Photo by Brian Hoffman
The Lord Botetourt wrestlers competed against some of the best the state has to offer last Saturday when they battled for the “Old Dominion Cup” at the Roanoke College Cregger Center.
A dozen quality teams, all from Virginia, battled for the Cup in a dual format. Botetourt went 1-3 on the day with losses to Grundy, 54-22, Riverbend, 67-9, and Riverheads, 47-30, before finishing up with a 63-12 win over Alexandria City. Riverbend, the Class 5 state runner-up last year, defeated Skyline, the Class 3 runner-up, in the championship match, 41-25, to win the first Old Dominion Cup.
“We were presented with the opportunity to get into the event late last May and I took it knowing what type of wrestling we were getting ourselves into,” said LB coach Chuck Burton. “To have an event like that with that many state champions, state place winners, and the history of some of those strong programs right here in our backyard felt like a no-brainer for me. It gave our kids a chance to see some of the best wrestlers in the state, regardless of division, head-to-head. So, while the scores look lopsided, and they were, losing is learning and our kids learned a lot this weekend. I’m proud of the way our guys competed and wrestled against those guys and it will only help us moving forward.”
Botetourt also sent some “B-Team” wrestlers to the Knights of the Round Table tournament at Cave Spring High last weekend. Aaden Thomas took first at 215 pounds and two Cavaliers took thirds, Gabriel Glenn at 215 and Josh Hawks at 190.
The Cavs will be back on the mats tonight when they wrestle at Glenvar. It will follow a middle school match between Read Mountain and Glenvar Middle School.
On Saturday the Knights will travel to Brookville for a dual team tournament.