting a win by forfeit at 125. Robert Janis then continued where Jeske left off, also winning by tech fall to give the Saints a 16-6 lead. After consecutive forfeit wins for Josh Setliff and Tyler Cornett at 135 and 140, Meadowbrook got its only match victory of the night at 145.

The Saints went on a 24-0 rampage, getting key wins from Rennie Merhige at 152, David Wesley (160), Ted Gottwald (171), Mark Burlee (189), and Chris Gill (215). Wesley, Gottwald, and Burlee sandwiched pins between decisions by Merhige and Gill. Merhige had the bout of the evening, defeating Meadowbrook's top wrestler, James Tuppince, with an exciting 12-6 decision. Ben Thompson finished the night for St. Christopher's with a forfet win.

St. Christopher's will be back in action on January 29-30 when they take to the mats at the Ocean Lakes Invitational in Virginia Beach. The wrestling begins on Friday at 4 PM.

Despite the threat of bad weather, the St. Christopher's wrestling team journeyed out to Christiansburg, VA to participate in the 5th Annual Big Blue Invitational. Always in search of good competition, the Saints found it at the Big Blue with eight-times VHSL AA State Champions Christiansburg, 2009 VHSL A State Champions Glenvar, Parkersburg (WV), and a host of other tough wrestling programs. After the dust settled last night (January 23rd), St. Christopher's finished in second place behind Christiansburg. Sporting two champions, the Saints wrestled well against some of the top wrestlers in western Virginia. Freshman Brandon Jeske (119) and junior David Wesley (160) brought home titles for the team. St. Christopher's placed a total of ten wrestlers in the top eight in their weight classes, including five third place finishs, and one 4th, 6th, and 7th place respectively. 

Brandon Jeske continued his successful first season for St. Christopher's by winning the 119 lb. title over Hopewell's Jonathan Gay by a 7-0 decision. Jeske scored two tech falls and one pin at the tournament to improve his season record to a team best 30-2. Not to be outdone by his teammate, junior David Wesley also won a Big Blue crown with a 13-1 thrashing of William Fleming's Marus Redd in the finals. The 2009 National Prep All-American boosted his record to 27-3. 

Five Saints grapplers placed 3rd in their respective weight classes to aid to Jeske and Wesley's championships. Sophomore Andy Pitts avenged a quarter-finals loss to Floyd County's Bradley Lawson with a 3-1 decision in the consolation finals at 112. At 135 lbs. Tyler Cornett continued his successful sophomore season by taking home 3rd place, upping his season record to 21-6. Trey Tarr posted a 4-1 record on the weekend to take 3rd at 140 lbs. His win over Jackson Islin of Centerville in the third place match brought his record to 21-9 on the 2009-10 season. Ted Gottwald lost a heartbreaking semi-finals match to Great Bridge's Joey Grainger, but bounced back to take third at 171 lbs. Wrestling up a weight class at 285, Chris Gill came back after a semi-final loss to take 3rd. He now has a 24-7 record on the year.

Mark Burlee placed fourth at 189, while Rennie Merhige finished in 6th place at 152 after dropping his first round match of the tournament. And Edward Custer rounded out the place winners for the Saints with a 7th place finish at 215, despite giving up almost thirty pounds to most of his opponents. Loren Phillips had to injury default out of the tournament after suffering an injury in his first match of the day on Friday. His status for the week is unknown. Robert Janis posted a 1-2 record at 125 lbs.

The Saints grapplers impressed a lot of coaches, fans, and officials with their scrappy performance at the Big Blue, earning a ton of respect from all at the tournament. St. Christopher's will be back in action on Tuesday, January 26th at home when they take on the Monacrch from Meadowbrook. The team will honor all of its senior wrestlers before the dual. Action begins Tuesday in the Saints wrestling gym at 6:30 PM.

St. Christopher's made the cross-town trip to VA Prep Leage rival Collegiate last night (January 19th) and made short work of the Cougars, pinning down a 63-18 victory. Collegiate has been bitten by the injury bug this season and was without the services of some of their best wrestlers. Nevertheless, the Saints took to the mats in search of a win, as they prepare for the upcoming Christiansburg Big Blue Tournament. St. Christopher's looked very impressive in taking out the Cougars, scoring five pins, one tech fall, and one major decision to go along with four forfeits along the way.

Brandon Jeske had the most impressive match of the evening, moving up to 125 and defeating Collegiate's best wrestler, Brown Massie, by tech fall, nearly pinning him at the end of the second period. Loren Phillips, David Wesley, and Chris Gill were all equally impressive with their wins by pin. Robert Janis ran a takedown clinic on the Cougar's Brian Zamecnik, nearly picking up a tech fall at 130, winning by a 17-3 margin. Rennie Merhige and Ted Gottwald manhandled their opponents, with Gottwald going old school using a Navy ride to set up his pin at 171 lbs. David Monse (119), Josh Setliff (130), Edward Custer (189), and the best dressed wrestler on the team- Ben Thompson (285) all picked up forfeits.

St. Christopher's hits the road on Friday, January 22nd to Christiansburg to compete in the annual Big Blue Tournament. The action begins at 4 PM and looks to be another exciting weekend of wrestling. The Saints move to 8-2 on the season with their win over Collegiate.

Here are the latest, most up to date statistics for the St. Christopher's varsity wrestling team.

The Saints wrestling team prepared for a battle all week, getting ready for its own Red Storm Duals on January 16th knowing that a number of teams wanted to knock St. Christopher's out of its number ranking in the VISAA polls. With Liberty Christian and Cape Henry Collegiate competing in the Duals, the Saints coaches knew their wrestlers had to bring out their A game to maintain their dominance of private school wrestling in Virginia. However, the Saints were without 103 lb. Stokes Robertson, who was out with the flu and started freshman Josh Setliff at 130. But the Saints had plans for the other teams competing at the Red Storm Duals in the STC field house. St. Christopher's dominated all of their opponents en route to winning the team title and looked pretty good on the way.

Despite a sluggish start and scrappy wrestling on the part of their first opponents, South County, St. Christopher's rolled to 50-21 victory. Trey Tarr (140), David Wesley (160), Edward Custer (189), Mark Burlee (215), and Ben Thompson (285) all won by fall in their matches against the Stallions from Fairfax County, while Loren Phillips (145) won by technical fall. Andy Pitts (112), Brandon Jeske (119), and Ted Gottwald (171) won by major decision, and Tyler Cornett picked up a regular decision at 135 to help pace the Saints to the win.

