|
Post by stopstalling37 on Nov 26, 2023 12:46:46 GMT -5
So let’s talk Team Rankings. I’ve been working on a top 15 team rankings for the past few weeks and I’m curious on what everyone’s thoughts are on all the new transfers and class changes and how that could effect the team rankings.
|
|
|
Post by stopstalling37 on Nov 27, 2023 5:03:07 GMT -5
This is my team rankings that I've been working on. This is not official as the official rankings will be posted on the VAWA site when it is time. With the season about a week away from our first events I felt it was time to post it and see what others think. I'm sure some will disagree and that's fine. Nothing ventured nothing gained. So good luck to all the coach's, wrestlers and parents as we get ready to start up another year of Virginia high school wrestling.
Team Rankings
1. Staunton River 3A - Last year's 3A team state champions, it's hard to argue with SR being the top team in Va this year with the amount of talent up and down their lineup. With the addition of Landon Jobber-Spence from Fauquier, the rich got richer, and they should roll into Salem mid-February looking for their 2nd team title in a row and lock up the status of Virginia's best wrestling team.
2. Mountain View 6A - Last year's 5A team champions, MV has moved up to 6A and has the lineup and depth that can push Staunton River for the best team in the state. They have one of the most impressive rooms with the added Freshman. MV will be considered a heavy favorite going into the state tournament in Va Beach and we'll see if that's enough to be considered the state's top team.
3. St. Christophers VISAA - Last year's VISAA team champions, St. Chris are one of the most consistent teams in Va. Year in year out they seem to always have a team worthy of a top rankings. This year is no different as they bring back multiple state champions and place winners and look to lock up another VISAA team title.
4. Benedictine College Prep VISAA - BCP brings back the majority of their lineup that seen them get 3rd at VISAA state tournament last year. They have added some really talented wrestlers to help bolster their lineup and look to use that extra firepower to move past PVI and overtake rival St. Chris for the title this year.
5. Paul VI VISAA - Last year's runner-up to St. Christophers, Paul VI brings back a solid lineup and have added some strength to key weights. We will see if that is enough for them to hold off a resurging BCP team and overtake a solid STC team. VISAA is going to be a lot of fun to follow this season and I'm expecting some fireworks come state.
6. Grundy 1A - Last season Grundy won their 26th team state championship all-time and are the heavy favorite to add to that total this year. They lost 3 starters from last year's team and has a solid lineup returning. 1A isn't the strongest class with the loss of Riverheads to 2A, but Grundy isn't a normal 1A team and Coach Travis Fiser will look to have his team ready to put on a show in February.
7. Skyline 3A - Skyline finished 3rd last year to New Kent and eventual champs Staunton River. They have a talented room, and they seem to get better each time we see them compete. That is testament to the coaching staff, led by Head Coach Kyle Symons! They had a few injuries as many teams do and unfortunately in the end it cost them an opportunity for the team title. This year will be tough with the quality of the Golden Eagle team, but they will compete as hard as always. Their time is coming and I for one will be there cheering when it does.
8. Frank W. Cox 5A - Last year's 5A team champions Mountain View and 3rd place Brooke Point are both moving up to 6A but with the addition of 4A team champs Great Bridge, 5A is still as strong as ever. Cox will look to get past last year's 4th place team and rival First Colonial who outscored Cox by just 3.5 points. Great Bridge and Riverbend unfortunately graduated a large portion of their teams. So, look for Cox to strike while the iron is hot and make a run at the 5A team title.
9. First Colonial 5A - First Colonial finished 4th last year but that was then, and this is now. They outscored rival Cox by a narrow margin and with the addition of Leonard Ashley formally of Granby, and team leader Thomas Stofka, they will try and improve on that total and bring back another team state championship.
10. Woodgrove 4A - Woodgrove has moved down to 4A and with Great Bridge moving up to 5A, that leaves 4A there for the taking. Woodgrove finished 7th in 5A but will look to improve on that and make a run for a team title. They will have to hold off Eastern View, last year's 4A runner up. So that may be a tall task, but Woodgrove has some talented wrestlers returning and a few good freshmen coming into the room that should help close the gap and possibly win a title.
11. Chantilly 6A - Chantilly finished 3rd last year but are returning a solid lineup led by Ben Weader, Ezekiel Keel, Carter Shin and returning Andrew Krajic to the lineup. They will need some help from others to push Mountain View and Brooke Point, but they will compete as hard as always.
12. Great Bridge 5A - Great Bridge won the 4A team title last year marking their 22nd team championship. They have now moved up to 5A and although they graduated a plethora of talented wrestlers, they still bring back a solid lineup with returning state champions Myrin Nixon Caleb Neal and runner up Beau Lewis and will look to overtake a talented First Colonial and Cox team for their 23rd state championship.
13. Brooke Point 6A - Brooke Point finished 3rd last season in 5A and are now moving up to 6A. They have one of best wrestlers in the state in Chase Van Hoven and have a solid lineup around him. Unfortunately, they lost former state champ Cadell Lee and Remus Montalvo. Which will hurt the team total, but they should compete well and look for a solid top 3 finish in 6A.
14. Strasburg 2A - Strasburg has been the standard in 2A the past few years and this year should be no exception. 2A has gotten even tougher now with Riverheads moving up from 1A. The race for the 2A team title will be fun to watch as Poquoson, Central Woodstock and Strasburg battle it out for the 2A crown. I feel the amount of experience coming back for Strasburg will just be too much in the end.
