Lord Botetourt qualified six wrestlers for the Virginia High School League Class 3 tournament to be held at the Salem Civic Center Saturday. LB finished fourth in the Region 3D tournament at Staunton River High last weekend.
With snow anticipated for Wednesday and Thursday the state tournament has been changed from the usual two-day format to just one day, Saturday. Wrestling begins at 8 a.m. with first round action and continues through the medal rounds at 7:15 p.m. There will be short breaks at 12:30 p.m. and 6:45 p.m., but otherwise the wrestling will be continuous through the day.
Last Saturday in Moneta host Staunton River won Region 3D with 283 points, followed by Cave Spring with 203.5. William Byrd was third at 180.5 and Lord Botetourt was fourth among the 13 teams with 157.5.
LB had six wrestlers qualify for the state by finishing in the top four. Botetourt had no one in the championship matches but split six matches in the consolation finals. Taking thirds were Angel Rigney at 157, Preston Carter at 165 and Cooper Roberts at 175. Fourth place finishers were Jacob Spence at 126, Canden Saunders at 138, and Kevin Gergely at 150. Botetourt had four wrestlers who scored team points but failed to advance with fifth place finishes. Those wrestlers were James Dean at 120, Declan Sullivan at 132, Morgan Parr at 144, and Tyler Butler at 285.
Photos by Suzanne Witcher
“We wrestled well in the first round but struggled in the semifinals,” said coach Paul Craft. “We lost a few guys in the blood round but overall we bounced back and finished strong in our 3rd/4th and 5th/6th place matches. That’s just the ebb and flow of a competitive tournament.”
