Union Pines wrestler and two-time state champion Dominic Blue finished third at the NHSCA National Wrestling Tournament held this past weekend in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
The NHSCA Wrestling Nationals began in 1990 when the National High School Coaches Association invited all senior state champions to compete in a national tournament in Pittsburgh. The event has grown significantly since then and now includes tournaments for each boys’ high school grade level, a girls division, and a middle school tournament, with more than 6,000 wrestlers competing.
Blue first competed at the NHSCA Freshman Nationals three years ago while wrestling for Scotland High School, where he had finished as a state runner-up. He placed seventh in the national tournament that year.
The following season, after his father accepted a job at Union Pines, Blue transferred and joined the Vikings. He placed third at the state tournament and returned to the NHSCA Sophomore Nationals, where he won four matches but fell short of All-American honors.
As a junior, Blue won two matches at the national tournament. Entering this year’s event as the fifth seed in his bracket, he earned All-American honors by placing third after winning seven matches over three days.
Blue opened the tournament with a 7-1 decision over an opponent from Louisiana, followed by a 13-3 major decision against a wrestler from Maryland. He then secured a 4-2 win against a competitor from Wyoming to reach the quarterfinals, where he posted his fourth consecutive victory, a 10-4 decision over an opponent from Utah.
In the semifinals, Blue faced top-seeded and nationally ranked Zeno Moore of Florida. Moore won the match by fall, marking Blue’s only loss of the tournament.
Blue rebounded with a 7-4 victory over the No. 3 seed from Utah to advance to the third-place match, where he earned a 4-2 decision over a wrestler from Virginia.
Blue is only the second Union Pines wrestler to place at the NHSCA Nationals. Brock Sullivan previously finished seventh as a sophomore.
Nine other Union Pines wrestlers also competed in the tournament.
Senior Thomas Salinas, who placed third at the state tournament, finished his high school career with a 4-2 record and reached the top 16 in his bracket.
State runner-up wrestlers Danny McDermott, a freshman, and Joseph Shook, a sophomore, each won four matches. Freshman Braylon Butts and sophomore Jacob De La Torre, who placed third at the state tournament, each won three matches.
Junior Liam Myles, a state champion, won two matches in the junior division tournament.
Randall Shaver, Caiden Root, and Drew Lawrence also competed for Union Pines.
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Photo courtesy Union Pines High School.
