Angel Rigney took second place individually and Lord Botetourt was 21st out of 45 teams competing in the Virginia High School League state Class 3 wrestling tournament Saturday. The tournament was held all on one day at Heritage High School in Lynchburg as Skyline High took the state championship with Staunton River of the Blue Ridge District finishing as runner-up.
Wrestling in the 157-pound class, Rigney opened with a 3:39 pin of Culpeper County’s Eli Croushorn. He pinned Wyatt Eisenbrown of Rockbridge County in the quarterfinals in 2:37, then downed Matt Garland of Heritage in the semis, 8-4, to advance to the championship match. Billy Tyler of Brentsville District defeated Angel in the championship match to take the top step on the podium as Angel finished 32-6 on the season.
“Angel wrestled very well all day and won a nail-biter in the semi-finals,” said LB coach Paul Craft. “He knew what he had to do to get to the finals and he took care of business. He missed the state tournament last season due to an injury and I think he had a chip on his shoulder this time around. He was dialed in as the season progressed.”
Photos courtesy of LB Wrestling
Senior Cooper Roberts was one match away from the podium at 175. He finished 25-11.
“We’re going to miss Cooper,” said Craft. “He was a good leader and always gave us his best.”
Sophomore Kevin Gergely went 1-2 in a loaded 150-pound class. Kevin finished the season 26-13.
“He showed heart and promise,” said Craft. “The three guys that finished in front of him in the Region were all on the podium Saturday. He dropped a couple matches against some very talented wrestlers and he was holding his own in those matches.
Also competing in the state were sophomore Jacob Spence at 126, senior Canden Saunders at 138 and junior Preston Carter at 165. All three dropped their first two matches as Spence finished 16-15, Saunders is 17-1 and Carter ended with a 25-13 record.
“We only graduate five wrestlers so we’ll be returning a bunch of guys and we’re getting some talented kids coming from the middle school,” said Craft. “Two main things we have to work on in the off-season is getting our young guys physically stronger and we have to get more guys in general on the mat each week at Open Mat and in wrestling clubs. The future is looking bright for the entire wrestling program.”
