“It was a tough tournament,” said LB coach Chuck Burton. “We learned a lot about ourselves at that tournament. We were down three starters, but we didn’t perform when the lights were on. That’s on me as the head coach. I’ve got to do a better job getting them ready to go. We took our lumps and lessons, and we’ll grow from them.”
Grassfield High of Chesapeake won the tournament, followed by Washington High of West Virginia. They were followed by Christiansburg, Staunton River, Jefferson Forest, host LCA, Salem and LB.
Botetourt placers included seconds by Colin Sell at 132 and Conner Shiflett at 182, Trent Gallimore took third at 152, Trey Saunders was sixth at 120 and Xavier Williams took sixth at 220. TJ Piluso, at 160, and Titus Hopkins at 285 both were seventh.
Last week in Salem the Cavaliers swept a tri-match with two strong teams, Glenvar and Salem. The Cavs wrestled the first match of the three and took a 45-31 win over Glenvar. Winners included Saunders at 120, Hunter Miller at 126, Gray Arnold at 138, Piluso at 160, Shane Oiler at 182, Shiflett at 195, Williams at 220 and Hoptkins at 285.
Against Salem the Cavaliers won 43-30. Winners were Miller, Sell, Gallimore, Piluso, Williamson Shiflett, Williams and Hopkins.
“Obviously, I’m very pleased with our effort Wednesday night,” said Burton. “To beat two quality teams like Salem and Glenvar is a tall task. We had kids step up in places we didn’t the last time we wrestled Glenvar. That’s what you look for each time out, improvement, and we got that.”
The Cavaliers are scheduled to wrestle at Staunton River tonight and at Brookville High on Saturday.
