Hidden Valley High School hosted the annual “Titan Toughman” wrestling tournament last weekend and the Lord Botetourt grapplers finished in first place among 20 schools competing. Botetourt edged Glenvar for the team title.
“I was really pleased with how the kids wrestled this weekend,” said LB coach Chuck Burton. “They have worked hard since the first of November and some of their hard work showed this weekend. We held off a great Glenvar team due to our wrestle-back kids performing and wrestling their way back to placements.”
While Glenvar had five champions, Lord Botetourt had just one, Dalton Oxley, and two second place finishers. LB’s overall depth was the difference, as well as some solid performances in the consolation rounds.
“Dalton returned to the mat after a one year hiatus due to COVID and looked like he didn’t miss a beat,” said Burton of Oxley. “I was really happy for him and excited about the rest of his junior year.”
Oxley defeated Jacob Ford of Rustburg in the 195-pound final, pinning the Red Devil in 1:23. Dalton pinned his way through the bracket with the longest match lasting just 1:34 in a semifinal win over Anthony Jones of Northside.
Two other Cavaliers reached the final, Colin Sell at 138 and Conner Shifflett at 182. Sell lost to Caleb Swanson of Northside in the final while Shifflett was edged, 3-2, by Evan Alger of Pulaski County. Other Cavaliers who placed in the top four included thirds by TJ Piluso, Xavier Williams and Cooper Roberts and fourth places by Gray Arnold, Seth Williamson and Trey Saunders.
“We did wrestle well, but there’s a lot of room for improvement,” said Burton. “I give all the credit to the kids and my assistants, Reed Carpenter, Paul Craft, Randall Sell and John Carlton. They have put the work in and this weekend was a good December tournament for us. Hopefully we continue to build on it as the season progresses.”
The Cavaliers will be back in action this weekend at the “Bruin Brawl,” an invitational at Blacksburg High School.
