Robinson Secondary School Wrestling: Wrestling Installment

State Champs and Hall of Famers

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Before I begin, I want to thank all of you for your hard work and dedication for our program! We couldn't have the success that we've had without your support!

Robinson brings home the VHSL AAA State Championship!

This past weekend the Rams completed their last business trip of the year. After the region, we took 9 wrestlers and one alternate to Oscar Smith High School in Chesapeake, VA to compete in the AAA States. Our draws were tough, and we knew that we had serious work to do to earn the championship. Friday began on a tough note when Austin Riggs and Dallas Smith were defeated, but the entire team was up for the challenge. After day 1, all 9 of our wrestlers were in the medal round, and we had a slight team score lead.

On Saturday morning, we had some big victories with bonus points, and our lead continued to increase. We put 3 wrestlers into the finals, 3 in the consolation finals, 2 in the fifth/sixth round and 1 in the seventh/eighth round.

Dane Robbins started the final round off with a 2-3 victory for 7th. Greyson Olimpo followed wrestling back to 5th, and Daniel Mika lost a war 3-2 to take 6th. Following Daniels's match, Austin Riggs wrestled all the way back from his round 1 loss to finish with a pin for 3rd! Dallas Smith also took the long road, but he was a hero who lost a 3-2 war against his nemesis from Westfield…I was so proud of both Austin and Dallas for the character they showed wrestling back!!! Finally Zak Depasquale lost a 8-6 overtime battle for 4th, but if you remember the hard luck story from last year, I would say that Zak's comeback was extraordinary!!!! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAtTEx9t59s)

In the championship finals, Jack Bass lost 3-1 on a last second takedown to Taylor Misuna of Grassfield (another national level wrestler), earlier in the match there was a controversial no call that could have made a big difference, but I was proud of the character that Jack showed in defeat! Cole Depasquale lost a 5-2 match against Brett Stein of Forest Park to finish 2nd. As a sophomore, Cole worked well throughout the tournament, and we know he'll be back again. At heavyweight, Jake Pinkston shook the past off his back by winning a state title in his 3rd state final by a 5-4 score over Anthony Helm of Matoaca. It was an emotional moment as he sprinted up the bleachers to hug his dad!
As a TEAM, we scored lots of bonus points in day 2 and outlasted runner-up team Westfield 142.5 to 101.

Champion	Runner-up	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth	Seventh
Jake Pinkston 285	Jack Bass 152	Austin Riggs 126	Dallas Smith 138	Greyson Olimpo 106	Daniel Mika 182	Dane Robbins 132
	Cole Depasquale 170		Zak Depasquale 160

http://www.robinsonathletics.com/index.cfm?action=main.teamarticle&id=26627&articleID=17346493

The Epperly's and Bobby D headline the Robinson Hall of Fame
As I said in last weeks' installment, Robinson has chosen their inaugural Hall of Fame class, and three of our own have made the cut. Coach Epperly, Johnny Epperly and Bobby Deprospero are headlining the class of athletes, coaches and contributors! Tickets to this Athletic booster event are on sale, and the ceremony will be on Sunday March 10 at the Paradise Springs Winery in Clifton, VA. To purchase tickets, you can go to - http://www.robinsonathleticsboosters.com/HallofFame

I am so proud to be a part of this lineage, and I hope to see many of you at the event to wish these men well!

Thanks again for all that you do!
Coach Hazard
703-517-6825