Photos by Brian Hoffman
The James River and Lord Botetourt wrestling teams both had their “Senior Night” last week before the inclement weather set in. Both teams were weathered out of tournaments last weekend.
On Jan. 21 in Springwood the Knights entertained LB and Chatham for their Senior Night. Martinsville was also scheduled to attend but dropped out at the last minute.
River has two seniors, Silas Whitson and Georgia Miller. With only six wrestlers on the team River lost to both opponents. Botetourt defeated Chatham, 54-22, and James River, 60-22.
“Hats off to Coach Stewart and Coach Bernard over at James River,” said LB coach Paul Craft. “They don’t have a lot of guys but they always have good wrestlers and the hospitality over there is always great when we go. Bobby (Stewart) has done so much for wrestling in Botetourt County and we’re very appreciative. Many of our wrestlers at LB attend Botetourt Training Center. Bobby owns the strip mall and put that wrestling club in there off Exit 150. It’s definitely made our program better at the south end of the county and we’re very grateful for it.”
The Cavaliers had their Senior Night on Thursday of last week with Salem and Jefferson Forest providing the opposition. Senior Harriet Polinsky opened the night with a pin as LB split two duals, falling 47-30 to Salem but bouncing back for a 53-30 win over Jefferson Forest.
“We wrestled well against Salem but they were too much for us in the physical state we were in,” said Craft. “Jefferson Forest had a bunch of young guys and wrestled us well. Hat tip to their AD (Jeremy Sink) who is a long-time friend and a James River grad in helping us get the match set up.”
Craft cancelled Friday’s practice to give his wrestlers some time to heal, as they were pretty banged up at this point of the season.
“We knew bad weather was approaching and we figured we’d be out of school for a while,” said Craft. “I don’t like a bunch of time off, but considering the circumstances of the team I think it’s the best thing for us right now. However, we’ve got events approaching fast.”
The girls are supposed to be at Franklin County for a quad tonight, Wednesday. Then five from the Red Team are supposed to go to Huntington, W.Va., Thursday night for the WSAZ Invitational starting Friday morning. Then, the girls are supposed to have their Zone Qualifier for the state tournament on Friday and Saturday at Franklin County.
“Hopefully that will go on but I know the VHSL has some backup plans if those dates don’t work,” said Craft. “Basically, we’re appreciative of the time off to heal but everything is up in the air because of the weather.”
James River is scheduled to travel to Riverheads for the “Big Red” this upcoming weekend, pending the weather.
