Senior Jeremy Bussard earned second place at the Virginia State Wrestling Championships in Chesapeake last Saturday, ending the season with a record of 49-3.

Bussard lost in the finals to T.C. Williams’ Sam O’Hair 4-2, after a close match that was decided at the end of the third period.

The match was scoreless for the first two periods, but as time wound down in the third period, the score was tied 2-2. Both wrestlers looked to get the final points that would put them on top, but it was O’Hair who ended up with the final takedown, riding Bussard for the last 50 seconds of the match. A third-place finisher at last year’s state tournament, O’Hair finished this season undefeated and first in the state. The two had actually wrestled eight days earlier in the regional semi-finals, where O’Hair defeated Bussard 1-0.

En route to his second place finish, Bussard won three consecutive matches, including a victory over defending state champion Ivan Lagares of Woodbridge, 7-3, and Eric Monday of Madison, 9-3.

The second-place finish at the state tournament ended a very successful season for Bussard which included a district title and a third-place finish in regionals.

Bussard said that he was upset at the loss to O’Hair, but was pleased with how the season went for him.

However, Bussard was not the only Highlander that participated in the state tournament. Sophomore Troy Hayre qualified for states in the 130-pound division, but lost a very close match to Justin Hickey from Freedom High School. The score was tied at 5-5 with only ten seconds remaining, however, Hayre committed a technical violation by locking his hands illegally giving Hickey the win. Hayre was eliminated in his next match when he lost to Derek Gillespie of Great Bridge, who would eventually finish in third place.

Bussard and Hayre qualified for the state tournament by winning their consolation round semi-finals matches at the regional tournament that took place last week at Hayfield. Bussard took third place in the tournament after he beat Ryan McGrath from Robinson, and Hayre ended up in fourth after losing to Melot Teymorian of Marshall.

Junior Tim Goodsell and senior Danny Houck also competed in the regional tournament, but failed to place for states. Goodsell ended up finishing in fifth place in the 215-pound division after losing an overtime match to a Herndon wrestler, but winning a match against Josh Allen from Langley. Houck finished in sixth place in the 152-pound division after losing two of his matches.