Mason High Wrestlers Places 6th at Raider Invitational
David Ray remained undefeated and Jake Schwind continued his winning ways as both George Mason High School wrestling team members captured individual titles at the J.E.B. Stuart High School Raider Invitational held on Saturday, Dec. 20.
Ray ran his season record to 13-0, as he pinned all of his opponents en route to the championship in the 152-pound weight class. Schwind, who is 16-2 this season, matched his teammate by also pinning his three opponents at the 171-pound weight class.
Fellow senior Tim Hillegass, who lost a close semi-final match, came back to finish in third at 145 pounds and junior Manuel Veiga-Diaz continued to impress at 215 by finishing second. Jackson Thomas started the day by winning his first two matches but lost his next two to finish out of the medal round.
As a team the Mustangs placed 6th in the 12-team tournament. The Mustangs will host the GM Dual Tournament on Jan. 10 before beginning the Bull Run District duals the following weekend at Strasburg High School.
Falls Church H.S. Basketball Suffers Losses
In addition to downing George Mason in the seventh-place game of the Pohanka Classic on Tuesday, the Jaguars fell in two straight games in earlier action at Chantilly. On Saturday morning, Falls Church lost to South County High School, 68-62 and then to Riverbend on Monday, 70-58. Junior Nate Jones and senior Sam Gerima led all Jaguar scorers on Saturday, posting 17 points apiece, while junior Michael Medlej and senior Evan Hansen each had ten. However, no other Jaguar scored above three points, while South County rode Antonio Butler’s (20 points) hot shooting night to victory. Against Riverbend in the loser’s bracket on Monday morning, a new pair of scorers emerged for Falls Church, as sophomore Nizar Alamin and senior Kyle Gotcher had 14 points apiece. Medlej tacked on 13 while Jones added eight.
Falls Church looks to continue the confidence established at Chantilly with a district contest against Mount Vernon High School at home at 7:45 p.m. on Jan. 6.
Stellar Performance for J.E.B. Stuart at Bluffton
Journeying down the coastline to South Carolina, the Raiders took the opening contest of the Bluffton Bobcat Classic over Sullivan Central (TN), 64-43. Junior Antonio Harris Jr. led all scorers with 23 points, including three long-range bombs from beyond the arc. Seniors Mo Ibrahim and Raymond Watson each tacked on 11 points, while senior Usman Zaman added nine to round out the solid all-around effort for Stuart.
Stuart limited the Cougars to just six points in the second quarter and seven in the third, as the Raiders posted double-digit points in all four periods. Collectively, Stuart shot 52.6 percent from the free-throw line, keeping Sullivan Central at bay for a large portion of the contest.
The Raiders moved on to the second round of the tournament, but results were not available at press time. Stuart returns from the Winter Break to host Edison High School at 7:45 p.m. on Jan. 6 in AAA National District action.