In the second round versus the Hawks from Hickory, St. Christopher's again dominated the dual, ripping a 49-12 win, dropping just three matches to the Hawks. Jeske, Cornett, Tarr, Rennie Merhige (152), Wesley, Gottwald, and Custer all won by pin. Chris Gill (215) won by decision, while Thompson picked up a forfeit at 285. The roll continued in the Saints' third match against local team Atlee, with St. Christopher's winning by a 61-18 margin. Winners by pin were: Tarr, Merhige, Gottwald, and Mark Burlee (189). Jeske won by tech. fall at 119, while, Cornett pulled off a minor upset at 135, defeating Will Hayes 5-4.

For the last dual in their pool, St. Christopher's took out the Meadowbrook Monarchs (the school where Coach Prebish teaches) 52-21. Meadowbrook has been plauged by injuries, so five forfeits were scored in favor of the Saints. Hopefully their injuries will be healed by the time Meadowbrook returns to St. Christopher's on January 26th for Senior Night. 

In the other pool, it was all Conestoga, defeating Fork Union, Liberty Christian, Cape Henry Collegiate, and Dinwiddie. The Pioneers looked very aggressive and well coached in their four pool wins, worrying the Saints coaches. But the wrestlers prepared well before the final dual meet of the day and built a 46-3 lead after dropping the first match of the dual on the way to the Red Storm Duals title with a 51-21 victory. Trey Tarr scored his fourth pin in as many matches to finish the duals undefeated. He was joined by Brandon Jeske, David Wesley, Ted Gottwald, Mark Burlee, and Chris Gill with undefeated records at the Duals. Jeske, Wesley, and Gottwald all posted 5-0 records on the day. Andy Pitts, Tyler Cornett, Loren Phillips, and Rennie Merhige finished the Red Storm Duals at 4-1.

The Saints will be back in action at Collegiate on Tuesday, January 19th at 5:30 PM. Their dual meet record now stands at 7-2 on the season.

St. Christopher's entered the 2010 Virginia Duals hoping to improve upon last season's 2-2 record and top six finish in the American High School Division. Entering the tournament as the number two seed, the Saints believed that reaching the finals with a definitely possibility, howver Haddonfield, NJ had other plans. Winning five out of the first seven matches to build a 28-9 lead in the semi-finals, Haddonfield never looked back, winning the dual 36-25.

The Saints began the Virginia Duals with a rematch with James Wood- the team thant knocked them out of last year's Duals. This year it was all St. Christopher's, downing the Colonels 52-21. Chris Gill (285) led the way for the Saints, avenging his loss to Austin Woodall in the semi-finals of the Willie Walters/Jay Copp Memorial Tournament 4-3. Andy Pitts (112), Tyler Cornett (135), Trey Tarr (140), Loren Phillips (145), Rennie Merhige (152), David Wesley (160), and Mark Burlee (215) all scored pins for St. Christopher's. In the quarterfinals, the team drew a very physical Kingsway, NJ team and was able to dominate them en route to a 47-19 win. Stokes Robertson (103) got his first varisty win, a :12 pin over Marshall Nickerson. Key performances in the Kingsway dual were turned in by Pitts, Robert Janis (125), Merhige, and Ted Gottwald (171).

In Saturday morning's semi-finals, the Saints were never quite able to get things in gear, dropping a 36-25 decision to Haddonfield, NJ. Brandon Jeske (119), Cornett, Wesley, and Gottwald all turned in stellar victories in the heartbreaking 35-26 loss. The loss in the semi-finals dropped St. Christopher's into the consolation semi-finals against yet another team from New Jersey: Timber Creek. The Saints wrestled well against Timber Creek, but the Jersey grapplers proved to be too much of a challenge, defeating the Saints 41-28. Jeske, Cornett, Wesley, and Gottwald all won their matches to finish the Duals with perfect 4-0 records. Trey Tarr, Loren Phillips, and Rennie Merhige posted 3-1 records, while Chris Gill went 2-1. Merhige and Wesley had the key victories in the Timber Creek match with Merhige completely dominating his opponent to win via tech. fall and Wesley, who ran a technique clinic before pinning his foe in the third period.

Although the Virginia Duals finished on a down note for St. Christopher's, they were able wrestle effectively against some of the top competition in the east. Grundy (VA) won the American High School Division over Haddonfield. Next up for the Saints is the Red Storm Duals at home on Saturday, January 16th. The action begins at 9 AM.

Senior captains Ted Gottwald and Mark Burlee have been nominated for a prestigous local award- the Lexus Pursuit of Perfection Leadership Award sponsored by Lexus of Richmond and WRLH Fox Richmond TV. According to the Fox Richmond website:

When St. Christopher's takes to the mats Friday, January 8th for the 30th Annual Virginia Duals, they enter as the number two seed in the American High School Division. The Saints earned the seed based on their past performance as one of the most dominant private school wrestling programs in Virginia and on their current results this season: two tournament team titles, a fifth place finish at the extremely tough Hopewell Classic, and a good showing at the Beast of the East. The team finished in the top six in last year's VA Duals, dropping a heartbreaking match in the consolation semi-finals to James Wood.  St. Christopher's will be led by Willie Walters/Jay Copp Memorial Tournament champions freshman Brandon Jeske 16-2 at 119, junior 160 lb. David Wesley (13-3), and senior captains Loren Phillips (145) with a 15-5 record and Rennie Merhige at 152 (12-4). Junior Trey Tarr, fresh off his Oustanding Wrestling award at the Walters/Copp Tournament will be at 140 to add to the team's strength. The Virginia Duals marks the first dual meets of the 2009-10 season for St. Christopher's.

The Saints will tangle with James Wood in the first round and have a great opportunity to redeem themselves after last year's Virginia Duals ending meet. Up by five points and comfortably ahead in the last match, the Saints thought the victory and a trip to the consolation finals was in the bag. But a nightmare-ish reversal of fortune occured in the blink of an eye and the James Wood heavyweight caught Jackson Freeman on his back for a pin and the dual meet victory, ending the VA Duals run for St. Christopher's. James Wood finished in 4th place at the Willie Walters/Jay Copp Memorial Tournament that St. Christopher's won over the holiday break. The dual is scheduled to start at 7 PM on mat nine at Hampton Colliseum. If the Saints win, they will get the winner between Great Bridge and Kingsway Regional (NJ).

