Ashburn, Va. — Independence High School freshman Anthony Ciotoli (106), Woodgrove High School freshman Sawyer Jones (120), Stone Bridge High School senior Zachary Burton (157), Independence High School senior Rafael Hipolito (165), and Riverside High School junior Gift Nwokoro (215) all claimed individual titles in their respective weight classes at the VHSL Region 5D championships on February 11 in Ashburn.
Ciotoli won a close 2-0 decision over Riverbend freshman Noah Rankin at 106 pounds to start the championship rounds, before his teammate Hipolito pinned Riverbend senior Logan Eastman in the first period of the 165-pound bout.
“I feel very accomplished that all my hard work paid off in this tournament,” Hipolito said. “It was really cool for the region championships to be at Independence, so I could put on a show for my family and friends.”
Jones also earned a first-period fall when he pinned Independence sophomore Luke Johnson with 14 seconds left in the first period.
“I’m a freshman, but I hold myself to high expectations,” Jones said. “This was the plan today. I just went in with a killer mindset.”
Burton won a 7-2 decision over Mountain View junior Elijah Beltran to give the Bulldogs their fourth podium finish of the evening.
Then, in what was probably the most intense match of the championship rounds, Nwokoro went toe-to-toe with Briar Woods senior Ethan Lan. Leading 6-3 with less than 30 seconds left, Nwokoro reversed a shot attempt by Lan to earn a takedown and eventually win the match 8-3.
“Ethan is a great wrestler, and he took a lot of great shots, but I was able to defend him and create my own attacks,” Nwokoro said. “I’ve been working hard at practice, and this is just the result of that hard work.”
Mike Ferrara captured 75+ photos at the championships!
Complete Region 5D Championship results…
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106-pound
| Match | Winner | School | Year | Runner Up | School | Year | Result | |
| 1st Place | Anthony Ciotoli | Independence | FR | over | Noah Rankin | Riverbend | FR | Dec 2-0 |
| 3rd Place | Adam Skinner | Woodgrove | FR | over | Aronde Phillips | William Fleming | FR | Dec 3-1 |
| 5th Place | Enmanuel Marin-Mendiola | Patrick Henry | SR | over | Nathan Walton | Stafford | SR | Dec 7-6 |
113-pound
| Match | Winner | School |
Year
|
Runner Up | School | Year | Result | |
| 1st Place | Cadell Lee | Brooke Point | SO | over | Nicholas Sanders | Mountain View | JR | Fall 5:14 |
| 3rd Place | Isaac Hall | Stone Bridge | SO | over | Matthew Parthenakis | Riverbend | SR | Dec 4-2 |
| 5th Place | Camden Murray | Woodgrove | FR | over | Richard Hopkins | William Fleming | FR | MD 9-0 |
120-pound
| Match | Winner | School |
Year
|
Runner Up | School | Year | Result | |
| 1st Place | Sawyer Jones | Woodgrove | FR | over | Luke Johnson | Independence | SO | Fall 1:46 |
| 3rd Place | Chase Beltz | Brooke Point | SO | over | William Etu | Stafford | FR | Dec 6-3 |
| 5th Place | Connor Roark | Mountain View | JR | over | Justin Strier | Briar Woods | SO | Fall 3:47 |
126-pound
| Match | Winner | School |
Year
|
Runner Up | School | Year | Result | |
| 1st Place | Geoff Whelan | Mountain View | JR | over | Benjamin Aguilar | Brooke Point | FR | Dec 5-3 |
| 3rd Place | Cole Wilson | Stone Bridge | FR | over | Brodie Carley | Woodgrove | SO | Dec 9-3 |
| 5th Place | Dominic Laconte | Patrick Henry | JR | over | Nathin Aloi | Stafford | JR | Dec 7-1 |
132-pound
| Match | Winner | School |
Year
|
Runner Up | School | Year | Result | |
| 1st Place | Parker Trahan | Brooke Point | SR | over | Esau Oliveira | Independence | FR | Fall 0:58 |
| 3rd Place | Benjamin Meinert | Mountain View | JR | over | Nic Dimond | Stone Bridge | JR | Dec 7-3 |
