(DullesDistrict.com Photo)

   It is an age-old story this time of year: Man looks in mirror. Man sees too much of himself in the mirror. Man vows to get in shape.
   For Leesburg’s Tom Nesslage, that’s exactly what happened 18 months ago. Consequently, he’s now entering 2012 weighing about 170 pounds, a full 65 pounds lighter than when he embarked on the journey. The key ingredient?
    “Boxing,” Nesslage said while putting wraps on his wrists in getting ready to work out at Silver Eagle Group’s Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Ashburn.
    Looking at Nesslage, you’re not going to confuse him with the likes of Mike Tyson, George Foreman or Muhammad Ali, raising the question of how the urge to get in shape led him into the boxing ring.
   “The moment when it snapped for me was when I was trying on clothes and had to go up to a size 40 waist,” Nesslage said. “I was only 30 and thought ‘Oh Man’, this can’t be happening to me.”
   Now 31, Nesslage, who works for Verizon in the field of telecommunication at a desk job he openly admits contributed to his weight troubles, at first went the conventional route. He watched what he ate, skipped lunch to work out in the company gym, and tried his best to adhere to a schedule of three days of weightlifting and three days of cardio each week.
   It worked for awhile, as Nesslage lost close to 30 pounds over the next 6 to 8 months. But then he plateaued, a not uncommon phenomenon in exercise. Or as Nesslage put it, “I got bored.”
   So he went looking for something different. Health clubs had a certain “intimidation factor,” as Nesslage put it, “because you almost have to be in shape in the first place. You worry you’ll be embarrassed because others are already stronger or in much better shape.”
   But Nesslage was also a gun owner, and had been regularly coming to Silver Eagle Group to shoot. He became aware of SEG’s MMA offerings, and the rest, as they say, is history.
   “I was at 200 pounds and wanted to find something that could push my experience to the next level,” he said. “At first it was just something different. But the classes were small, the instructors worked individually with you and they push you.”
   Nevertheless, the leap from running on a treadmill to boxing is not a small decision. Was he concerned with injury? What did his family say?
   “My wife said ‘what’s going to happen to your nose?’,” Neselage laughed. “But there’s really only 6 moves in boxing and that’s it. Everything else is footwork, dodging and moving to avoid being hit, which is why strength and conditioning are so important.”
   So you won’t get hit in boxing?
   “You will get hit,” he acknowledged. “But we wear 16-ounce gloves to diffuse the punches, plus headgear, mouthguards and as much protection as possible. We’re not trying to hurt anyone. They are teaching us to learn from each other and our sparring is to teach each other what could have happened. It’s about as safe as it can be.”
   Nesslage attends the boxing sessions twice a week (“2 of my three cardio workouts,” he says”) and credits small class size and the individualized instruction of Bao Khong and Shin Kim (who is also a 4-time National South Korea Judo Champion) with creating an environment that has pushed him toward losing the final 35 pounds of his journey.
   “I think it makes a difference,” he said. “You get a focused group of people with an instructor-led atmosphere that is raising people up and hearing from each other, it almost becomes a classroom environment that fosters a feeling of responsibility toward each other. It’s pretty intense.”
   Nesslage also credits the way boxing complements his other more routine workouts as a way to keep him exercise regimen going for well over a year, something that has certainly been a key to the 65-pound weight loss.
    “It actually makes me work harder in the non-boxing workouts,” he said. “Because I’m now looking for ways in those workouts to get stronger, so I can be better in boxing. One is pushing the other.”
   Silver Eagle Group offers anyone interested in participating in any of the club’s MMA classes a no-risk free two-week trial period, and if in the first 30 days since starting the trial period a participant decides to join, they will receive a 50 percent discount off their initiation fee.
   Silver Eagle Group is located at 44620 Guilford Drive in Ashburn. For more information, you can call the club at (703) 723-5173 or see all of the club’s offerings at its website at www.silvereaglegroup.com.

