Hornets Place 5th at Patriot Classic

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The Herndon wrestling team posted five individual place-winners, including a 1st place finish from senior Arbaz Hussain, to claim fifth place at the 24-team Patriot Classic on Saturday (Jan. 10) at Northern High School.

Hussain completed his tournament run with a second-period pin over Jake Vermillion of South River. Over the course of the Patriot Classic, Hussain collected two pins and a tight 4-3 decision in the semi-finals. He improves to 24-2 on the season and wins his first tournament title.

“Arbaz wrestled a great tournament. He was able to get a last second takedown in the semis to advance to the finals. He’s improved dramatically from last year. We’ve worked a lot on his mat wrestling this season. Arbaz has been able to use his improved technique in combination with his athleticism to dominate a lot of opponents this year,” Coach Mike Gonzales said about his wrestler.

Junior Daniel Walter took fifth place at 132 pounds after a 3-2 showing during the two day event. Walter wrestled his way into the semi-finals, before dropping a 6-1 decision to Forrestville’s Carlos Jemison. He was able to wrestle-back through the consolation bracket, and end his tournament a 3-1 decision in the fifth place match over South River’s Zach Wasileski.

Junior H.T. Elston placed third at 138 pounds with a 5-1 record at the Patriot Classic. After losing in the quarter-finals, Elston reeled off four victories to reach the consolation finals. He was able to avenge the quarter-finals loss to Forrestville’s Courtney Britton in the bronze medal match, with a dominating 6-0 decision.

Junior Samuel Milligan took third place at 145 pounds with a 4-1 showing at the tournament. Milligan recorded three pins and a technical fall over the span of five matches. Sophomore Thomas Carnogursky earned fifth place at 170 pounds with a 4-2 record. Carnogursky was able to record two pins during the tournament.

Sophomore heavyweight Quadel Corbette finished in fourth place with a 4-2 tournament record. Corbette recorded two pins, and three exciting over-time wins to place at the tournament.

“We had a great tournament. We picked up a lot of bonus points in the first round, which set us up nicely for the second day of competition. After having nine wrestlers in the quarter-finals, and only three moving onto the semi-finals, it was a little disappointing, but I think our guys responded well. I told them that they could rack up a lot of team points wrestling back through the consolations, and they gutted out a lot of wins,” Coach Mike Gonzales said about his overall team performance.

The Hornets hit the road again next weekend as they travel to Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville, MD to compete in a two-day individual tournament.

Top 10 Teams (Final)

1. Old Mill 219.50
2. Oakdale 183.00
3. Walt Whitman 146.00
4. Northern 137.00
5. HERNDON 134.50
6. South River 117.00
7. Broadneck 103.50
8. Sherwood 101.00
9. Calvert 97.00
10. Thomas Stone 96.00