The Virginia Duals is in its 30th year and will showcase some of the most outstanding high school and collegiate programs in the country. There will be plenty of oustanding wrestling in all five tournaments at the Duals. The National High School Division features two of the top Virginia programs: #1 AAA team Frank Cox and #1 AA Christiansburg, along with  St. Marks (DE),  currently ranked #9 in the country by Amateur Wrestling News and Eastern Regional (NJ). Grundy (VA) leads the pack in the American High School Division, drawing the number one seed ahead of St. Christopher's. The National College Division has current #4 ranked Oklahoma State as the number one seed, followed by #10 Oklahoma seeded second, and  #11 Lehigh as the third seed.

Be sure to check the website for updated information and results over the weekend.

Despite bringing only twelve wrestlers to James Wood HS for the Willie Waters/Jaye Copp Holiday tournament, St. Christopher's was able to walk away with the team title and Outstanding Wrestler award on December 29-30. The Saints placed all twelve grapplers, including five champions en route to a decisive victory over metro Richmond top AA program New Kent and AA Region II Sherando. 

The team was led by Trey Tarr (140) who earned the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler award after pinning all four of his opponents on the way to his championship crown. The junior improved his record to 10-7 with an exciting fall in the finals over New Kent's Robert Cutrell. Freshman Brandon Jeske (119), fresh off a runner-up performance at the Beast of the East, upped his record to 16-2 with four outstanding matches of his own, including a major decision over James Wood's Gage Swartz who is one of the top AA wrestlers in the state. Senior co-captains Loren Phillips (145) and Rennie Merhige (152) both won all of their matches, adding to the title count for the Saints. Phillips defeated New Kent's Devante Fitzgerald in their third match of the season, while Merhige survived a serious scare in his bout- injuring himself and nearly getting pinned in a spladle in his match against Sherando's Rodney Twig. But the scrappy senior was able to continue and pulled through the match, winning by decision. Phillips is now 15-5 and Merhige 12-4 on the season. Junior David Wesley (160) continues to improve each weekend, dominating all of his  opponents, racking up takedowns and near-falls all weekend like they were going out of style. He major decisioned Heritage's Billy Wisman in the finals to up his record to 13-3. 

Sophomore Andy Pitts (112) and senior captain Mark Burlee (215) both dropped their finals matches to finish in second place for the Saints, while sophomore Tyler Cornett (135), senior captain Ted Gottwald (160), and senior Chris Gill (285) all brought home third place finishes. Senior Edward Custer (189) placed fourth, and freshman Robert Janis (125) took sixth, rounding out the place winners for St. Christopher's. 

All twelve Saints grapplers performed well at the tournament, again proving to many that St. Christopher's continues to be on of Virginia's strongest programs- public or private. Not many people outside of the Saints faithful believed the team could or would do as well as they showed at the Willie Waters/Jaye Copp Tournament. The dominating showing by the team opened the eyes and dropped the jaws of northwestern Virginia's top wrestling teams. 

The team is off until January 8th and 9th, when they travel to Hampton to make their second appearance in the annual Virginia Duals. St. Christopher's will compete in the American High School Division against some of the best teams in Virginia and the US. The Virginia Duals will be an exciting opportunity for the wrestling program as they will again attempt to try to improve upon last season's top six finish.

After the successful web cast of the St. Christopher's Invitational finals on Freedocast.com, each dual meet of the St. Christopher's Red Storm Duals will be web cast on the team's web casting site. The hope for the Red Storm Duals is that all of the minor technical glitches that slowed down the Invitational's web cast will be worked out in advance. Keep your fingers crossed that the broadcast on January 16th will run smoothly. Here is a tentative schedule of St. Christopher's match ups at the Duals. All times are Eastern:

08:30 AM: Red Storm Duals Pre Match

09:00 AM: St. Christopher's vs. South County (Fairfax, VA)

11:00 AM: St. Christopher's vs. Atlee (Hanover, VA)

01:00 PM: St. Christopher's vs. Hickory (Chesapeake, VA) 

03:00 PM: St. Christopher's vs. Meadowbrook (Richmond, VA)

07:00 PM: Red Storm Duals Championship Rounds TBA 

The Red Storm Duals is a ten team dual meet tournament featuring teams from around the metro Richmond area, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Conestoga HS, from suburban Philadelphia will travel to Richmond to compete in the Duals, which also features two of the top VISAA (Private School) teams: Cape Henry Collegiate and Liberty Christian. The teams will be split into two pools of five teams, with each team wrestling the others in their pool. The top four teams in each pool will square off against each other in the final round- the #1 teams wrestling for the Red Storm Duals title, the #2 teams for 3rd Place, the #3 teams for 5th, and the #4 teams will wrestle off for 7th place. All of the action will take place in St. Christopher's impressive Bolling Field House located inside Kemper Athletic and Fitness Center.

Five St. Christopher’s wrestlers and two coaches took on the dreaded traffic of northern Virginia and Baltimore, an impending blizzard that blanketed the mid-Atlantic region with almost two feet of snow, and a plethora of the nation’s most outstanding high school wrestlers to compete at the annual Beast of the East tournament in Newark, DE. Coaches Ray Baldwin and Rob Prebish led the way for Brandon Jeske, Trey Tarr, Loren Phillips, David Wesley, and Chris Gill to wrestle in the nation’s toughest high school wrestling tournament. The top ranked team in the VISAA and sixth ranked team in the National Preps ratings made the trek to Delaware well in advance of the snow; only the traffic slowed down the team's trip. The five-man contingent of Saints wrestlers competed well- all were able to win at least one match, with Jeske, Phillips, Wesley, and Gill reaching the second day of competition.

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 Despite being seeded ninth, freshman Brandon Jeske proved to all that he is a force to reckon with, by upsetting the number 8, 1, and 4 seeds en route to the championship finals match up against second seeded Mark Grey from Blair Academy. After wrestling to an exciting 1-1 stalemate after six minutes, neither wrestler was able to score in the first overtime period from the neutral position. But Grey was able to hold Jeske down for his thirty seconds of the second overtime period, keeping the score knotted 1-1. Then the Blair Academy star escaped in the third overtime period to win the match 2-1. Jeske earned plenty of respect from the wrestling community with his exciting brand of wrestling and his second place finish.

Competing at 145, senior Loren Phillips was one match away from placing in the top eight, finishing the tournament with a 4-2 record. Gill wrestled well at 215, going 3-2, while junior David Wesley posted a 2-2 record at 152. Tarr went 1-2 on the tournament, but wrestled very well.

