Anongos, Allala end drought

CHESAPEAKE -- For Jared Anongos, it took more wins than any other wrestler in Virginia history before he finally got the one that means the most. The senior 135-pounder won his first Group AAA title last night at Oscar Smith High School, the first winner for James River and the first for the Central Region since 2002.

Showing his signature quickness, Anongos scored a crisp takedown in overtime to defeat Robinson's Roman Perryman 3-1.

"The first couple of shots, I couldn't really finish," Anongos said.

"I got in really deep, but I couldn't finish them. I guess I wasn't turning fast enough or whatever. The last one, I just wanted to finish it as fast as I could because I knew if I got in and didn't finish it fast, then it wasn't going to happen."

His best previous finish was third last year at 130 pounds.

"The pressure was more on in my semis match," he said, "just because I'd never gotten this far, never gotten past that round. It was kind of like getting over a wall that I hadn't gotten over yet."

He finished his high school career 215-19.

"Jared has always been that guy that you, you kind of guide him, you know that your words have a certain amount of impact," Rapids coach Mark Helberg said, "but he's going to go out there and handle his business anyway. . . . We talked a little bit about risk vs. reward, and in the state tournament, sometimes you have to change it up a little bit."

As quickly as Anongos became the Central Region's first state champion since 2002, Hopewell freshman Cody Allala made it two. Allala defeated Matoaca sophomore Blake Roulo 10-2 for the 145-pound title.

The 145-pound final, a rematch of the Central District and Central Region championships, indicated that the next drought won't be nearly so long.

Allala jumped out to a 5-0 lead by getting the early takedown and turning Roulo, who fought off his back to the end of the period.

"It was very exciting," Allala said. "But how I planned it. I mean, it was going to be me and Blake in the finals all through districts, regionals and states. I know it was going to be a real close match. I didn't expect to have him on his back in the first period."

The championship match was the fifth time the two have met in high school matches and the fifth time Allala has walked away a winner.

After picking up close wins in the first to meetings, Hopewell coach Mike Henderson and his young star talked about wrestling conservatively against Roulo until they met again in the big match.

"We just needed to do what we had to do to win it," Henderson said. "I know that Blake can sit there, just like Cody, and start to pick up on things."

Deep Run junior Peyton Walsh was the first Richmond-area wrestler in the finals, losing a 5-2 decision to senior Shane Gentry at 119 pounds. With the win, Gentry clinched the team title for defending champion Colonial Forge, which finished with 121 points. Fauquier was second with 97.5. James River came in eighth with 69, and Hopewell was 10th with 42 points.

"It was awesome, all the people cheering, everybody's attention," Walsh said. "It was a great opportunity."