(Photos Courtesy Of Chuck Moore)

  Briar Woods raced to a 15-point 4th-quarter lead, then held on in the final minutes to beat Christiansburg 28-26 Saturday at Liberty University for its second straight Group AA Division 4 state championship.
  Christiansburg capitalized on an interception of a Trace McSorley pass with 2:47 left that was returned to the Briar Woods 17, then scored two plays later to make it 28-26. But the Falcons' Mike Barta came up with an interception in the end zone on the tying two-point attempt with 2:04 remaining to end the threat.
  The Blue Demons attempted an onsider kick, but Matt Rolin was able to recover for Briar Woods, and the Falcons were able to run out the clock to make it back-to-back championships for the Briar Woods football program.
  Christiansburg took the early lead when Zach Snell broke around the right edge and went 73 yards for the game’s first touchdown. The Demons missed the extra point - a play that would come back to haunt them at the end of the game - as they took a 6-0 lead.
  McSorley – who missed on his first four passes – got going later in the first period and hit Alex Carter from 16 yards out for a TD to give Briar Woods a 7-6 lead. The lead would grow to 14-6 as the Falcon ground game – behind the running of Cory Colder – moved the ball down the field to set up McSorley’s second touchdown pass, a 2-yarder to JT Logan. Colder had over 100 yards rushing in the first half, and finished with 186 yards.
  It looked like that would be the halftime score, but Christiansburg got two breaks to draw within one. The first came when after a long incompletion, somehow one second still remained on the clock in the second period. Taking advantage of the extra play, Christiansburg threw a long pass to wide receiver Zach Davis, and he was immediately hit by Carter. The ball, however, bounced up and was grabbed by Blue Demon receiver Kevin Thompson, who went the remaining yards for the 69-yard scoring play that made it 14-13.
  Colder – who had injured his arm in the first half – showed little signs of it in the third quarter as he burst through the line for a 33-yard touchdown run to make it 21-13, then Colder sparked another drive later in the period to set up Logan’s 1-yard touchdown run to make it 28-13.
  That was the score starting the fourth period, and it appeared the Falcons would cruise to Ashburn’s fifth state championship in five years (Stone Bridge ’07, Broad Run ’08, ’09, Briar Woods ’10, ’11) until the final moments. But Snell would score for Christiansburg on a 4-yard run with 3:42 left to make it 28-20, setting up the last minute fireworks.

Christiansburg                             6             7             0             13    -    26
Briar Woods                                 7             7           14               0    -    28

(Photos Courtesy Of Chuck Moore)

  Briar Woods shut out Grafton 31-0 Saturday in the Group AA Division 4 state semifinals, and the defending champs will now play at Liberty University in Lynchburg next Saturday against Christiansburg for the state championship.
  Briar Woods scored on its first drive, going 80 yards for a score as Cory Colder capped the drive with a 37-yard scoring run to make it 7-0. Colder would lead all rushers with 117 yards on 21 carries and three touchdowns.
  The Falcon defense stifled Grafton on the ensuing kickoff, then Colder scored his second TD of the game, slipping out of the backfield to catch a 28-yard pass from Trace McSorley to make it 14-0. McSorley finished the day completing 14 of 22 passes for 162 yards and no interceptions.
  Grafton started the second quarter with a drive of its own, but Briar Woods had a defensive series that turned the game for good in the Falcons' favor. With the ball inside the Briar Woods 20, Matt Rolin stuffed a first-down run for a loss, the secondary forced Grafton quarterback Jett Johnson into an incompletion on second down, then Alex Carter stopped the threat by intercepting a pass in the Falcon end zone. Grafton's offense never seriously threatened again.
  Briar Woods would get on the scoreboard one more time in the first half when David Clements kicked a 37-yard field goal with 14 seconds left in the second quarter to make it 17-0.
  Briar Woods took the second-half kickoff and drove into Grafton territory, but Clements' 48-yard field goal attempt just missed. Later in the period, the Falcons were on the move again, with Matt Rolin's catch of a McSorley pass putting the ball on the Grafton 5. Colder scored his third touchdown of the game on the next play to make it 24-0.
  Connor Cashman put the final points of the night on the board with 3 minutes left in the game, scoring on a 4 yard run to make the final 31-0.

