Photo by Barry Cox
The James River Knights took to the road last weekend to compete in the 43rd Annual LCA Invitational Wrestling Tournament at Lynchburg Christian Academy. James River entered 17 wrestlers in the tournament to compete in the 24-team field and finished 11th.
River was the only Class 2 school in a tournament that was filled with Class 3 to Class 6 teams. Five Knight wrestlers battled hard for the two days to earn placements in a tournament that attracted large schools like Granby High School, Jefferson Forest High School, Cosby High School and Washington High School of West Virginia. WV. Granby took the team title with 202.5 points, followed by local Rockbridge County High School with 168.5 points. Host Lynchburg Christian Academy was third with 164.5 points and James River scored 111.0 team points.
River sophomore Xaiden Wynn improved his record to 21-1 when he secured the LCA Tournament Championship with a win by pin in the first period against Emmons Tewalt of Hanover High School. Xaiden also had wins over Rylee Izzo of Midlothian High School, and perhaps Wynn’s hardest fought match against Darin Witcher of William Byrd with a 4-2 win in sudden victory overtime. Xander Carlough, a River B-team freshman, improved his record to 15-12 on the season with a fourth place finish in the 106-pound weight class.
Brayden Forbes, a 113-pound sophomore, added another championship to his collection in just a hair over one minute after Wynn at 106. Forbes secured his title when he pinned Granby High School’s Dominic Wright in 1:06 into the first period of the championship bout.
Freshman Nate Stewart finished in fifth place at 120 pounds in the tournament and improved his record to 20-7 on the season. Elias Echavarria, the final Knight to earn placement in the tournament at 190 pounds, secured a 5th place medal by winning by pin over Hanover High School’s Mason Clements early in the second period.
“The LCA tournament is always a tough one,” said River coach Bobby Stewart. “Even though the number of teams was down a little it was still a good tournament. Competition was enough to challenge our experienced guys and also help our young guys gain some experience.”
The Knights will wrestle in a quad at Riverheads tonight along with Franklin County, Parry McCluer and the host Gladiators. This weekend River is entered in the Ed Cressel Classic in Bristol.