Overall, the Beast of the East was an exciting weekend of top notch wrestling with many of the best high school teams in the east competing. St. Christopher’s proved to all that they can compete effectively with the very best, no matter the designation of private or public school. The Saints finished in a tie for 27th place with Smyrna, DE and was the top Central Region team in the event and the third best Virginia team. Frank Cox HS was the top Virginia team at the Beast, finishing in 5th place, while Christiansburg ended up 9th.  In terms of National Preps private schools, St. Christopher's was the 4th highest placing team at the Beast of the East behind overall champion Blair Academy, 3rd place Wyoming Seminary, and Mount St. Joseph's, who finished in 20th place. Many attending the Beast complimented the Saints coaches and wrestlers on their outstanding wrestling. Next on the schedule for St. Christopher’s is the James Wood Tournament on December 29-30. The Richmond Invitational, postponed due to the bad weather, has been rescheduled for December 29^th. The status of whether or not the Saints will compete in the Richmond Invitational is still up in the air. Then the Saints travel to Hampton, VA to compete in the American Division of the Virginia Duals on January 9-10, making their second appearance at the “Granddaddy of Dual Tournaments at the Hampton Coliseum.  The team looks to improve on their top six finish from last year’s Duals...

Led by the efforts of four individual champions and seven runners-up, the St. Christopher's wrestling team won the team title at its own St. Christopher's Invitational over AAA powerhouse Franklin County and AA Seminole District stalwarts Brookville on Saturday, December 12th. The eight team invitational was completed in almost record time, wrapping up the tournament ten minutes after the projected start time for the championship finals of 6:30 PM. The Saints scored 254.5 points to Franklin County's 212.5. Brookville came in third with 185, and Hanover finished fourth with 159 points.

Freshman Brandon Jeske moved his season record to 7-1 by winning the title at 119 lbs. He defeated Hopewell's Jonathan Gay 5-2 in the finals. David Wesley also improved to 7-1 on the season after winning the 160 lb. championship in impressive fashion, dominating Franklin County's AAA #4 ranked James Bissnett 17-6. Ted Gottwald brought home another title for the Saints when he defeated AAA #8 Jonathan Jones of Franklin County by fall. Chris Gill was the final champion for St. Christopher's, pinning another Franklin County wrestler, Taylor Horner in the 285 lb. final.

Sophomore Andy Pitts returned to the line up at 112 and placed second, as did freshman Robert Janis (125), sophomore Tyler Cornett (135), junior Trey Tarr (140), seniors Loren Phillips (145), Edward Custer (189), and Mark Burlee (215). Phillips dropped a 3-1 decision to three-time AA state place winner and top ranked Zeb Stewart of Brookville. Phillips was the aggressor for most of the match, but could not get any help from the officials for stalling when Stewart spent the third period backing away from the St. Christopher's wrestler. Custer dropped a heartbreaking match in the finals to AAA #2 ranked Kyle Locke of Hanover, after nailing the Hawk with a picture perfect headlock that was extremely close to a fall- too close in the minds of the Saints fans. Senior Rennie Merhige finished 3rd at 152 to round out the place winners for the Saints A Team.Junior Ben Thompson took 3rd in the first tournament of his career at 285, while freshman William Cabell finished in 4th at 145 lbs. for the Saints B team. The St. Christopher's Invitational also featured a first ever "web cast" of the championship finals on Freedo-Cast. You can view the saved portions of the final by clicking on the link.

The team will split up next week, as the majority will compete at the annual Richmond Invitational at Hermitage HS, while Jeske, Tarr, Phillips, Wesley, and Gill travel to the University of Delaware to compete in one of the toughest high school tournaments in the nation: the Beast of the East.

The finals of the St. Christopher's Invite on Saturday,  December 12th will be webcast live on St. Christopher's Wrestling channel at Freedocast.com! Tune into the St. Christopher's Wrestling Channel at 6:30 PM to watch a live webcast of the Saints Invitational finals. This first ever webcast of Saints wrestling will allow those fans who can not attend the event a chance to watch their favorite wrestlers in action! You can even chat live with Coach Rob Prebish as he records the webcast. Be sure to check out the live action beginning at 6:30 PM on Saturday, December 12th.

The St. Christopher's wrestling team knew that the 2009 Hopewell Classic was going to be a tough way to open the season, with AA state powerhouse and returning Classic champion Christiansburg attending, along with some of the metro Richmond area's best high school programs and wrestlers. But the late addition of #1 and #3 AAA teams Frank Cox and Westfield, #4 AA New Kent, and national power Wyoming Seminary from Pennsylvania made this year's Hopewell Classic a gem of an opening season tournament. The team understood that they would have their hands full with some of the best wrestlers in the state and nation attending and had to bring their A game to the tournament. The team responded well, finishing a respectable fifth behind eventual champion Wyoming Seminary. Frank Cox proved that at least at this point in the season they are the top program in Virginia, by outpointing Christiansburg for second place.

The team was led by 2nd place finishes from freshman Brandon Jeske and junior David Wesley. Both lost very close matches to nationally ranked wrestlers: Jeske dropped a 2-0 decision to 2009 National Preps runner-up Bryan Whitt, now wrestling for Frank Cox, while Wesley lost 5-4 to Seminary's Chris Moon. Moon was a AAA State runner-up for Fauquier last season. In the semi-finals, the 160 lb. Wesley pinned current #1 AAA wrestler Nick Grinnups from Westfield to establish himself as one of the top wrestlers in Virginia. Jeske major decisioned Brayden Manchester of James River in his semi-final match at 119.

A number of other St. Christopher's wrestlers  performed well at the Hopewell Classic. Despite giving up weight to almost all of his opponents, Chris Gill finished 3rd at 285, dropping an early tournament match to Frank Cox's gargantuan heavyweight Ross Burbank. He bounced back and made it to the semi-finals, losing to Wyoming Seminary's Mike McMullan before finishing a strong 3rd. Loren Phillips (145), Rennie Merhige (152), and Ted Gottwald (171), all placed 4th, while Edward Custer (189) took 5th. Trey Tarr rounded out the Saints place winners with a 6th place finish at 140. Pictures from the Hopewell Classic will be posted on the site soon.

The team will be back in action on Saturday, December 12th when they take to the mats for the first ever St. Christopher's Saints Invitational against, Hanover, Hopewell, Franklin County, First Colonial, Brookville, and VES. The action begins at Scott Gymnasium at 9 AM. Come out and show your Saints wrestling spirit.