15. Eastern View 4A - Eastern View finished runner up to Great Bridge last year. They bring back both Smoot brothers who are looking to get their hands on some gold state medals as well as Brett Clatterbaugh who has some gold of his own from last years state finals. They will have Woodgrove, Orange County and Spotsylvania to get past but they will make things interesting in 4A.
|
|
jr
Full Member
Posts: 245
|
Post by jr on Nov 27, 2023 12:59:02 GMT -5
I believe you mean with the addition of Landon Jobber-Spence.
1. Staunton River 3A - Last year's 3A team state champions, it's hard to argue with SR being the top team in Va this year with the amount of talent up and down their lineup. With the addition of Macon Ayers, the rich got richer, and they should roll into Salem mid-February looking for their 2nd team title in a row and lock up the status of Virginia's best wrestling team.
|
|
|
Post by wrestlinguy on Nov 28, 2023 21:00:40 GMT -5
That’s a pretty solid list. Staunton River without doubt is the top team in the state. I’d put Skyline above Grundy personally since Skyline out did them at old dominion cup taking out the team that beat them.
|
|
|
Post by stopstalling37 on Nov 28, 2023 21:22:08 GMT -5
That’s a pretty solid list. Staunton River without doubt is the top team in the state. I’d put Skyline above Grundy personally since Skyline out did them at old dominion cup taking out the team that beat them. Basing this ranking off of this upcoming season and isn’t a reflection of last year. Skyline and Grundy may see each other at the Va duals this year so that will be exciting. But I feel they are very even right now. This ranking will change throughout the year as we get further into the season
|
|
|
Post by faded87t on Dec 3, 2023 8:54:28 GMT -5
Best team should probably be defined as either best dual team or best tournment team. Either way, New Kent's performance at McDonogh this weekend puts them squarely in the middle of any discussion regarding the best teams in VA (scored more team points than Paul VI, Cox and Benedictine).
|
|
|
Post by stopstalling37 on Dec 3, 2023 9:22:23 GMT -5
Best team should probably be defined as either best dual team or best tournment team. Either way, New Kent's performance at McDonogh this weekend puts them squarely in the middle of any discussion regarding the best teams in VA (scored more team points than Paul VI, Cox and Benedictine). New Kent did well this weekend and surprisingly outplayed Cox, BCP and Paul VI and wasn’t far off from St. Chris. They will be a top 10 team now. As well as Woodgrove who had a great showing at Elite Opener.
|
|
|
Post by faded87t on Dec 3, 2023 9:38:37 GMT -5
One thing to note on these early travel tournaments is teams often don't bring thier full roster for a host of different reasons. The number of scoring team members for McDonogh were: STC - 10 New Kent - 14 Paul VI - 12 Cox - 13 Benedictine - 7
|
|
|
Post by wrestler2027 on Dec 4, 2023 13:31:29 GMT -5
One thing to note on these early travel tournaments is teams often don't bring thier full roster for a host of different reasons. The number of scoring team members for McDonogh were: STC - 10 New Kent - 14 Paul VI - 12 Cox - 13 Benedictine - 7 Agree. Looked like several teams bumped some JV kids to varsity for the weekend as well due to injuries/illness of varsity wrestlers.
|
|
|
Post by vawrestle01 on Dec 4, 2023 18:56:11 GMT -5
I really wish VAWA would organize some sort of dual tournament or even just a Private vs. public championship, would be very fun and entertaining
|
|
|
Post by faded87t on Dec 4, 2023 19:21:13 GMT -5
Wrestler2027 that's a really good point (JV filling holes in travel tournamnets) and yet another dynamic that makes predicting these things by year end a challenge.
|
|
|
Post by wrestlinguy on Dec 4, 2023 19:48:39 GMT -5
I wonder how many of the public school kids don’t go due to the 5 tournament restriction? With Ironman, Beast, Powerades, etc some hammers might not have many tournaments to play with. So they’ll be setting out more of the travel tourneys early so they don’t reach their limits early in the season and can be competing going into the post season to peak at the right time
|
|
|
Post by stopstalling37 on Dec 4, 2023 20:11:23 GMT -5
Just wish we didn’t have limitations on our schedules. It’s great if you live in the eastern part of Va but if not then good luck finding quality duals. Let’s just hope the rule is voted out soon
|
|
|
Post by wrestlinguy on Dec 4, 2023 20:19:11 GMT -5
Just wish we didn’t have limitations on our schedules. It’s great if you live in the eastern part of Va but if not then good luck finding quality duals. Let’s just hope the rule is voted out soon I fully agree. It’s fine for nova with so many schools and room to have events. But it’s a killer on the west side of the state. And is killing a lot of the smaller tournaments since everyone wants the 2 day tourneys for more quality matches. Can’t get voted out fast enough. And I think we’re gonna notice a lot of VA top guys won’t be getting alot of mat time in VA. They won’t have enough events left to do it.
|
|
jr
Full Member
Posts: 245
|
Post by jr on Dec 4, 2023 20:38:42 GMT -5
I doubt the 5 tournament rule will ever be overturned because it's the new "equity rule". Some schools complained that the rich schools had money to attend many tournaments and others didn't have money to go to tournaments and it wasn't fair.
|
|