The Lord Botetourt gym was buzzing with action on Dec. 23 as Lord Botetourt hosted the “Feats of Strength Girls Invitational” wrestling tournament. Over 60 wrestlers competed in the “girls only” event, the first of its kind in the Roanoke Valley.
Host LB has two champions. Serenity Shearer remained undefeated at 14-0 with four pins to win the 145-pound bracket. Jasmin Andrade won the 165-pound bracket and is now 7-1. Grace Fightmaster was second at 185 and LB had two thirds, Holly Wood at 120 and Elizabeth Odell at 165. James River had two wrestlers entered, Briley Goyer at 114 and Nora Lotts at 120.
The LB girls wrestled at the Radford Lady Cat tournament on Dec. 20 and Shearer won her weight class. Andrade took a second, Fightmaster and Odell took thirds, and Lylah Pearce and Wood were sixth. The LB girls were fourth as a team.
The boys were in Bridgewater Dec. 20 and LB’s Jackson Dean and older brother James Dean continued to impress as Jackson finished in third place and James was second in the Turner Ashby Holiday Tournament.
“They’re both wrestling well and for Jackson to place that high as a freshman is making a statement,” said LB coach Paul Craft. “It’s a very difficult tournament.”
Photos by Brian Hoffman
Morgan Parr fell in the semifinals after injuring his knee in the quarterfinals. Angel Rigney wrestled in his first tournament since football ended and took third at 190. Botetourt placed eighth out of 25 teams.
“We’ve got a pretty good wrestling team, so for us to place eighth in that tournament it’s a good indicator we need to keep returning,” said Craft. “That’s the level of competition we need to get better.”
The James River wrestlers took a trip to UVA-Wise in Wise County that weekend for the Bobby Bates Classic wrestling tournament. Five wrestlers entered the tournament and the Knights came home with four wrestlers placing in the top eight. Freshman Ethan Serrano placed eighth at 113, 120-pound senior Silas Whitson placed seventh, 165-pound senior CJ Mullins placed eighth, and 190-pound freshman Ashton Orange placed eighth.
The Knights were scheduled to compete in the Franklin County duals on Dec. 27, but results were too late for early holiday deadlines. The Knights are in the Takedown the New Year tournament on Jan. 3.
