The Swamp Fox grapplers defeated Bishop England 63-15 Jan. 28 to clinch the first wrestling region championship for Ashley Ridge High School.
The Foxes pinned five opponents en route to winning 11 out of 14 weight classes.
Action began in the 140-pound class, where Cameron Turner won by pin. Xavier Sierra followed with a win by pin in the 145-pound match and Ashley Ridge was out to a 12-0 start. Also winning by pin for the Foxes were Chris Battle (285), Alyx Comley (103) and Chris Zaleski (135).
Emilio Uc-Tun jumped up a division for the Foxes and earned an 8-3 decision at 125. Winning matches by forfeit for Ashley Ridge were Alex Hughes (160), Kai Clark (171), Humberto Machin (189), Louis Waechter (112) and Trevor Huggins (119).
“This is exciting for us,” Uc-Tun said. “I think it shows that for a second-year program, we’ve come along way. Last year, we went to Bishop England and they mopped the floor with us. We’ve got a good group of guys this year and being a part of this team really means something to us. I think that is the major difference.”
Ashley Ridge finishes the regular season with a 17-9 record. However, that record isn’t the best measuring stick for how far the team has come since last year, when the team struggled due in part to its numbers. Many of the losses this season came in tournaments, where the Foxes faced high-quality teams, including some 4-A teams.
“We’ve worked really hard all year and our coaches are good at pushing us to get the most out of us,” Waechter said. “We had a couple of starters injured so I’m just happy we were able to pull it out.”
Heavyweight Shelby Smith and 130-pounder Anthony Robinson weren’t able to participate in last week’s match because of injuries, but Ashley Ridge coach Stacey Woods says both wrestlers were major contributors for the team this season. Other contributors who didn’t win against Bishop England include Andre Hill, Otis Neals and Jack Masur.
Ashley Ridge opens the playoffs Wednesday. Woods is hoping the team will earn its first playoff victory, but says if it doesn’t the team still had a good year.
“We were able to fill up all those holes we couldn’t last year,” he said. “We are still a young team, with 10 underclassmen starters, but this is a group that wants to be here and they work hard day in and day out. We have tough kids and good leaders with unbelievable work ethic.”
The Foxes didn’t lose a single home match all season. Uc-Tun only lost a couple of matches and they were to the same wrestler, who he did defeat during a third match.

Contact Roger Lee @ 873-9424 ext. 213 or rlee@journalscene.com.