Nansemond River’s wrestling team produced a winner, while a large number of toys were donated for children during the seventh annual Mike Duman Toys for Tots Wrestling Invitational Tournament over the weekend at Nansemond River High School.

“I think it was the most successful one we’ve had,” tournament director John Bostwick said, noting everything from the team participation and the quality of wrestling to the number of spectators and the number of toys donated was impressive.

He said there were about five full Toys for Tots boxes by the end of the event.

It was not just spectators donating; wrestling teams got in on the act, too.

If teams brought 14 toys, one for each weight class, “we were giving them a $50 refund on their entry fee,” Bostwick said. “So it’s just an incentive, trying to get them involved in the Toys for Tots, too.”

He estimated that between 350 and 400 spectators attended the event, and when including wrestlers, coaches, sponsors, administrators and bus drivers, attendance for the tournament was probably around a thousand people.

Deep Creek High School had to drop out due to illness on its team, but the field of 27 wrestling squads from Virginia and North Carolina was still the biggest ever in the history of the event, which Bostwick said is essentially like a region-level tournament now.

Nansemond River junior heavyweight wrestler Dia Gray was the lone winner from a Suffolk school, defeating Smithfield High School’s Ross Manfred in the event by a 3-1 decision for the second straight year.

“He got a takedown in the last 20 seconds to go up 3-1, and that’s usually how all their matches go,” Warriors coach Tripp Seed said, “He’s wrestling well.”

Gray (15-1) and Manfred (10-1), a senior, have been rivals for the last couple of years. Manfred defeated Gray at the Region 4A South championships last season by a 3-1 decision. Barring injury, they will face each other again during a match on Jan. 22 but not in the postseason as their schools are now part of different classifications.

Not limiting his avenging to Manfred over the weekend, “Dia beat a kid in the semifinals that he got pinned by over the summer at nationals,” Seed said.

The opponent was Woodbridge Senior High School senior Cameron McAfee, and Gray beat him this time by a 4-1 decision.

Another Warrior reached his weight class final during the weekend’s invitational as “Malcolm (Dawson) finished second to a kid he’s probably going to see in the region and state tournament,” Seed said, referring to sophomore 113-pounder Anthony New of Salem High School in Virginia Beach. “I think we can beat him, we just haven’t wrestled our best match against him.”

New (17-0) defeated Dawson (14-1) via a 7-6 decision.

Expectations this year are particularly high for Gray and Dawson, who is a senior.

“We expect him to be on the podium at the state tournament, and the same thing with Dia,” said Bostwick, who is also an assistant coach for Nansemond River.

The Warriors placed 11th out of 27 teams over the weekend, and though King’s Fork High School was near the back of the pack in 24th, sophomore 182-pounder Dennis Whitehead provided a big Bulldog highlight by taking second in his weight class, only narrowly missing out on first.

Eastern View High School senior Tyler Keen (15-1), whose team won the tourney handily, edged Whitehead (3-1) by a 3-2 decision.

For Nansemond River, sophomore 106-pounder Derrick Cannon (13-5) took sixth and senior 152-pounder Malik Neely (11-5) took eighth.

Lakeland, which placed 22nd out of 27 teams, was led by senior 132-pounder Kevin Dale (5-2), who took fifth, and junior 160-pounder Jacob Marshall (3-3), who took eighth.

Following are the results from the seventh annual Mike Duman Toys for Tots Wrestling Invitational Tournament held Dec. 18-19 at Nansemond River High School:

Team results

• 1) Eastern View High School, 270.0
• 2) Smithfield High School, 185.5
• 3) Great Bridge High School, 170.5
• 4) Woodbridge Senior High School, 157.5
• 5) Salem High School (Va. Beach), 134.0
• 6) Cosby High School, 129.0
• 7) Patrick Henry High School (Ashland), 108.5
• 8) Amherst County High School, 106.5
• 9) Western Branch High School, 103.0
• 10) Mills E. Godwin High School, 96.0
• 11) Nansemond River High School, 95.5
• 12) George C. Marshall High School, 95.0
• 13) Glen Allen High School, 91.0
• 14) Powhatan High School, 88.0
• 15) Tallwood High School, 83.0
• 16) South County High School, 80.0
• 17) Gloucester High School, 76.5
• 18) Lafayette High School, 75.5
• 19) Kecoughtan High School, 54.0
• 20) Currituck County High School, 43.5
• 21) Hermitage High School, 42.5
• 22) Lakeland High School, 34.0
• 23) Northeastern High School, 33.0
• 24) King’s Fork High School, 29.0
• 25) Phoebus High School, 27.0
• 26) Granby High School, 26.0
• 27) Warwick High School, 24.0

First-place match results by weight class

• 106: Brandon Morales (Great Bridge) defeats Sergio Morales (Woodbridge) by major decision (9-0)
• 113: Anthony New (Salem) defeats Malcolm Dawson (Nansemond River) by decision (7-6)
• 120: Grant Ronquillo (Western Branch) defeats Nate Gaines (Woodbridge) by decision (7-0)
• 126: Michael James (South County) defeats David Congleton (Woodbridge) by decision (7-1)
• 132: Nico Rivera (Mills. E Godwin) defeats Tyler Croley (Great Bridge) by decision (3-2)
• 138: John Swartz (Smithfield) pins Shane Maryk (Eastern View) in 5:34
• 145: Bret Shurina (Eastern View) pins Jeremy Roup (Patrick Henry) in 1:39
• 152: Matt Laird (Eastern View) defeats Tyler Sharon (Smithfield) by decision (4-0)
• 160: Kaden Woodward (Eastern View) defeats P.J. Connors (Currituck County) by major decision (18-7)
• 170: Stanley Smeltzer (Smithfield) defeats Ryan Thomas (Great Bridge) by decision (7-5)
• 182: Tyler Keen (Eastern View) defeats Dennis Whitehead (King’s Fork) by decision (3-2)
• 195: Cameron Walker (Gloucester) defeats Hunter Stuart (Great Bridge) by decision (5-2)
• 220: Shamont Golden (Glen Allen) defeats Jordan Taylor (Cosby) by decision (9-7)
• 285: Dia Gray (Nansemond River) defeats Ross Manfred (Smithfield) by decision (3-1)