Brookville wrestlers clinch two titles at JF

In order to upset Seminole District power Brookville for the second time in four years, Jefferson Forest realized it would have to wrestle a near-perfect match in Wednesday’s regular-season finale, a 47-21 triumph by the Bees.

"We knew going in we had some big matches we had to win," JF coach Hutch Hutchinson said of the showdown that determined not only the district regular-season title but also served as the suspended championship match from Saturday’s Brookville Duals tournament. "At 120 [pounds], they beat us, 140, they beat us, and 170, they beat us. So they just beat us.

"Wrestling, like a lot of other sports, is a lot about momentum and a lot about mojo."

Hutchinson was confident the Cavaliers would win at 152 (Forrest Speake, by forfeit) and 160 (Josh Bowyer, by pin) and had pretty much conceded that Brookville would prevail at 126 (Trung Duong, by forfeit) and 132 (Luke Stewart, by fall).

"I wasn’t planning on [Peyton] Woodall getting pinned," he added of Stewart’s victory that pushed the Bees’ advantage to 19-6. "They just did what they needed to do to win."

Brookville senior Derek Thurman said the most pivotal bout of the night was at 170, where Trevor Bruffy extended the Bees’ lead to 31-18 by overcoming an early 2-0 deficit to pull out a 7-3 decision over Alex Cox, who has 136 wins in his JF career.

Bruffy avoided potential back points that would have given Cox the lead late in the second period and scored a reversal that put him in command.

"It was a tough match," Thurman said. "[Bruffy] really fought hard all the way through it."

He said the same was true of his 182-pound showdown with James Jackson, who he has wrestled several times over the past two seasons.

"It was really tough," Thurman said of his 12-4 major decision over Jackson. "He was strong. It was definitely a battle."

Overall, the final margin of Brookville’s victory was a bit wider than he anticipated.

"I thought it would be a little closer, but I knew if we came out to wrestle, we would win and we definitely came out to wrestle," Thurman said.

Rather than wrestling JF in the final of their Brookville Duals, the Bees opted to save that match for Wednesday and compete against traditional state power Grundy, a team the Cavaliers had wrestled in the semifinals.

"We beat Grundy and they turned around and beat [Brookville]," Hutchinson said, noting that, coupled with the Cavaliers’ 74-6 rout of Rustburg in the first match of the night, might have made them overconfident.

"When you get beyond the hype of two 5-0 teams going for the district title, they’re still Brookville and they’re still a very good team," he said. "We’re a better team than we wrestled tonight, but Brookville is a very good team. We knew going into it, we had to win certain matches and it didn’t happen."

Bees coach Don Shuler was quietly confident in the Bees’ chances going in, even without 106-pounder, Ashton Brown, who was sick, and 152-pounder Jimmy Gunter who missed the match after his grandfather died.

"It would have been embarrassing to get beaten by them because, on paper, we were better," Shuler said. "We haven’t seen each other that much this season, but we were pretty sure we could win eight matches."

Brookville wound up winning 10 out of the 14, including three by pin and two by forfeit.

"Some of our kids stepped up and it was fun to watch," Shuler said. "Our better kids came out with pins."

He definitely isn’t going to overlook the Cavaliers in the Seminole District tournament, which Brookville will host on Feb. 4, seeking its 42nd consecutive crown.

"Jefferson Forest is a tough team," Shuler said. "The district tournament is a whole ‘nother battle. It’s a new season [when the tournaments start]. This is all practice."

"It’s going to come down to a lot of final matches we wrestle together," Hutchinson added. "They’ve have a lot in the finals and so will we."