Be sure to take a look at the awesome new sign outside of the wrestling gym that honors St. Christopher's outstanding wrestling program! The beautiful sign showcases the nine-time VISAA State Champion Saints and the many accomplishments, including State champions, National Preps All-Americans, and USA Wrestling All-Americans. The great thing about the sign is the letters and numbers can be removed to add additional championships to the sign! The sign will definitely serve as an intimidating presence to wrestlers and teams that enter the gym before competing against St. Christopher's!

Loren Phillips, a 2009 VISAA State Runner-up and National Preps All-American is the latest St. Christopher's senior wrestler to sign a National Letter of Intent to continue his wrestling career in college. Phillips, who competed at 145 last season for the Saints, selected Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, NC to continue his schooling and wrestling. Phillips's decision makes him the third St. Christopher's wrestler to sign a National Letter of Intent and Grant in Aid form, joining Rennie Merhige and Ted Gottwald. Merhige and Gottwald signed with Virginia Military Academy on the first day of the fall signing period.

Phillips is a three-time VISAA State placer and finished 8th at the National Preps Tournament in 2009. He will carry a 121-35 record into his senior year for St. Christopher's. Belmont Abbey is an NCAA  Division II school that competes in the Eastern Region. The Crusaders qualified one wrestler to the NCAA Division II tournament in 2009.

Former St. Christopher's wrestling standout Kevin Donahue is ranked third at 141 lbs. in the NCAA Division III pre-season poll for Cornell College of Iowa. Donahue, a four-time VISAA State Champion and three-time National Preps All-American for the Saints, finished in 7th place at 141 at the 2009 NCAA Division III Championships, making him the first St. Christopher's wrestler to earn All-American status at the collegiate level.

Donahue posted a 28-11 record as a sophomore for the Rams en route to a 3rd place finish at the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament to qualify for Nationals. He posted a 3-2 record at the NCAA tournament, finishing as an All-American. Donahue was named Cornell's Most Improved  and Most Dedicated Wrestler in 2009 for his season efforts on the mat. Donahue finished 5th in th IIAC as a freshman with a 16-14 record.

One of the hardest decisons for a high school senior is to decide where they will go for college. And for the potential collegiate athlete, the decision making progress can be intensified by the various athletic programs recruiting the athlete, which was the case with seniors Ted Gottwald and Rennie Merhige. Both are multi-sport athletes and extremely active in a wide variety of activities at St. Christopher's, so finding the right fit for college was extremely important. Numerous colleges sought after the two student-athletes over the past year, making the process  more complex. Both Gottwald and Merhige decided to further their educational and wrestling careers for John Trudgeon at VMI. Gottwald and Merhige made it official on November 11th by signing National Letters of Intent and Grant in Aide forms with the Keydets. They will join former St. Christopher's standout Joe Munno at the Lexington, VA college and spend their freshman year on the infamous "Rat Line" at VMI.

Gottwald takes to the mat in 2009 on a quest to win his third consecutive VISAA State title, after winning at 160 last season and placing 8th at the National Preps tournament. Merhige finished second at 135 last season at States and reached the round of 12 at National Preps in 2009. He is a two-time VISAA State place winner for the Saints.

VMI competes at the NCAA Division I level out of the Southern Conference. The Keydets placed 5th as a team at the Southern Conference with sophomore 285 lber. Josh Wine winning his second straight conference title and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.

The Saint Christopher's wrestling team begins the 2009-10 season as the number one team in the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association (VISAA) pre-season rankings, in search of VISAA State team title number nine in a row. Six of Head Coach Frank Kiefer's grapplers enter the season with number one rankings to help bolster the program's stranglehold on the top spot in the VISAA rankings. St. Christopher's earned the top spot in the rankings over #2 Cape Henry Collegiate and #3 Liberty Christian. Both teams come to St. Christopher's in January to compete in the Red Storm Duals.

Two-time VISAA State champion and 2009 National Preps All-American senior Ted Gottwald leads the Saints into the season with the top spot at 160 lbs. Gottwald is joined at number one by fellow 2009 National Preps All-Americans junior David Wesley (152) and senior Chris Gill (215). Mark Burlee, a VISAA champion in 2009 starts the year at number one at 189 lbs., while junior Trey Tarr has the top spot at 135 lbs. Freshman Brandon Jeske, fresh off his runner-up finish at the Super 32 tournament begins his first season in a Saints singlet as the number one wrestler at 112 lbs.

Senior Loren Phillips, a National Preps All-American and VISAA runner-up in 2009 is listed at number two at 140 lbs. while fellow senior Rennie Mherige, also a VISAA runner-up in 2009 is ranked second at 145. Freshman Robert Janis begins the year at number three at 119 lbs. Janis placed 5th at States last season.  Senior Edward Custer, whose 7th place finish at States in 2009 helped lead the Saints to their 5.5 point win over Bishop O'Connell and 8th consecutive VISAA championship, begins the year ranked number four at 171. Newcomer Tyler Cornett, a sophomore transfer from Massaponax High School is also ranked 4th at 130 lbs. to begin his first season for St. Christopher's.

Senior Tom Daley, one of the Saints' best utility wrestlers in 2009, earned the number six ranking at 285, while freshman 103 lb. Tanner White is also ranked at 6th. Returning 2009 State placer Andy Pitts begins his sophomore year at number seven at 125 lbs. While these represent the first rankings of the season, the names and weight classes may change before the end of the season. The rankings were based on projections from last year's freestyle and Greco Roman season, as well as this year's pre-season tournaments.

Freshman Brandon Jeske posted a 5-1 record and finished in second place at 112 lbs. at the Super 32 Tournament in North Carolina Saturday, October 24th. The Super 32 is arguably one of the toughest pre-season tournaments in the country. Over 1000 wrestlers from all over the USA attended the "Battle for the Belt", a tournament so popular  that registration closed in thirty-five minutes this year!  College coaches from many major wrestling programs use the Super 32 as a preliminary recruiting tool.

Jeske dropped a close 3-2 decision in the finals to 2009 Ohio State Champion Jerome Robinson from St. Ignatius HS. In back to back matches in the quarter and semi-finals the 112 lb. freshman defeated  top wrestlers out of California. In the quarters Jeske disposed of 2009 California Champ Alex Cisneros 3-2 and in the semis he dropped Vince Rodriguez 3-1. Rodriguez placed 3rd at the 2009 California States. Jeske opened the tournament impressively with falls over Josh Dess of Bristol Eastern, CT and Henry County, GA's Brett Yarbrough. In the 3rd round Jeske  took out Montana State Champ Cole Mendenhall by major decision 12-0.

