Both the James River and Lord Botetourt wrestlers will be competing in the LCA Invitational Tournament in Lynchburg this weekend, with bouts scheduled for Friday and Saturday. The tournament is an individual double-elimination tournament.
James River is coming off an appearance in a quad event at Parry McCluer High School last week. The Knights competed against Turner Ashby, Strasburg and the host Blues on December 29 in Buena Vista.
River went 2-1 on the day with team wins over Turner Ashby and Parry McCluer, but falling to state competition rival Strasburg.
“We had an okay day,” said River coach Bobby Stewart. “We really wanted to compare ourselves to Strasburg since they are a major state competitor. They were stronger than I anticipated. They had some illness and moved some weights around and wrestled us very well.
“We are coming off some COVID exposure and, of course, Christmas break and those things make it tough to be full throttle. We just got 120-pound senior Craig Bowyer back on the mat this week. So, we will spend the next couple weeks at some high profile tournaments and will be picking the pace up in practice as we prepare for the post season. Our freshmen on the team were able to compete with our top level state competition and hopefully they gauged themselves well and will adjust where they need to. We will see these guys again in February.”
Four James River wrestlers went undefeated on the day, Chase Cuddy, Hunter Forbes, Carder Miller and Dakota Gilliam. Each had solid performances, but the highlight of the day was senior Cuddy accomplishing his 100th high school career win in the Strasburg match. Cuddy’s match, at 126, was the best match of the day. He faced off against Strasburg foe Anakin Burks and came away with a 3-1 win.”
Also notable is senior Forbes accomplished his 100th high school career win at the Big Orange the week before.
“Having two or three guys chasing their 100th career win this year is an honor to see,” said Stewart. “These guys have put a lot of effort and time in to achieve 100 career wins. It’s an accomplishment to be proud of.”
The Knights are scheduled to wrestle in a dual match tonight at Franklin County, while Lord Botetourt will be in Salem for a tri-match with the host Spartans and Glenvar. The Cavaliers will open at 6 p.m. against Glenvar, followed by LB against Salem. The Spartans and Highlanders will go head-to-head in the final match of the evening.
While Lord Botetourt’s healthy starters will be at LCA this weekend, the backups will also be on the mats. They’ll head to the Alleghany Duals on Saturday.