Briar Woods                       14             3             7             7      -      31     
Grafton                                0              0             0             0      -       0     
                       
Team              Qtr   Time    Scoring play
Briar Woods     1     8:02     #34 Colder 37 yd run (#6 Clements kick)    
Briar Woods     1     2:19     #7 McSorley 18 yd pass to #34 Colder (#6 Clements kick)    
Briar Woods     2     0:14     #6 Clements 37 yd FG
Briar Woods     3     0:38     #34 Colder 5 yd run (#6 Clements kick)    
Briar Woods     4     3:14     #24 Cashman 4 yd run (#6 Clements kick)    

                                                                     Briar Woods     Grafton     
First downs                                                           20                   8     
Rushing yardage                                                   142                 38     
Pass comp-att                                                     14-22             3-12     
Passing yardage                                                   162                 38     
Pass touchdowns -interceptions                             1-0                 0-2     
Total plays                                                            56                   43     
Total offense                                                         304                  76     
Fumbles -lost                                                        2-1                 2-1     
Penalties -yards                                                   5-55                6-46     
Defensive sacks -yards lost                                   3-21                 0-0     
Time of possession                                             27:31              20:29     
3rd down efficiency                                            5 for 10           4 for 11     
4th down efficiency                                             2 for 2             0 for 1     
Punts -average                                                   2-49.5             4-36.3    

Rushing-BW                                                      Rushing-Grafton
Name                 Att    Yds    Avg   Lng   TD       Name             Att    Yds    Avg    Lng    TD
#34 Colder          21    117     5.6     37     2         #25 Bartells     8      33      4.1      8        0
#32 Logan            3      20     6.7     16     0         #2 Spearman  11     30      2.7      9        0
#7 McSorley         2       6     3.0       4     0         #11 Johnson     9    -10     -1.1      7        0
#2 Carter              2       5     2.5       4     0                Total:      31     38     1.2      9        0
#24 Cashman       1       4     4.0       4     1
#45 Larco             1       4     4.0       4     0
#10 Leith              1       2     2.0       2     0
    Total             : 34    142   4.2      37    3

Passing-BW                                                       Passing-Grafton
Name              Cmp    Att   Yds   TD   Int         Name             Cmp    Att    Yds    TD    Int
#7 McSorley       14     22    162     1    0          #11 Johnson       3      12     38      0       2

Receiving-BW                                                    Receiving-Grafton
Name             Rec   Yds    Avg    Lng    TD       Name              Rec    Yds    Avg    Lng    TD
#2 Carter            3      39     13.0     22     0      #7 Swartwood     2       26     13.0     14     0
#11 Ramos         3      26      8.7       9     0       #4 Stallings        1       12     12.0     12     0
#5 Gadsden        3      24      8.0     13     0         Total:              3       38     12.7     14     0
#4 Serigne          2      22     11.0     12     0
#9 Rolin              1      27     27.0     27     0
#34 Colder          1      18     18.0     18     1
#32 Logan           1       6       6.0      6      0
     Total:           14    162    11.6      27     1

Defense-Briar Woods
Name                                                          Tkl      Ast      Sac      TFL      Int
#52 Baker                                                     6          4        0.0       0.0        0
#44 Brown                                                    5          2        0.0        0.0        0
#2 Carter                                                      5          2        0.0        0.0        1
#8 Hill                                                          4          1        0.0        0.0        1
#3 Barta                                                       4          1        0.0        0.0        0
#9 Rolin                                                        4          2       0.5        2.5        0
#66 Germany                                                3          3       0.0        0.0        0
#10 Leith                                                      2          2       0.5        0.5         0
#53 Owens                                                   2          0       1.0        2.0         0
#24 Cashman                                               2          1       0.0        0.0         0
#12 Kouame                                                 2          0       0.0        1.0         0
#20 Rizzardi                                                 1          0       0.0        0.0         0
#22 Ford                                                      1          0       0.0        0.0         0
#23 Stanga                                                  1          1       0.0        0.0         0
#1 Krisfalusi                                                 1          0       0.0        0.0         0
#43 Ismati                                                    1          1       0.0        0.0         0
#68 Merletti                                                  1          0       1.0        1.0         0
#69 Fryer                                                     1          0       0.0        0.0         0
        Total:                                                  46       20       3.0       7.0         2

