The James River wrestlers will be in Springwood Saturday to host a quad-match with Bath County, Stuarts Draft and Alleghany High School. The first action starts at 10 a.m. with two mats going in the James River High gym and it will be “Senior Day” for the Knights.
River is coming off a two-win, one-loss showing in a quad at Riverheads last week, defeating two teams before falling to the host Gladiators. River, a Class 2 school, opened with a 37-33 win over Class 6 Franklin County, then took a 51-30 win over Parry McCluer. That set up a match with Riverheads and the Knights fell 60-21 against a strong host team.
“”We have a very young team and we wrestled a very skilled team in Riverheads,” said River coach Bobby Stewart. “We can see the difference in experience. It was a good experience for our team. The kids get to see what effort, time, and dedication can do for a wrestler in this sport.”
Last weekend the Knights took a select roster to Bristol to enter the Ed Cressel Classic at Virginia High School. Xaiden Wynn, Xander Carlough, Brayden Forbes, Nate Stewart, Jayden Alston, and Elias Echavarria took the trip to the southwest rumble. Wynn finished second while Forbes and Stewart both took fourth against top notch competition.
“This tournament is a good experience for our guys,” said Stewart. “We get to see some of our state competition that would not otherwise be seen until the end of the season.”