Waynesboro, VA: Another successful Fishburne Military School (FMS) wrestling season came to a close the weekend of February 23, 2024, at the Prep School Nationals Tournament in Pennsylvania. The FMS Caisson wrestling team traveled far to compete against the best prep school wrestlers in the nation.
FMS head wrestling coach, Terry Waters, member of the Class of 2022 National Wrestling Hall of Fame, and now has coached three State Champion teams. Waters has also coached 24 state champs, 33 state runner ups, numerous All Americans and has been named coach of the year 19 times. His 2021, 2004, 2002 high school teams went undefeated. Prior to coaching at FMS, he was an assistant wrestling coach at Washington and Lee University.
At the State Championship tournament prior to nationals held at Potamac High School the weekend of February 16th, 2024, the FMS Caissons brought home another State Champion, Cadet Hunter Wagner. In addition, FMS boasts two State Runner-ups Ryan Barone and Grayson Jones, and a 4th place by Saba Mushkudiani, and a 5th place by Brayden Farrar from the conference. Freshman Larkin Williams in his first year of wrestling lost his first match, then bounced back to win the next three matches before losing in the “blood round.” Larkin was one win from securing a state medal.
Cadets Wagner, Barone, Jones, Mushkudiani, and Farrar went on to compete in Prep School Nationals. Waters said, “We were just so close to winning All American! But the Cadets all represented Fishburne extremely well this weekend, competing against some of the best wrestlers in the country.” Junior Hunter Wagner ended his season five seconds from earning All-American status, but finished with a 4-2 record. Sophomore Ryan Barone finished 3-2 along with 10th place in the nation wrestler in 2022-2023 season, Senior Saba Mushkudiani, who also finished 3-2. Seniors Brayden Farrar and Grayson Jones posted a 1-2 mark.
Waters said, “I couldn’t be more proud of a team— to know their story is to know what courage looks like. Three of the wrestlers had surgery last year which kept them off the mat all last summer, but they returned and put on a show at the state tournament, one of whom won the state championship.”
The Caissons finished 26th out of 108 schools competing in Prep School National Tournament, marking the highest finish in FMS history.
Waters not only creates strong wrestling teams, but also supports and encourages the Cadets to focus on excelling academically. Waters will often say they (coaches and Cadets) spend more time talking about life “off the mat” than they talk and coach about wrestling. That is part of their success.
Coach Waters expressed his gratitude for the season. Waters said, “I owe the parents of the Cadets on the wrestling team for their endless support, to the seniors whose contributions to the team cannot be measured, and finally, my message to the younger members of the FMS wrestling team— we’ve only just begun!”
