Three Botetourt County girls competed in the Virginia High School League All-Female Open State Wrestling Tournament last weekend at Gar-Field High School in Woodbridge. Two Lord Botetourt girls and one James River girl competed in the tournament that included wrestlers from all six VHSL classifications.
LB sophomore Jasmin Andrade finished 2-2 on the day at 138 pounds.
“Jasmin didn’t wrestle last season so for her to go 2-2 on the state level was a huge step forward,” said Botetourt coach Paul Craft. “She wrestled hard and was aggressive.”
Freshman Serenity Shearer went 4-2 on the day at 145. She lost her second round match to a girl that was undefeated at the time and then won three straight matches in the consolation bracket. All four of Shearer’s wins were by pin.
Photos courtesy of LB wrestling
“Serenity battled in the consolation bracket for a while before falling Friday in the fourth and final round of the night,” said Craft. “We thought our girls wrestled well and took their preparation seriously. The guys finished over a week ago and it was just our two girls practicing all week to get ready. They were locked in and working hard.”
A third Cavalier, Maddi Fontanyi, was unable to compete due to knee surgery and Georgia Miller of James River also competed and dropped her first two matches.
“There were somewhere around 250 girls at the state tournament last season,” said Craft. “There were 408 this year. It’s growing quickly. Right now it’s Class 1-6 together, but if it continues to grow at this rate the VHSL will have to start making some decisions and changes to the venue.
“We had three girls out this season. The goal for next season is 10. If we can get 10 girls for two years in a row the county will need to look at bringing in a girls’ coach. It’s a good problem to have. Our girls did a great job this season and we’re already excited about the upcoming year.”
