The Brentsville District wresting team is posed to make a significant run at the Group AA state tournament as the Tigers will be sending six members to the finals.

Seth Henson (135 pounds), Will Prados (160), Zach Roseberry (189) and Brandon Thompson (215) all earned second place during the Region II meeting this past weekend at Orange County High School while Tim Nordan (112) and Tyler (119) both came in third. That led the Tigers as a whole to a third-place finish overall with 158.5 points, the best showing of any school from the 703 area.

Heavily-favored Fauquier earned 260 points on the strength of 11 top-four finishes, including four first-place winners, to bring home the regional title. Brentsville's former district rival Millbrook came in second overall with 189 points.

Brentsville edged out fourth-place Freedom as the Eagles from South Riding racked up 150 points in the 26-team field. No other team broke 100 points.

"Our goal is always the same every time we go out," said Brentsville head coach Jess Moore. "Be ready to win against people we're not supposed to win (against)... This weekend, we had a lot of people getting upsets."

Moore explained that Nordan "had an incredibly tough bracket and a tough draw" as he faced opponents from the Dulles district that were "all ranked above him."

Nordan pinned his first two opponents before falling to eventual winner Rick Rea of Potomac Finals in the semi-finals. Knocked down to the consolation bracket, Nordan struck back with another pin against Skyline before claiming a 12-10 win over Briar Woods in the third-place trophy round.

The Tigers' coach credited Nordan's "very unorthodox style" for leading to so many pins. Instead of shooting for an opponent's legs, Nordan prefers to "counter wrestle," said Moore, meaning that he'll tussle on the mat and "put the other wrestling in a position that he's uncomfortable with" instead of shooting first.

Fake started strong with a second-period pin in the first round but had to battle back after being pinned by Freedom in the second round. The third-year varsity wrestler Fake rebounded well by earning a 13-2 major decision victory over Park View in order to face off against a multi-time state qualifier from Louisa who had shut Fake out during the regular season.

The Brentsville junior wrestled neutrally entering the third period when he scored a four-point combination and held on to win by one point, earning a berth to states and a trip to the third place round. There, he won by default over Loudoun County.

"He's been a really strong varsity wrestler for us," said Moore, adding that fake "really sort of bought into our idea of year-round wrestling."

Henson, a team captain, state veteran and perennial favorite in virtually every match he entered, performed up to task by wrestling "dominantly" up until he came across his district nemesis Greg Flourney in the finals. Henson had scored two technical falls and one 14-3 major decision victory in the run-up to the title bout, only to end up pinned by one of the best in the state.

"Since the Freedom tournament, he's been really able to take care of all the little mistakes that he would make against lesser opponents and tighten up his game," said Moore of Henson. "And that's going to help him next week. He wants to be on top of the podium."

The problem against Flourney is he happens to be a "just a hammer on top," said Moore. The coach figured Henson would need to win every take down just to secure victory at all entering the match, but Flourney rides a "tight waist" when he wrestles and "hammers us until we give up the elbows and then he bars us."

As for Henson, "I'm sure he wants Thursday to get here" quickly, said Moore.

Prados may have been one of Brentsville's biggest surprises of the tournament as he never even ranked in the top eight in the region during the season. According to Moore, Prados's game improved right before the district tournament. The coach explained that Prados managed to put the rough and tumbles of a grueling season behind him and just focus on finishing out the year on a strong note.

"He was able to compete at the best level that he could compete at," said Moore, mentioning that Prados "wrestled within himself."

The junior blistered the competition at regions, pinning opponents from Potomac Falls, Charlottesville and Freedom all in the second round of each match on his way to the championship, where he lost 12-0 against Loudoun County. In the semi-finals, he gave up a takedown only to quickly score a reverse and put his foe into a "power half," according to Moore, leading to the pin.

"His attitude was 'I'm not supposed to be here anyway.' He was very loose," said Moore.

Roseberry may have been a victim of his own success as he "wrestled a strong tournament up until the finals," the coach said. "He didn't really get a good workout in" against Louisa, James Wood and Western Albermarle, as he pinned each of them in relatively short time, including two in the first round.

Millbrook's Joe Jessen proved to be much tougher company as he earned a second-round pin in the finals thanks in part to a tough arm-bar.

At this point in the season, Roseberry is "much more confident on his leg attacks" than earlier, Moore said. "He knows if the initial shot fails, he'll be able to re-shot and finish. He's not scared to go after the guys."

Thompson, who earned a bid to states last season as a sophomore, "wrestled a very good tournament into the finals," said Moore. An 18-4 major decision win in the first round versus Orange County and a first-round pin against Briar Woods led to a tough bout against Millbrook that put Thompson on top 3-2.

"The guy was very defensive but also very explosive, so if you over-extended yourself you were going to get thrown," said the coach. Thompson instead found a way to control the pace of the match and wear down his Pioneer opponent for the win that sent him into the finals.

That's where James Wood's Mark Beam, who won his prior two matches without a pin after a last-second fall in the first round, ended up pulling off a flawless match by taking the title 6-0.

"This weekend, we were tough mentally. We were able to bounce back from losses. That's what's going to put us on a podium," said Moore as he discussed about his team’s mindset entering states. "We're going to get up. They're tough wrestlers and they'll be able to bounce back."