  It was classic Ashburn.
  I’m speaking of Wednesday night at Stone Bridge, where I had the honor of attending a ceremony in which about 100 students were inducted into the National Honor Society, including my daughter. It was filled with mothers and fathers beaming with pride, each of us carrying enough camera equipment to produce a major motion picture, quietly reinforced with the knowledge that this ceremony had to  validate our belief we all must be pretty awesome parents.
  If you don’t live here, you may not understand. We are an area filled with families with lots of kids, a little bit more wealth than the national average, and a strong feeling of self-importance. We suck down Starbucks by the gallon, complain about how much maintenance costs are at luxury automobile dealerships, and worry that if our kids aren’t involved in a dozen after-school activities, we’ve harmed them irreparably in their pursuit of a college education.
  We look at anything less than Wegman’s as a convenience store, shoot hours of video of any participation by our children in school or sports activities, and bristle with a certain “do you know who I am” attitude when things don’t go our way. Our three high schools – Stone Bridge, Briar Woods and Broad Run – don’t just compete in athletics, they win state championships. We tend to think we’re a little better than everyone else, and if you’re not sure about any of that, just ask us.
  As the ceremony was about to start, it was easy to spot another key virtue of Ashburnites – impatience – as the clock struck 7:30 and the festivities hadn’t started yet. Moms started asking other Moms “why aren’t they starting on time?” while going through the program, reading every name, and sharing stories of what some might call a gossipy nature. One young man apparently was singled out for discussion because he made perfect grades, but never allegedly needed to study.
  “I don’t like people like that,” said one Mom with a smile on her face. “OK, then,” I replied. “Which do you dislike more: A kid who gets better grades that our kids without having to study, or a woman who can eat all the candy and junk food in the world, yet never gains any weight?”
  “Oh that’s easy,” said the Mom in the row in front of me. “I’d really hate that woman.”
  Of course for all the bluster, our kids are like everyone else’s, regardless of grades. I remember once talking to a football coach about his quarterback, and he praised him for his intellect on the field. “So,” I asked, “you’re saying since he’s a teenager, he can call a z-right, x-cross and immediately recognize the defense is in a cover-2, but he can’t remember to close the front door when he comes in the house after practice?” The coach nodded.
  It was much the same last night, as it started when the young man who was supposed to tell the inductees to come in misunderstood and told them to stay out. Once corrected, the inductees marched in, and the group was supposed to fill the first 4 or 5 rows of the auditorium.
  For some reason, the group elected to fill in rows one and two, then started filling in rows 5 and 6, leaving a huge hole in the middle of the group. Giggles filled the room a bit, as many recognized that here were the school’s smartest kids, yet the struggled to understand after you fill in row 1 and row 2, you then fill in row 3.
  It immediately gave me the mental image of the famous “The Far Side” comic strip where a young man is pushing on a door clearly marked with a “pull” sign and above the building’s entrance is the label  “School For The Gifted.” Even Principal Jim Person mentioned in his remarks during the ceremony that while the students had achieved so much, they still had work to do, including learning “the logistics of filling in the rows.”
  At one point, a series of candles needed to be lit as part of the ceremonies, and one student initially struggled to click on one of those lighters most of us use to start an outdoor barbecue grill. “How many kids in Ashburn know how to start a barbecue grill?” one Mom said in defending the student’s confusion. I found myself wondering how many kids in Ashburn mow the grass, wash the car or a whole host of other chores I find little assistance offered from the teenager in my house. And if I had said that out loud, I am sure a number of Dads would be nodding their heads in agreement.
  But the ceremony went well, everyone’s child looked beautiful, we all got our pictures to post on Facebook, and the pride of their accomplishment morphed to the Cashburn philosophy of what would these good grades cost us as parents. Person even mentioned it in his closing remarks.
  “Students, your parents are proud of you, and tonight you can probably get whatever you want and do no wrong in their eyes,” he told the group in closing. “Seize the moment.”
  That, my friends, is classic Ashburn. 

