The Richmond Wrestling Club will host the ARMS Classic on Saturday at St. Christopher’s Kemper Athletic and Fitness Center, featuring a college match between Virginia and George Mason, as well as the country’s top-ranked high school team, Blair Academy of New Jersey, taking on state and regional powers.
The high school matches start at 9:30 a.m., along with youth team matches. The UVa-Mason match starts at 2 p.m.
UVA is 2-1. George Mason is 8-0, its best start since 1994-95. The Cavaliers have four wrestlers in the InterMat rankings: Jarod Verkleeren (29th at 149), Jake Keating (23rd at 157), Justin McCoy (14th at 165) and Neil Antrassian (18th at 184).
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The high school portion marks the return of former St. Christopher’s coach Ross Gitomer, who left the Saints in March of 2021 to take the job at Blair, his alma mater.
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Gitomer spent 10 years with the Saints program, seven as head coach, and won back-to-back Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association state titles in 2018 and 2019 along with five runner-up finishes.
In December, Blair won the Walsh Jesuit Ironman tournament, which is considered one of the top high school tournaments in the country. Blair has won the tournament 17 times.
St. Christopher’s is considered one of the top programs in the state, along with New Kent and Christiansburg, which will be part of the field. Other powers in the event are Baylor School (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Connellsville (Pa.).
The six teams will wrestle round-robins starting at 9:30 a.m., with the last matches starting at 3:30 p.m. Blair is scheduled to wrestle New Kent at 2 and St. Christopher’s at 3:30.
Tickets for the event are $5 for ages 13 and up and will be available at the door.
