Photo courtesy CAMS wrestling
The Norseman Invitational wrestling tournament was held at Northside High School last Saturday and the smallest school came home with the biggest prize. Central Academy Middle School won the tournament and Read Mountain finished fifth in the season-ending tournament for middle school teams in the Roanoke Valley.
Botetourt’s Central Academy won the event with 205.5 points, outscoring much larger Andrew Lewis Middle School of Salem, who had 193.5. Read Mountain had 139.5 to take fifth among the nine schools competing from Botetourt County, Roanoke County, Franklin County and Salem.
What makes this achievement even more remarkable is the size difference between Central Academy and the other competing schools. With only 362 students, Central Academy was by far the smallest school in the tournament. The average enrollment of the competing schools was 669 students, meaning the CAMS wrestlers were competing against teams from schools nearly twice their size. Andrew Lewis has an enrollment of 895 students, more than double Central Academy.
Photos by Brian Hoffman
The Patriots’ rise to the top of the middle school teams is an inspiring one. A few years ago the CAMS wrestling program faced uncertainty when the previous head coach resigned near the start of the season, leaving the wrestlers without a coach. Determined to keep the program alive, Amanda Collins, the Athletic Director at Central Academy, took swift action and brought in Ray McCaleb to stabilize and rebuild a program that had seen little success over the years. McCaleb recruited Mike Hall to help coach, and this season former Northside Middle School wrestling coach Dave Spangler and Timmy Bennett, a former student and wrestler, also joined the staff.
Last year the team finished the season with two wins, then finished 10th in the Norseman Invitational with only one wrestler placing fourth. However, the coaches knew the team had the potential for much more and committed to making significant improvements. Collins believed in the team and invested in new uniforms and a new wrestling mat to give the program a fresh start and a new look.
Determined to improve, the coaching staff collaborated in the offseason with Bobby Stewart, the head coach at James River High School, who provided training space and personally coached the CAMS wrestlers during open mat sessions. Once the season started, Stewart went above and beyond by dedicating two practices a week specifically for Central Academy wrestlers at the high school.
“Thanks to Coach Stewart and Coach Thomas Philbrick, who dedicated time each week to training our team, we saw remarkable improvements in those times,” said CAMS assistant Hall. “Not only did they coach the kids but they invested in them personally by attending our matches, then coming to support our wrestlers at the Norseman Invitational alongside members of the James River High School wrestling team.”
Stewart also provided transportation two days a week for CAMS wrestlers who were part of the Botetourt Training Center, ensuring they could attend both school practices followed by club training, removing transportation as an issue. When winter weather forced school closures and canceled practices, other local wrestling clubs continued to charge fees, but the Botetourt Training Center opened its doors free of charge to any student from a closed school in the area who wanted to train. They even provided free transportation to and from the facility.
“That level of commitment and support from the Botetourt Training Center was invaluable to our team’s success as we were able to stay on the mats and continue to train,” said Hall.
This season that hard work paid off as CAMS achieved an undefeated record for the first time in school history. The Patriots capped it off with a dominant performance at the 2025 Norseman Invitational, where Central Academy secured the championship for the first time ever.
Individual place winners for the team include champions Bryson Spence at 112 pounds and Ashton Orange at 160. Runners-up from CAMS include J.R. Hensley (84), Wyatt Manbeck (105), Tucker Hall (128), Luke Mundy (144) and Trevor Puffenbarger (152). Taking thirds were Ryder Hall (70), Tanner Goyer (77) and Isaac Shifflett (265).
Read Mountain also had two champions, with Camden Dudding taking first at 77 pounds and Jackson Dean winning the 105-pound final. Micah Perdue of the Stars was second at 91 pounds and third places went to Brendan Reedy (84), Porter Kincer (120) and Bronson Shields (175).
