The James River wrestlers will host Lord Botetourt and two others tonight for a four-team quad in Springwood. Martinsville and Chatham will also attend to begin a big week on the mats for the Botetourt County teams.
On Thursday LB will host “Senior Night” in Daleville, beginning at 6 p.m., as Salem and Jefferson Forest will be here for a tri-match. This Saturday the LB Gray Team (backups) will be at Marion High School for a duals tournament and the girls will leave Friday night for a big tournament in Louisa on Saturday.
Last week the Cavaliers wrestled William Byrd in Vinton on Jan. 14 and got a win to wrap up the Blue Ridge District Dual Meet championship. Then, on Saturday, the Cavalier girls wrestled at the Orange County Girls Open and Jasmin Andrade placed sixth at 165 pounds.
Also on Saturday the LB Red Team (starters) went to Union High School in Big Stone Gap and wrestled in the Steve Gardner Memorial Duals Tournament. The Cavaliers came in fourth place among a dozen teams competing and senior James Dean, at 126, picked up his 100th career win.
LB beat J.I. Burton, 72-6, then beat a bandit team, 66-12. Next the Cavs wrestled Johnson Central of Kentucky, one of the best teams in that state, and dropped the match, 53-18.
Photos by Suzanne Witcher
“We forfeited a match at 157 that could’ve helped us and we had a couple guys get hurt, one of which we were winning” said LB coach Paul Craft. “I think we left some points on the board. The score was not an indicator of how the match went. We wrestled hard and were in it for most of the match.”
After the injuries, and another wrestler dropping out due to illness, LB was giving up 30 points the rest of the day before an LB wrestler even stepped on the mat.
“It’s extremely difficult to win a dual giving away that many points, and especially against good opponents,” said Craft. “But, we were proud of the way our guys wrestled. We’re starting to see some of our younger guys turn a corner and they’re wrestling more consistently. Lucas Higgins (106-pound freshman) got a huge pin later in the day. Vallen Pennock, Nick Wright, Oliver Green and Bronson Shields all stepped in with the starters and wrestled hard. We’re very impressed with their effort.
“We’ve got a ton of guys out hurt and sick. The flu and injuries have finally caught up to us this season, but glad we’re getting through it now rather than in February.”
James River did not wrestle last week. After hosting tonight’s “Senior Night” quad the Knights will head to Marion High School on Saturday for the Hurricane Duals.
