The Lord Botetourt wrestlers are scheduled to host Liberty Christian Academy and Bassett High tonight at 5:45 in Daleville. The Cavaliers have a busy week before breaking for Christmas with wrestlers scheduled to travel to tournaments at Turner Ashby Friday and Saturday and Radford on Saturday.
Last weekend the Cavaliers’ A Team was in Lewisburg, W.Va., and the B team was at Cave Spring. Botetourt’s “Red Team,” or starters, wrestled at the Morse Reece Memorial Duals Tournament at Greenbrier East in Lewisburg on Saturday. LB defeated several top ranked teams out of West Virginia before falling to powerhouse Independence in a close finals match to earn second place.
“We wrestled really well in West Virginia,” said Botetourt coach Paul Craft. “It gave us a good look at some quality teams from a new area we haven’t previously wrestled.”
Botetourt was the underdog in their first match but defeated Woodrow Wilson, 41-40. Woodrow Wilson was region champion last year and has traditionally been a strong program.
“I thought we turned a corner on Saturday and showed we’re capable of competing with anyone,” said Craft.
The Cavaliers then defeated St. Albans, Elkins and Greenbrier East to get into the finals before falling to Independence in the championship match.
“The Independence match was close and I think it goes our way if that match was wrestled in January with our final starting lineup,” said Craft. “We’re still waiting on some football guys to get back.”
Jackson Dean, a freshman at 120 pounds, had some quality wins over region champions and state placers. His brother James Dean (senior, 126 pounds) won a huge come from behind match against Independence. Morgan Parr (senior, 150 pounds) went 5-0 on the day and bumped up a weight class to get a victory over a very good wrestler from Elkins.
“Overall we wrestled well up and down the lineup,” said Craft.
Here in the valley the Lord Botetourt “Gray Team” wrestled in the Knights of the Round Table duals tournament. LB finished in eighth place out of a dozen teams.
“This was a great opportunity for our young guys and first year wrestlers to get some mat time,” said Craft. “We’re right on schedule with how we need to progress over the season.”
James River wrestlers are scheduled to compete in the Bobby Bates Classic at UVA-Wise this Friday and Saturday. As of the start of this season, River had just four spots of the lineup filled.
