Herndon Finishes 3rd in Conference Duals and 4th at Conference Tournament

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The Herndon wrestling team wrapped up their regular season last week. The Hornets went 3-2 in conference duals held on Tuesday and Wednesday, finishing in 3rd place for the regular season. Herndon edged Centreville 36-33 in the first round, before losing a close match against Chantilly 30-39. Robinson proved to be a tough match-up for the Hornets, as the Rams cruised to a 60-15 win to close out the first day of competition. On the second day of competition, the Hornets were able to rebound in a big way, pulling off a highly-contested upset of heavy favorite Westfield, 39-36. The Hornets closed out the evening with a dominating 45-18 win over Oakton.

“Obviously, we were happy with our dual performance. We haven’t beaten Westfield in like ten years. We had some guys do some great things, and we did exactly what we needed to do in order to beat a team like that. We surprised a lot of people in the stands, and proved that we’re a program on the rise,” Herndon head coach Mike Gonzales said.

The Hornets headed into the conference tournament with some momentum, and were able to advance 10 wrestlers to the semi-finals. However, after starting the tournament well, Herndon had a tough go in the later rounds. They only advanced four wrestlers to the championship finals, and went 0-9 in the medal matches with a #2 seed failing to place. Despite the setback, those nine wrestlers punched their tickets to the 6A Northern Region tournament at Fairfax High School this weekend.

“I’m a little disappointed with how we wrestled at this tournament. We’ve been trying to get over the hump all season. Our wrestlers will beat the guys they should beat, but we’re not winning those tough matches that we might not be favored to win on paper. Also, we lost some matches to kids we pinned a couple days earlier in the dual meets. That shouldn’t happen. We’ll go back to the practice room and get refocused for regionals.”

Coach Mike Gonzales was named the Conference 5’s Wrestling Coach of the Year after guiding the Hornets to upset victories over Centreville and Westfield, and their strong performance against Chantilly.

“I am honored to be recognized by my peers to receive this award in a year where we made big strides as a program,” said Gonzales.

Dual Meet Standings

1. Robinson 5-0
2. Chantilly 4-1
3. Herndon 3-2
4. Westfield 2-3
5. Centreville 1-4
6. Oakton 0-5

2016 Individual Results

• Andrew Synnott 4th at 120 pounds
• Daniel Lyons 4th at 138 pounds
• H.T. Elston 4th at 145 pounds
• Sam Milligan 2nd at 152 pounds
• Robbie Davey 2nd at 160 pounds
• Josh Poulson 4th at 170 pounds
• Nate Shirey 4th at 182 pounds
• Jonah Poulson 2nd at 195 pounds
• Francis Adomako-Mensah 2nd at HWT

Conference Tournament Final Standings

1. Robinson
2. Chantilly
3. Westfield
4. Herndon
5. Centreville
6. Oakton