| 5th Place | Ben Spagnoli | Woodgrove | SO | over | Kennedy Oti | Stafford | SR | MD 10-1 |
138-pound
| Match | Winner | School |
Year
|
Runner Up | School | Year | Result | |
| 1st Place | Chase Van Hoven | Brooke Point | SO | over | Austen Watson | Woodgrove | JR | TF-1.5 3:39 (18-1) |
| 3rd Place | Dominic Castrejon | Mountain View | SO | over | Cameron Rasmussen | Riverbend | SO | MD 11-1 |
| 5th Place | Daniel Pedralvez | Stone Bridge | SO | over | Kasey Hollingsworth | Massaponax | JR | MD 13-4 |
144-pound
| Match | Winner | School |
Year
|
Runner Up | School | Year | Result | |
| 1st Place | Carson Main | Riverbend | JR | over | Tyler Traves | Mountain View | FR | Dec 7-4 |
| 3rd Place | Gabriel Cortes | Stafford | JR | over | Peyton Beal | Independence | SR | Fall 0:34 |
| 5th Place | Andrew Woodley | Woodgrove | SR | over | Robert Kinstle | Riverside | SR | Fall 2:46 |
150-pound
| Match | Winner | School |
Year
|
Runner Up | School | Year | Result | |
| 1st Place | Zachary Turner | Riverbend | SR | over | Augustus Fleming | Brooke Point | JR | SV-1 3-1 |
| 3rd Place | Blake Jones | Mountain View | SO | over | Kristian Molina | Stafford | SR | Dec 13-7 |
| 5th Place | Thomas Newman | Independence | SR | over | Cooper Arnestad | Riverside | JR | Fall 2:24 |
157-pound
| Match | Winner | School |
Year
|
Runner Up | School | Year | Result | |
| 1st Place | Zachary Burton | Stone Bridge | SR | over | Elijah Beltran | Mountain View | JR | Dec 7-2 |
| 3rd Place | Nick Kellen | Independence | FR | over | Brendan Rasmussen | Riverbend | SR | Dec 5-2 |
| 5th Place | Victor Prosekov | Briar Woods | JR | over | Nick Carlson | Riverside | SR | Fall 4:41 |
165-pound
| Match | Winner | School |
Year
|
Runner Up | School | Year | Result | |
| 1st Place | Rafael Hipolito | Independence | SR | over | Logan Eastman | Riverbend | SR | Fall 1:43 |
| 3rd Place | Randall Brown | Stone Bridge | JR | over | Connor Dezorzi | North Stafford | SR | Fall 4:55 |
| 5th Place | Chance Wingert | Brooke Point | JR | over | Rashad Parham | Harrisonburg | JR | Fall 3:28 |
175-pound
| Match | Winner | School |
Year
|
Runner Up | School | Year | Result | |
| 1st Place | Corey Bell | Mountain View | JR | over | Lennon Soaper | Riverbend | SR | Inj. 0:00 |
| 3rd Place | Jonathan Korte | Stone Bridge | JR | over | Christian Moffett | Woodgrove | SR | Dec 5-3 |
| 5th Place | Jovanny Gonzales | William Fleming | FR | over | Roman Chornoblavskyi | Harrisonburg | SR | Fall 2:54 |
190-pound
| Match | Winner | School |
Year
|
Runner Up | School | Year | Result | |
| 1st Place | Jacob Wright | Riverbend | SR | over | Remus Montalvo | Brooke Point | SR | Dec 7-6 |
| 3rd Place | Cameron Owens | Woodgrove | JR | over | Nathaniel Hanna | Riverside | JR | Dec 8-2 |
| 5th Place | Jack Kellen | Independence | SR | over | Mehsen Al-Shablawi | Patrick Henry | SR | Fall 1:44 |
215-pound
| Match | Winner | School |
Year
|
Runner Up | School | Year | Result | |
| 1st Place | Gift Nwokoro | Riverside | JR | over | Ethan Lan | Briar Woods | SR | Dec 8-3 |
| 3rd Place | Issac Castrejon | Mountain View | SR | over | Tufan Khalilov | Albemarle | JR | Fall 2:02 |
| 5th Place | Jacob Pressinger | Riverbend | JR | over | Eduadro Vargas | Brooke Point | SR | Dec 5-1 |
285-pound
| Match | Winner | School |
Year
|
Runner Up | School | Year | Result | |
| 1st Place | Clay Bachman | Mountain View | JR | over | Jacob Mccollam | Riverbend | JR | Dec 7-0 |
| 3rd Place | Alex Musselman | Stone Bridge | SR | over | Christopher McCullers | Woodgrove | SR | Fall 3:50 |
| 5th Place | Thomas Lagana | Massaponax | SR | over | James Fugal | Albemarle | SO | Fall 2:10 |