Loren Phillips and David Westley both posted 2-2 records at 140 and 145 lbs respectively. Phillips scored a fall over Brandon McBee, an 8th place finisher in Gerogia in 2009, from Sonoraville HS. He then went on to defeat Jeron Roberts from Dudley, NC before dropping back to back matches to Lorenzo Thomas of Pittsburgh Central Catholic and Davante Andujar from JM Robinson HS in North Carolina.  Thomas was a state qualifier in 2009, while Andujar placed 6th at the North Carolina States in 2009.

Wesley started his day with a 14-1 drubbing of Georgia state qualifier Hunter Gamble and a decision over Garrett Schaner from Big Rapids, MI in the second round. Schaner took 5th at the 2009 Micigan State tournament. Wesley dropped his next match to two-time VA AAA State Champion Ben Dorsay of Cox HS 4-0. He finished the day with a close 3-1 loss to Dominic Montesanti, a state placeer from New York.

Once again, St. Christopher's proved that it can compete with anyone in the state and nation. Only a few weeks remain before practice officially begins. Be sure to come out and support your St. Christopher's Saints wrestlers as they take to the mat for the 2009-10 season in search of VISAA State title number nine in a row. The Saints open the season at the Hopewell Classic at Hopewell HS on December 4-5. The action will begin at 4 PM on Friday.

The St. Christopher's wrestling program is proud to announce that Rennie Merhige is the first member of the Class of 2010  to decide where he will continue his education and wrestling career. On Monday, October 19th Merhige verbally committed to compete for the Virginia Military Institute beginning in the fall of 2010. Merhige, a 2009 VISAA state runner-up decided on VMI after looking at a number of colleges, for wrestling and lacrosse. He will join St. Christopher's grad Joseph Munno on the Keydets wrestling team. Munno placed 4th at the Southern Conference meet in 2010, competing at 149 lbs.

Merhige is one of six senior wrestlers for the Saints. He posted a 32-10 record as a junior despite missing over a month of the season with a shoulder injury. He came on strong at the end of the season, helping St. Christopher's win its eighth consecutive VISAA State title with his runner-up finish at 135 lbs. Merhige missed placing at Nationals by one round, losing a tough 2-1 decision in the consolation round of 12. He projects to compete at 149 lbs. in college.

Wrestling USA Magazine, a national publication has listed three St. Christopher's wrestlers: freshman Brandon Jeske, junior David Wesley and senior Ted Gottwald among the best wrestlers in their grades in the nation. Wrestling USA ranked Jeske #13 for freshmen/sophomores, Wesley #20 for juniors at 152 lbs. while Gottwald received Special Mention for seniors at 160. Jeske took 3rd at the USA Wrestling Cadet Nationals over the summer after winning the USA Wrestling FILA Cadet Division Nationals  title in the spring. Wesley placed 5th at the National Preps Tournament after taking 2nd at the VISAA State Tournament, while Gottwald earned All-American status with an 8th place finish at National Preps and won his second straight VISAA State title in 2009.  Both wrestlers were listed in the Special Mention section of Wrestling USA's end of the year rankings for the 2009 season- Wesley at 140 lbs for freshmen/sophomores and Gottwald at 160 lbs for seniors. The two Saints grapplers were joined in the 2009 National rankings by Brandon Jeske, who was ranked #2 at 108 lbs for the 15 and under age group.

For most athletes, summer is a time of rest and relaxtion- a time to build strength and develop technique. But for three St. Christopher's wrestlers, the summer was a continuation of the season. Freshman Brandon Jeske, sophomore Tyler Cornett, and junior David Wesley all participated in various National freestyle and Greco Roman events throughout the summer, including the USA Wrestling Cadet and Junior Nationals in Fargo, ND.

Jeske and Cornett represented Virginia in both the Cadet National Duals in Minnesota and at Nationals in Fargo. Jeske finished in 3rd place at 112 lbs. in Greco and missed placing in freestyle by one round. Cornett went 0-2 in Greco at 135 lbs. and 2-2 in freestyle. Wesley competed in the Junior division at both Junior Duals and Nationals, posting a 1-2 record in Greco at 145 lbs. and a 3-2 record in freestyle.

All three wrestlers are busy preparing for the upcoming folkstyle season at St. Christopher's. Be sure to check the Wrestling Schedule for a list of pre-season tournaments!

You can sign up ONLINE for this fall's 3StyleWrestling Club training sessions! We will begin on Tuesday, September 8th at 6:30 PM at St. Christopher's. Our practices will be every Tuesday and Thursday at St. Christopher's from 6:30-8:30 PM until November 12th. Cost is $200 per wrestler, with an additional $100 per sibling (brothers and sisters only). Example: two brother's sign up for the club. They will pay a total of $300, which will cover BOTH brothers. Click on the 3Style Logo and it will take you to the on line sign up page. Be sure to print off the form before you submit it to Coach Prebish.

If you prefer to print off a regular form and bring it with you on the 8th, please click: 3Style Entry Form.

St. Christopher's rising junior wrestler, David Wesley and Brandon Jeske, a rising freshman will join four other 3Style Wrestling Club members in the quest to bring home a USA Wrestling National Championship next week in Fargo, ND. Wesley will compete in the Junior 145 lbs. division in both Greco Roman and freestyle. The 2009 National Prep All-American had an impressive showing at the Junior National Duals in Oklahoma earlier in the month, defeating a number of top nationally ranked wrestlers. Jeske, the 2009 FILA Cadet National Champion in Greco Roman will begin compete in the Cadet 112 lbs. in both styles. He was also impressive in his debut for Virginia at the Cadet National Duals in Minnesota, showing why he is ranked as one of the top five Junior High/Middle School wrestlers in the country by Intermat/Rev-Wrestling.

Joining the pair will be 3Style Wrestling Club members Joey Dance (Cadet, 105 lbs.), Joey Parker (Cadet, 125 lbs.), Tyler Cornette (Cadet, 135 lbs.) and Austin Coburn (Cadet, 160 lbs.) Dance, a rising freshman, earned All-American honors in 2008 in both Greco Roman and freestyle. 3Style coach Rob Prebish will join the six grapplers in Fargo as a member of the Virginia Wrestling Association coaching staff. Be sure to check out Track Wrestling to follow the progress of these outstanding athletes throughout the week. The action in the Fargo Dome on the campus of North Dakota State University begins on Friday, July 17th with the Cadet Greco Roman division taking the stage on twenty-five mats.

