Wrestling: State meet preview

VIRGINIA BEACH

For as long as Kellam’s Aaron Runzo can remember, he has been passionate about wrestling and its reliance on independence.

“Most sports, you do as a team and you depend on everyone else,” the senior 125-pounder said. “Wrestling is an individual sport. Your success depends on how you work – to be the best, you have to train the best.”

And Runzo – 1 of 9 Knights vying for a state championship at the Group AAA tournament beginning today in Fairfax – makes sure no one out-works him.

“You see him in the training room and you never have to worry about him working hard,” said Knights coach Mike Benzel, who has coached Runzo since he joined Kellam’s Mat Rats program for younger kids. “He’s my barometer – if he says he likes it with a smile on his face, I know I’ve killed the other guys.”

Runzo recalls the first time he stepped on the mat. His father, Chris, the head coach at Norfolk Academy, took him to a practice in the first grade.

“They didn’t have anybody my weight,” Aaron Runzo said. “I had to wrestle with coach Benzel’s niece.”

The thirst for success on an international stage developed a few years later, and watching this week’s Winter Olympians are stirring those thoughts again.

Runzo remembers talking with his father about great Olympic wrestlers. So he put in the mat-work. At home, he tangled with dad – a former state champion at Falls Church High – on the living room floor.

Then, there are the hours spent in the weight room. Runzo lifts three times a week in his weightlifting class at school and as much as four times a week at home, Chris Runzo said.

It’s not that Aaron Runzo lacked in that department to begin with – in the sixth grade, his father told him the story of Dallas Cowboys running back Herschel Walker and his regimen of only push-ups and sit-ups. Runzo started with 100 push-up sets and within five months was doing 10 sets a day.

As soon as he hit middle school, he was going through full-body workouts under the guidance of his mother, Beth, a certified personal trainer.

“I couldn’t have it any more perfect,” Aaron Runzo said.

The blend of desire and multi-faceted coaching already has paid off at the state, national and international levels.

Runzo was a state private school champion his freshman year. He was runner-up his sophomore year, then went on to win a Cadet Greco-Roman title in the Junior National Championships at Fargo, N.D. As a junior, he was a Group AAA finalist and finished third in the Pan-American Cadet Championships in Nicaragua.

This year, he’s fixed on the one thing missing: a Group AAA state championship.

“Last year, I had a tough guy in the final,” Runzo said. “I’ve been working that much harder. I’m not leaving without a state title.”

Runzo lost to Colonial Forge’s Michael Garofalo, three-time state champ and four-time finalist who has graduated. Heading into today, Runzo is the clear favorite.

“You always want to accomplish what your dad does,” Runzo said. “It’ll be pretty cool to say my dad and I are state champs.”

Then, Runzo knows it’s back to training.

“I just tell him, 'This is nothing compared to what you want,’” Chris Runzo said. “It’s just preparing you for what’s coming down the road.’ ”

Group AAA state tournament

When Today — first round , noon; quarterfinals, 7 p.m. Saturday — semifinals and consolation quarterfinals, noon; finals, 7:30 p.m.

Where Robinson Secondary School, Fairfax

Tickets $10 per session, $25 for all-session pass.

Outlook Cox has eight qualifiers and is looking to win its first state championship in 24 years. The Falcons have two-time defending champion Ben Dorsay (145) and title-holder Caleb Richardson (112). Other challengers include Cody Stageberg (103), Michael Chalfant (130), Conor O’Hara (215) and four-time private-school champ Bryan Whitt (119), who could meet First Colonial’s Christian Olanowski for the third straight week in a tournament final after splitting the previous two. Kellam brings nine to the tournament, led by Aaron Runzo (125) and Austin D’Amico (140), who were second and sixth, respectively, at states last season, and freshman Turner Bishop (160). Other possible challengers include: Salem’s Zach Kechter (135), Oscar Smith’s Anthony Copeland, Norview’s Adrin Taylor (160), Great Bridge’s Joey Grainger, Kempsville’s Jeremy Mosley (152) and Bryce Barnes (171) and Deep Creek’s Charles Arnold (189).

VISAA state tournament

Outlook Host St. Christopher’s has won eight straight tournaments and is again the favorite when the private-school state competition begins today. Cape Henry could contend with eight wrestlers ranked in the state by VirginiaWrestling.com, including returning state champs Will Mason (103) and Sam Law (160). Norfolk Academy’s Taylor Whitt (125) and Norfolk Collegiate’s David Kirkland (135) should challenge for individual titles.

– Darrell Cuenca

Darrell Cuenca, (757) 446-2039, darrell.cuenca@pilotonline.com