Herndon Wrestler Sam Milligan Places Third at 6A State Championships

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Herndon junior 152-pound wrestler Sam Milligan went 2-1 Friday evening and placed third at the 6A State Championships at Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax. Herndon finished 22nd in the overall team standings.

Milligan is the first All-State wrestler for Herndon since Trey Small placed fourth at heavyweight in 2004.

Due to the inclement weather forecasted for Saturday, the format of the state tournament was changed to a one-day, single-elimination event on Friday. The normal format would have had all the wrestlers compete for first through eighth places. This meant whoever lost in the quarter-final would not have an opportunity to wrestle-back for third place and would be eliminated from the tournament.

Fortunately, Milligan won his first match 9-3 against Jared Mills of Franklin County. He scored a takedown early in the first period, and was able to dominate Mills for the rest of the match. Milligan scored two more takedowns, an escape, and a set of back points to widen his margin of victory.

Milligan faced the 6A North Region champion Conor Grammes of McLean in the semi-finals. In an exciting flurry in the first period, Milligan took Grammes down to his back, but Grammes was able to scramble out, and the referee did not award either wrestler any points. Milligan was able to score a late takedown to take a 2-0 lead heading into the second period. Grammes chose bottom for the second period, and was able to escape to trim the lead to 2-1. Grammes secured a takedown in the second to go up 4-2 going into the third period. Milligan chose bottom for the third period, and was able to score an escape to make the match 4-3 with one minute left. Milligan went on the offensive with several shot attempts, which were defended well by Grammes. Eventually, Grammes was able to score on a go-behind from one of Milligan’s last shot attempts, to take a 6-3 decision.

Milligan dropped to the consolation finals, where faced Emmanuel Mugoya of Chantilly for the fourth time this season. Mugoya won two narrow decisions during the regular season and conference tournament, but Milligan pinned him in the region consolation finals. Milligan was able to tie the season series and take home the third place medal with a first period pin.

“Sam showed what his capable of doing. It was a huge effort. His win against the kid from Franklin County in the quarter-finals was big,” Herndon coach Mike Gonzales said. “This is a huge step for our program and for what is hopefully to come in the future.”

Milligan’s overall season record was 33-12. He placed third in the conference, region, and state tournaments this year.