The St. Christopher's wrestling team is preparing itself for the upcoming 2009-10 wrestling season, where they will attempt to win their 9th consecutive VISAA State team title and improve upon their 12th place finish at the 2009 National Preps Tournament. The Saints return four National Preps All-Americans, including David Wesley (5th place, 140 lbs.), Loren Phillips (8th place, 145 lbs.), Ted Gottwald (8th place, 160 lbs.), and Chris Gill (8th place, 215 lbs.), as well as 2009 VISAA State Champion Mark Burlee (189 lbs.). Gottwald won his second consecutive VISAA State title in 2009 and was named one of the three Outstanding Wrestlers of the tournament. Wesley and Phillips both placed 2nd at States, while Gill brought home a 4th place medal.

A total of five other VISAA State place winners return to the Saints line up for the new season. Senior Rennie Merhige was a runner-up at 135 lbs., while freshman Robert Janis took 5th at 103 lbs. Sophomore Andy Pitts placed 6th at 112 a year ago, and junior Trey Tarr finished 3rd in 2008. Senior Edward Custer rounds out the returning placers; he finished 7th at 171 in 2009.

The upcoming wrestling season looks to be potentially one of the toughest in St. Christopher's history. The team will compete in the Beast of the East Tournament in December, as well as the Virginia Duals in January and hopes to show central Virginia and the entire state that St. Christopher's is a legitimate wrestling power. Three-time AAA State Champions Colonial Forge will come to St. Christopher's in January to compete in the first ever Red Storm Duals. Regional power Hanover will participate in December's Saints Invitational. The team will also make a return trip to the St. Alban's Tournament in Washington, DC as part of the "post-season" tournament series leading up to Nationals in Pennsylvania.

One of the most talented incoming freshman wrestlers in the country, Brandon Jeske, will make his debut for the Saints in 2009. He won the USA Wrestling FILA Cadet National title in Greco Roman in the spring of 2009 and will be an excellent addition to the team. Intermatwrestling.com ranks Jeske as one of the top five Junior High wrestlers in the country for 2009. And former Benedictine coach Matt Erwin, a standout wrestler for VMI in his college days, joins the Saints coaching staff this season. All of the coaches are excited to have Erwin join the Saints coaching staff. He will work with the upper weight wrestlers.

Be sure to follow the St. Christopher's wrestling team throughout the 2009-10 season by checking the website. It will be updated with the season's progress. Show your Saints Nation pride by sporting the latest St. Christopher's Wrestling team apparel by going to Coach Prebes' web-store.

The Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate unanimously passed House Joint Resolution 958 commending the St. Christopher's wrestling team for their victory over Bishop O'Connell at the 2009 VISAA State Championships, to continue the streak of consecutive State titles to eight. The Joint Resolution summarizes the outstanding effort of all of the wrestlers and coaches in the thrilling 5.5 point win over the Knights at States. An excerpt of the Resolution states:

"WHEREAS, the St. Christopher’s School wrestling team won its eighth consecutive Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association (VISAA) Championship on February 13 and 14, 2009; and

WHEREAS, the defending champion Saints went up against Bishop O’Connell High School in a close tournament that had fans on the edge of their seats at the VCU Siegel Center; and

WHEREAS, showing great skill, courage, and determination, St. Christopher's School finally succeeded in defeating Bishop O'Connell High School by a 5.5 point margin; and

WHEREAS, three members of the St. Christopher's team took home individual gold medals with senior Tyler Spangler taking the first award as he won his third straight VISAA crown, capping a 37 - 0 season; and

WHEREAS, junior Ted Gottwald won his second consecutive VISAA state championship in the 160-pound division and received outstanding wrestler honors among upperweights; junior Mark Burlee produced two takedowns to win an individual medal and the tournament-winning victory;" (House Joint Resolution 958, 2009)

 A full text of House Joint Resolution 958 is available by clicking: here! Way to go Saints! Hard work deserves recognition! Enjoy your summer vacation. Be prepared for more hard work in the fall as we try to win NINE in a row!

Four St. Christopher's wrestlers were named to the 1st Team of the Richmond Times-Dispatch All-Metro team. Seniors Tyler Spangler and Jackson Freeman were joined by junior Ted Gottwald and sophomore David Wesley on the annual "Best of the Central Region/Metro Richmond" wrestling team. The four grapplers were the only private school selections to the All-Metro team in 2009. St. Christopher's had the most members on the All-Metro team of any school; only James River (2) had more than one selection to the first team.

Spangler, a three-time All-Metro selection won his 3rd consecutive VISAA State title in 2009 and finished his senior year with a perfect 34-0 record. He was a National Prep All-American in 2007 and 2008, but missed the 2009 tournament due to illness. He will wrestle next year at the Air Force Academy. Freeman, also a senior, earned All-American status at the National Prep tournament in 2009 with a 6th place finish after back to back 2nd place finishes at the VISAA tournament in 2008 and 2009. He will attend Brown next year where he will play football. This is his first All-Metro team selection.

Gottwald won his second consecutive VISAA State championship in 2009 and followed that with an 8th place finish at the National Prep tournament. Wesley was the highest place winner at Nationals for the Saints with his 5th place finish at 140 lbs. after taking second at States in 2009. Gottwald and Wesley both earned their first All-Metro selections in 2009.

Sophomore Trey Tarr and junior Mark Burlee were both named to the 2nd team All-Metro Team. Tarr finished his sophomore season with  a 34-4 season, while Burlee won a State title at 189. St. Christopher's finished the 2008-09 season with a 15-3 dual meet record and won their 8th straight VISAA State title. The Saints finished 12th at the National Prep tournament with five All-Americans. Four All-Americans and nine VISAA State place winners will return for the 2009-10 season, as the Saints will attempt to win their ninth straight VISAA State Championship.

Senior captains Tyler Spangler and Jackson Freeman have decided that they will continue their athletic careers in college. Spangler, a three-time VISAA State Champion and two-time National Preps All-American will  attend the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO where he will wrestle for the Falcons. He chose Air Force over George Mason, Stanford and Lehigh Universities. Freeman, who finished 6th at the National Preps tournament after back to back 2nd place finishes at the VISAA States will attend Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. He will play football for the Bears in the fall. Both institutions compete at the NCAA Division I level. This marks another outstanding effort for St. Christopher's wrestling program.

8th grade State place winner Robert Janis was selected as the Outstanding Young Wrestler for the Saints at the annual wrestling team Awards Dinner, held last night (March 23, 2009). Mark Burlee, a 2009 VISAA State Champion was named as the Most Improved Wrestler, while the Captain's Award selection was sophomore David Wesley, who placed 5th at the National Preps tournament in 2009.

