Photo courtesy Botetourt Wrestling
The Lord Botetourt girls, or “Pink Team,” took several wrestlers to the 3rd Annual Louisa Ladies Invitational last weekend and had a tournament champion in an event that included almost 200 girls. Junior Serenity Shearer won the 145-pound division to become the first female Lord Botetourt wrestler to win first place in a VHSL tournament.
Serenity pinned her way through the finals. Only one of her opponents made it out of the first period and that one didn’t make it out of the second. Freshman Elizabeth Odell took fourth at 165.
“This is a huge moment in women’s wrestling for our school,” said LB coach Paul Craft. “Two years ago we didn’t have any girls on our mat. Now we have them winning tournaments and placing in them regularly.”
James River also was represented in the tournament and Georgia Miller, at 126, and Janiya Falls, at 185, both went 2-2 for the day.
“They both fought hard but fell one match short of advancing to a podium match,” said coach Warren Carswell.
This Saturday the Botetourt girls will be at their state qualifier tournament at Virginia High School in Bristol. The top three in each weight class will advance to the girls’ state tournament later in February.
