Yorktown’s Charlie Whelden, right, won the National District championship in the heavyweight division on Feb. 4 at Stuart High School. Photo by Craig Sterbutzel.
Falls Church — Yorktown heavyweight Charlie Whelden has battled the injury bug throughout his high school career. On Feb. 4, a partially torn meniscus in his right knee wasn’t enough to keep "Ox" from capturing a
National District championship.
Whelden won a 5-1 decision against Mount Vernon’s Vika Mathias in the 285-pound final, giving the Patriots three individual championships en route to a third-place finish during wrestling districts at Stuart High School.
"It feels great. I’ve been trying for this for four years."
— Yorktown heavyweight Charlie Whelden
"It feels great," Whelden said. "I’ve been trying for this for four years."
Nolan Paduda recorded a second-period pin to win the 145-pound title and Curtis Jeney won the 152-pound championship via major decision, 13-5.
"I think whatever way I [won], I would have felt just as great," Paduda said. "But adding the pin to give extra team points gives a little bit of a boost."
David Garcia (182) and Hakeem Sanusi (195) each finished runner-up in his respective weight class.
Mount Vernon won the team title with 214.5 points, followed by Washington-Lee (175.5), Yorktown (168) and Hayfield (163.5).
The Northern Region meet will be held Friday and Saturday, Feb. 10-11 at Hayfield Secondary School.