King’s Fork High School had five wrestlers gain good experience over the holidays by competing against unfamiliar competition in the 2013 Cavalier Classic hosted by Wilbert Tucker Woodson High School in Fairfax.

Senior Aaron Hommell fared the best, finishing second in the 160-pound weight class, while sophomore 120-pounder Andy Hall and freshman heavyweight Travius Cheeks each placed fourth.

“I think they all did OK, they all did well,” Bulldogs head coach Brett Heberling said.

Hommell started with two wins, the first on a four-minute pin and then from an 11-2 major decision. In the finals, he ended up being pinned in three minutes and 30 seconds by Brett Simon of St. John’s College High School out of Washinton D.C.

“It was a pretty talented kid,” Heberling said of Simon.

Hommell did well despite lingering effects from a fractured thumb that forced him to sit out the beginning of the season.

“The only thing that’s going to fix it is just absolutely doing nothing,” Heberling said, noting the full recovery will come in the off-season.

“We’re going to get him ready for the conference coming up, and he’s excited, and he really wants to place,” Heberling said.

Andy Hall lost his first match by a 7-4 decision, moving him to the consolation bracket. In his next opportunity, he won by a 7-2 decision and got a bye into the third place final, because there was no one to fill the semifinal bracket. In the final, he was pinned by Ben Levinson of Robinson Secondary School in one minute and 30 seconds.

Travius Cheeks advanced with a pin, then lost by technical fall. Another successful pin put him in the third-place final, but he fell there to Brendan Casey of Robinson by pin in three minutes, 20 seconds.

Freshman Jackson Stone fell in his two matches at the 113-pound level. Senior 220-pounder Tre’onte Beale opened up with a victory by pin, but was disqualified from the tournament in his next match for using an illegal move. Heberling said this was a misunderstanding by the officials.

The coach was excited by the progress shown by first-year wrestlers Beale and Cheeks.

“They’re both starting to really come along and develop,” he said. He praised Cheeks’ zeal to get the win early. “He always tells me, ‘I don’t want to go three periods. I want to pin the kid.’”

Heberling was disappointed more of his wrestlers did not make the trip, but was excited to provide the kind of traveling experience he had regularly when he wrestled in high school.

He said, “Except for Aaron and Andy, it was Jackson and Tre’onte and Travius’ first time traveling and staying in a hotel” for a wrestling event.

Though not nearly as far, the Bulldogs’ traveling will continue today and next week. Today, King’s Fork participates in the King Of Beasts Invitational at Tallwood High School in Virginia Beach. Next Wednesday, they will be at Lakeland High School. Then on Friday, they head to Eastville for the two-day Fred Diem/Scott Miles Memorial 10-team individual event.

Following are the results from the 2013 Cavalier Classic in Fairfax:

Team results

1st-St. John’s College High School, 211; 2nd-Massaponax High School, 171; 3rd-Falls Church High School, 110; 4th-Robinson Secondary School, 81; 5th-Wilbert Tucker Woodson High School, 78.5; 6th-Yorktown High School, 56; 7th-Atlee High School, 54; 8th-King’s Fork High School, 37; 9th-Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, 27.

King’s Fork individual results

Jackson Stone at 113

Bye; lost to Danny Klein (Mass) by pin 0:08; lost to Chris Lee (WTW) by pin 0:30

Andy Hall at 120

Lost to Kyle Popielski (Atl) by Dec 7-4; beat Will Dickison (WTW) by Dec 7-2; bye; lost to Ben Levinson (Rob) by pin 1:30

Aaron Hommell at 160

Beat Zach Wentz (SJ) by pin 4:00; beat Brian Brooks (Rob) by Maj Dec 11-2; lost to Brett Simon (SJ) by pin 3:30

Tre’onte Beale at 220

Beat Josh Blaz (Rob) by pin 1:47; disqualified against Tom McNamara (SJ)

Travius Cheeks at 285

Beat Alexis Reyes (YKT) by pin 1:28; lost to Zach Outzen (WTW) by Tech Fall (15-0); beat Damien Terry (FC) by pin 3:35; lost to Brendan Casey (Rob) by pin 3:20