Head Coach Frank Kiefer had plenty of kind words to all of the wrestlers, parents, and coaches. The 2009 wrestling season was one of the most successful in Saints history. St, Christopher's finished the season with a 15-3 record, won their 8th straight VISAA State Championship and finished in 12th place at the National Preps Tournament. Tyler Spangler, Ted Gottwald, and Mark Burlee won State titles and eight others placed at States. Gottwald, David Wesley, Jackson Freeman, Loren Phillips, and Chris Gill became the latest National Preps All-Americans for the Saints.

Former St. Christopher's standout wrestler, Kevin Donahue, placed 7th  at 141 lbs. at the 2009 NCAA Division III Championships March 6-7,2009 at the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, IA. The former four-time VISAA State champion and three-time National Preps All-American posted a 3-2 record at Nationals to earn All-American status. The sophomore finished the season with a 29-11 record. It is believed that Donahue is the first NCAA All-American for the Saints wrestling program. Way to go Kevin!

Amherst College senior Tim Rose, a 2005 VISAA State Champion and National Preps All-American finished in 2nd place at the National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) Nationals, March 12-14, 2009 at Hampton University. Rose posted a 4-1 record, including a dramatic overtime pin victory over Grand Valley State's Corey Melinn in the semi-finals. He dropped a 5-1 decision to Cecil Lee from the Apprentice School in the championship final. 2008-09 was Amherst's first year back with wrestling after a twenty year hiatus. 

 One of Coach Prebish's former wrestlers, VMI's Josh Wine, won his second consecutive Southern Conference title at 285 lbs. to become a two-time NCAA Division I Tournament qualifier. He defeated UNC-Greenville's Joe Sheffield 4-2 in the finals. Wine won the Southern Conference title in 2008 and posted a 1-2 record at the NCAA Division I Tournament. Wine wrestled for Coach Prebish at Massaponax HS where he was the 2007 AAA State Champion at 285 lbs. and a three-time state place winner. Wine recorded a career high school record of 105-7 at Massaponax. Former St. Christopher's wrestler Joe Munno placed 4th at 149 lbs. at the Southern Conference for VMI. He was a State Champion for the Saints in 2006 and 2007.

What a conclusion to an exciting season for St. Christopher's wrestling! The Saints finished the year with a 12th place finish and a school record five All-Americans at the National Preps tournament on February 21-22 at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. The team finished nine points out of 10th place and turned a lot of heads throughout the weekend.

St. Chris was led by sophomore David Wesley (140) who finished in 5th place and senior Jackson Freeman (285) who took 6th. Loren Phillips (145), Ted Gottwald (160), and Chris Gill (215) all finished in 8th place. Junior Rennie Merhige (135) finished one match shy of All-American status with a 4-2 record for the weekend. Wesley posted a 5-2 record on the weekend and pinned Eric Flipowicz from McDonough in his match for 5th place. Freeman went 4-3 but lost to Archbishop Curley's Tony Powell in his consolation match for 5th place. Loren Phillips injury defaulted to Cape Henry's Sam Law in the 7th place match at 145- after defeating Law in the 2nd round. Gottwald ran a 4-3 record for his 8th place finish, while Gill went 5-3.

The team will take a few weeks off to rest and recover before beginning the quest for VISAA State title number nine. The 2008-09 wrestling season was exciting and successful for St. Christopher's. The Saints showed that they can compete with any school- public or private in Virginia and go toe to toe with the best private schools in the country with their 12th place at Nationals. The team also came from behind to win their eighth consecutive VISAA State championships over Bishop O'Connell.

5 1/2 Points Made The Difference Over O'Connell

Two matchs. Two wins. Two pins and a major decision. That's all that separated Bishop O'Connell from stopping St. Christopher's streak of consecutive VISAA State Wrestling titles at seven. The never say die spirit of the St. Christopher's wrestling team provided enough excitement (and some gray hairs) to the Saints Nation over the weekend as they brought home another State Title to make it eight in a row.

The tournament was not without countless moments of drama for the Saints: Seth Wagner's shoulder was not ready, so he was not able to compete at 152 lbs. leaving a void for Hawley Martin to fill. And Trey Tarr missed weight Friday morning and could not compete at 130 lbs. where he was seeded fourth in the tournament. When Bishop O'Connell's faithful found out about both, they began to smile feeling that they were now in the driver's seat to win the teama title. Little did they know about the courage, dedication, and attitude St. Chris was going to bring to the tournament. The team title was not nailed down until after Mark Burlee won his first State title at 189 lbs. on the heels of Edward Custer's important 7th place finish at 171. Those two combined for enough team points to push St. Christopher's to a 265.5 point total- just 5.5 points ahead of Bishop O'Connell.

Eleven Saints grapplers placed in the top eight of their weight class, with nine qualifying for this week's National Prep Tournament at Lehigh University. Three wrestlers- senior Tyler Spangler (125), and juniors Ted Gottwald (160) and Mark Burlee (189) became State champions with their victories in the finals. Spangler's 18-1 tech-fall over Cape Henry Collegiate's Jazz Rozier was his third consecutive State title for the Saints. Gottwald's hardfought 7-2 win over FUMA's Dainel Burke was his second championship in as many years. For his efforts, Gottwald was named one of the tournament's three outstanding wrestlers. And Burlee became the latest addition to St. Christopher's growing list of VISAA State champions via his 8-4 win over Cape Henry Collegiate's Nick Merenda.

Four others- Rennie Merhige (135), David Wesley (140), Loren Phillips (145), and Jackson Freeman (285) all fell in the finals. Merhige dropped a 10-3 decision to O'Connell's Jonathan Carpenter, while Wesley lost another close match to arch-nemisis Bobby Burg from Woodberry Forest. Phillips and Freeman both lost tough matches to Sam Law (Cape Henry Collegiate) and John King from Blue Ridge respectively. All four wrestled well in the finals. Chris Gill (215) finished in 4th place, while Robert Jannis took 5th at 103. Andy Pitts (112) and Edward Custer (171) rounded out the Saints place winners with respective 6th and 7th place finishes.

Next for St. Chris will be the National Prep Tournament at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA on Friday and Saturday February 20-21.

 

St. Christopher's Wrestling Team on Facebook

 

Web Site Hits

Saints Wrestler of the Week 10/23/2009

 

Freshman Brandon Jeske took 2nd place at the Super 32 pre-season tournament, posting a 5-1 defeating a number of the top wrestlers in the country along the way.

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