Great Bridge tops Cox in hyped wrestling dual, but both coaches can’t wait to do it again
A raucous Great Bridge crowd erupted with each slap of the mat.
The Wildcats’ wrestling team, ranked No. 1 in Hampton Roads, led No. 2 Cox by 12 points through eight matches before the tsunami hit.
Five straight first-period pins sent fans into a frenzy as Great Bridge pulled away for an eventual 56-20 win Thursday night.
“I thought the atmosphere from the original thought process was spot-on,” Wildcats coach Steve Martin said. “I don’t think you could have hoped for a much better crowd than that.”
The dual was planned as a throwback Friday night contest between two of the top programs in eastern Virginia. When the snowstorm postponed last week’s original Friday date, Martin and Cox coach Dalton Head didn’t want to let this opportunity melt.
“This was huge,” said Matt Small, who coached both Great Bridge and Cox to state titles and now serves as an assistant under Martin. “Tapping into both fan bases, both programs, alumni bases, getting guys to come back out and relish in the moment of the time they put in here and watch the next crop.”
While Small enjoyed his time at Cox, he will always have a soft spot for his alma mater.
“There’s just something about Great Bridge,” Small said. “And I’ve been at both schools, but it’s just something about these walls from a teacher standpoint, from an athletic standpoint, it’s just very rich and pride in tradition.”
Aaron Turner kick-started the match with an 18-4 major decision for Great Bridge before Cox’s Colin Bridges, No. 1 at 152 pounds, earned a pin in 35 seconds.
At 160, No. 2 Ty Chittum of Great Bridge escaped an early painful hold by No. 3 Parker Tillery and dominated the latter half of the match for a 16-4 win.
“He came out and wrestled pretty solid, I gotta give that to him,” said Chittum, a senior. “I didn’t wrestle as good as I could have, but I got the job done and it is what it is.”
Chittum was a state runner-up in his freshman year and placed third as a sophomore before Chesapeake schools prohibited a wrestling season in 2020-21 due to the pandemic.
“I really got stronger,” Chittum said. “I hit the gym like crazy and that’s all I did was lift, lift, lift for a good six months during that time. ... This is my last chance to achieve my lifelong dream (of a state title), so I’m all focused right now.”
Noah Lawrence (170), Owen Schuller (182) and Jared Williams (195) earned pins for Great Bridge, while Cox’s Aiden Manning knocked off No. 3 Braeden Fluke 7-5 at 220 pounds. Graydon Howard scored a third-period pin to pull Cox within 26-14.
Then Jack Sawyer (106), Noah Ortiz (113), Max Martin (120), Caleb Neal (126) and Eric Doran (132) removed all doubt with first-period pins.
“We want these kids firing on all 10 cylinders at the end of the year,” Martin said, “and I think we’re close to that.”
Region tournaments can begin next Friday, and matches like this help find those final details to tweak.
“It was awesome,” Head said. “We thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing. Obviously we would’ve liked to win, but the guys came out here and fought tooth and nail, and we’ll do it at our place next year.
“I think it was great for the sport. I haven’t seen this many people at a high school wrestling match outside of Pennsylvania in a long time.”
Ray Nimmo, ray.nimmo@pilotonline.com
