Lord Botetourt finished 12th out of 50 teams that sent wrestlers to the state Class 3 tournament at the Salem Civic Center last weekend. Skyline High dominated the tournament with 211.5 points followed by New Kent with 143.5, Staunton River with 125 and Christianburg with 105. LB had 52.5 points.
The Cavaliers put three on the podium, as senior James Dean finished fourth at 126 and Jackson Dean and Angel Rigney were fifth at 120 and 190.
“The amount of drive and focus he has is unbelievable,” said LB coach Paul Craft of James Dean. “He doesn’t quit. Whatever that young man decides to do in life, he’s gonna be successful. Great attitude and unmatched work ethic. He has raised the bar for expectations in our wrestling room. We’re going to miss him.”
Jackson Dean earned a fifth place medal as a freshman.
“Jackson had a great tournament,” said Craft. “Any time you have a freshman on the state podium it’s a huge boost to the program. He finished in fifth place and to say we’re excited about his future is an understatement. He’s got to work on a few things in the off-season, but once he does that I think he starts winning titles.”
Photos by Suzanne Witcher
Rigney, a senior, also wrestled back to take fifth. He won his fifth place match in the closing seconds against Lake Taylor’s Hesson Casaun who had knocked him out of the quarterfinals the previous day on a third period pin. Rigney beat Casaun in the rematch, 9-6.
“Angel wrestled up a weight class and still finished as one of the top guys in the state,” said Craft. “He’s one of those guys that wins the vast majority of his matches, and in the ones he drops he’s still got a puncher’s chance of winning. Angel just committed to Bluefield for football so he’s not done competing yet.”
Three other Cavaliers, all seniors, wrestled in the tournament. Morgan Parr went 2-2 at 150, at 215 Aaden Thomas lost by injury default in his opener when he reinjured his shoulder and had to forfeit his next match and, at heavyweight, Tyler “Butchy” Butler went 2-2.
“We’ll head into the off-season working hard,” said Craft. “We’ve got some guys returning that can be on that same podium next season. And we’ve also got a lot of guys on the bubble and are going to have to decide if they want to stand at the top and if they’re willing to put in the time and effort in the off-season to get there. But first, we’re going to enjoy some much needed and deserved down time.”
