Virginia Duals 2026 Recap - Poquoson 4th in Keen American HS; Apprentice School 9th in American College Division

HAMPTON – The 45th Virginia Duals concluded on Saturday evening in exactly the way that Grassfield coach Patrick Shuler wanted.

On Tuesday, Shuler had expressed his desire for the Grizzlies to face Nazareth High from Pennsylvania in the TowneBank American H.S. final. After Grassfield toppled West Deptford (New Jersey) in a semifinal match, while Nazareth won 52-18 over Cox, the stage was set for a repeat of last year’s final, which was won by the Blue Eagles 40-26.

This year, the score was similar, 43-26, but it was Grassfield that held up the first-place trophy at Hampton Coliseum.

“We got it done,” said Shuler.

The Grizzlies left little in doubt, racing to a 23-0 advantage, as Nolan Mather (106), Higen Castillo (113), and Dennis Bruin (126) each pinned their opponents, while Leland Mendez (120) tacked on five team points with a 15-0 technical fall win in his bout. Simone Barrett’s win at 144 put the lead out of reach at 28-8, and then Brady Greene’s win at 157 was followed by Nate Moore’s 13-1 major decision victory to seal the match triumph at 38-16.

“We were looking forward to wrestling them again,” said Moore, who is ranked second in Virginia for his weight class. “Their best wrestlers faced our best wrestlers, and what better way to win than against the team that beat you a year ago.” Nazareth was the only team to beat the Class 6 state champions last season.

Chris Funches’ 22-5 technical fall win proved to be the exclamation point for Grassfield, which won its first Duals championship since 2017, and first ever in what Shuler called “the toughest division.”

Cox defeated West Deptford 49-30 in the third-place match. The Falcons fell to a 24-0 deficit on four straight pins before rallying to capture nine of the remaining ten bouts. Carson Miller (132), Vicente Granada (150), Tristan Skiff (157), Karl Ludwig (165) and Izaque Tomaz (285) each won in a first period fall, with Tomaz’s pin taking 26 seconds.

Poquoson Fourth in Cliff Keen Division

The Islanders dropped their third-place match to Skyline 51-27 to cap a 2-2 weekend. Poquoson defeated Grundy, the VHSL record holder for state wrestling titles with 28, competing in its last Duals as the school is merging with two others next year to form Southern Gap High. 

In their second match, Poquoson beat Delaware Military Academy 38-24, before losing to Utah powerhouse Corner Canyon 39-24.

Jared Goodson (132) and Reed Booth (157) went 4-0 in bouts for the weekend.

Black and Blue Division

Landstown made the final match, but fell just short, as Independence edged the Eagles 35-33 to win the Getem Services Black and Blue H.S. Division.

Landstown fell behind 22-6, but mounted a steady comeback, fueled with a win by fall at 144 pounds by Elijah Phoutasen. The Tigers would win two of the next three bouts by decision to nudge the lead to 29-15. Mehki Ferguson (175) and Malik Adedoyin (190) won by fall in consecutive matches to slash the lead to 29-27, before Indy’s Odon Toth pinned Jake Detrick in their 215-pound bout to guarantee the win for the Ashburn squad.

“We were just a bit short, but we’re showing scrappiness,” said Landstown coach James Sanderlin. “Time to get back to the lab, and do some work.”

Kellam overcame an 18-0 deficit to defeat Ocean Lakes 43-28 in the third-place match.

Apprentice Places 9th in American College Bracket

The Apprentice School placed ninth of 16 teams in the College Division after defeating Centenary College (New Jersey) in their final consolation match. 

The Builders were 3-1 for the weekend, losing their opening match to Findlay University (48-6), before reeling off three decisive victories against Greensboro (46-5) and Muhlenberg (33-14) before winning the ninth-place match.

Lucas Vannostrand (125), Aiden Vasquez (133), Michael Phoutasen (149), Dimetrus Wince (157), Owen Cherry (165), Lucas Sumners (184), and David McElravy Jr. (285) all won their bouts against Centenary, with Sumners winning by fall at 4:31.