(Photos Courtesy Of Chuck Moore)

  Defending Group AA Division 4 State Champion Briar Woods had a tougher time in the first half against Park View than it expected, but the Falcons pulled away in the second half behind the running of Cory Colder and the Trace McSorley-to-Cam Serigne passing combination to beat the Patriots 49-21 in the first round of the playoffs.
  In other games involving area teams, Tuscarora won its first-ever appearance in the playoffs beating Warren County 28-21, Stone Bridge easily pounded Langley 35-0, and Loudoun County beat Heritage 42-21.
  By winning, Briar Woods will play next week at home against Loudoun County, Stone Bridge will play at home against South County, Broad Run (which had a bye in the first round) will play at home against Brooke Point, and Tuscarora goes on the road against Kettle Run.
  Briar Woods started the game as if it would be a replay of the Falcons’ 50-3 win over Park View early in the season. Alex Carter took a direct snap from center and ran 45 yards for the first Briar Woods touchdown, then Colder capped another Falcon drive with a 4-yard scoring run to make it 14-0 in the first quarter.
  Park View didn’t get the memo about the contest being a rout, and battled back with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Alec Dombkowski to Ryan McCarter to close the margin to 14-7. Briar Woods upped the margin to 21-7 when JT Logan scored on a 35-yard run, but Dombkowski and McCarter did it again, connecting from 13 yards out to make it 21-14 at halftime.
  But Briar Woods took command after intermission as McSorley threw a 37-yard TD pass to Serigne, Carter intercepted a Dombkowski pass to set up a Colder’s second TD of the game on a 3-yard run, and McSorley threw another TD pass to Serigne to balloon the lead to 42-14. Dante Absher’s TD got Park View a little closer, but Colder then scored his third TD of the contest for the final points of the evening.
  At Tuscarora, the Huskies were playing their first football playoff game ever as the second-year school capped a Cameron Molina-led drive with a 1-yard TD run by Chad Carrera to take an early 7-0 lead. The Huskies then fell behind 14-7 at the half and trailed until the early moments of the 4^th quarter before Molina – who was the game’s leading rusher – scored on a 6-yard run to tie it at 14-14. After his 35-yard catch and run moved the ball down to the Warren County 3, Molina scored again to give the Huskies a lead they would not relinquish.
  Molina wasn’t done, as he scored his third touchdown of the final quarter, then added the 2-point conversion to make it 28-14. Warren County would rally in the final three minutes for a touchdown to make it 28-21, and the visitors would get the ball back with 1:32 remaining. But any hopes of a tying touchdown were dashed when John Johnson intercepted Tyler Post’s pass, and Tuscarora ran out the clock.
  The win was Tuscarora Coach Mike Burnett’s ninth consecutive VHSL playoff victory, as he lost his first one at Broad Run against Park View in 2007, and has won every one since then, spanning two schools.
  Up the road in Ashburn, Stone Bridge was also playing a game that was a replay of an earlier-season lopsided win over Langley, and not much changed in the second meeting. Stephen Trivieri got Stone Bridge on the board quickly with a two short runs for touchdowns in the first quarter, the Bulldogs jumped to a 21-0 halftime lead, and then Trivieri scored two more TDs on short runs in the third quarter as Stone Bridge never looked back in advancing to the next round of the Group AAA, Northern Region Division 5 playoffs.
  Trivieri wasn't the only player to score 4 touchdowns Friday night as at Loudoun County, Antonio Rutherford scored 4 touchdowns as the Raiders stayed in control from the beginning while beating Heritage for the second time in the last month. A blocked punt led to a 23-yard TD pass from Jake Lokey to Brad Szoka to make it 7-0, then Rutherford went 50 yards for another score to make it 14-0.
  Austin Nelson’s 25-yard TD pass to Nicholas Wright cut the Raider lead in half, but Lokey’s 46-yard scoring toss to Quan Stinger set up Rutherford’s second TD – a 9-yard run – to put the lead at 21-7 at the half.  Rutherford got his 3^rd TD on a 64-yard run just moments after Heritage’s Marcus Finney returned a kickoff 89 yards for a score, then Lokey threw touchdown passes of 30 yards to Rutherford and 55 yards to Szoka to make the final margin 42-14.