It’s not a shocker that Christiansburg won its ninth consecutive Group AA wrestling title over the weekend at the Salem Civic Center, although Grundy gave the Blue Demons a run for their money. Glenvar won its second straight Group A title at the 18th annual A & AA Virginia State Wrestling Championships as well, after two solid days of action in front of near-packed houses at the Civic Center.
Hidden Valley finished 10th in Group AA, with senior David Williams capturing the 160 lb. title. Salem was 13th, Cave Spring 25th and Northside 30th. For the Naval Academy-bound Williams it was the capping to a senior season that saw him rush for more than 2,000 yards on the football field. Williams finished 3rd in the state last year at 145 lbs. in the wrestling championships.
“It’s awesome,” said Williams, who started wrestling in the 7th grade after being cut from his middle school basketball team. “After winning the districts in 7th grade I set the goal of winning state.” Five years later that goal was realized in front of his hometown crowd. “A great way to finish it,” said Williams.
All of the extra effort — the summer camps, wrestling outside of the school season, “all of that paid off,” said Williams, who had to wait until he was a senior at Hidden Valley to blossom on the football field, since he was stuck behind established runners.
Williams said he has no second thoughts about leaving competitive wrestling behind: “I’m playing football at the Naval Academy. I finished my senior year winning a state championship, which is awesome.” Williams was also the first Hidden Valley Titan ever to reach a state wrestling final. “And I ended up winning it. It feels amazing.”
By Gene Marrano [email protected]