The “Big Dance” is upon us, as the Salem Civic Center will host Virginia High School League state wrestling tournaments for Class 1, 2 and 3 this weekend. Lord Botetourt and James River will both be well-represented in Salem.
Action begins Friday at 10 a.m. with 28 first round matches. The Class 1-3 quarterfinals and first round consolation matches for Class 3 will go from 1 to 4 p.m. Then, after a 30-minute break, second round consolation matches begin at 4:30 p.m. Class 3 quarterfinal consolation matches will be from 7-8 p.m. while Class 1 and 2 quarterfinal consolations are from 7:30 to 9 p.m.
Weigh-ins for all classes will be at 8 a.m. Saturday followed by semifinals for all three classes beginning at 9:30 a.m. Semifinal consolation matches begin at 11:30 a.m., consolation finals are at 1 p.m. and the championship finals are scheduled for 4:30 p.m. and will run until approximately 7:30 p.m.
Lord Botetourt will have six wrestlers in the Class 3 tournament after finishing sixth in the Region 3D tournament on Feb. 7. Cavaliers in the field are Jackson Dean at 120, James Dean at 126, Morgan Parr at 150, Angel Rigney at 190, Aaden Thomas at 215 and Tyler Butler at 285.
“We’ve got six guys wrestling in the tournament, five seniors and a freshman, and we like how all of them fell in the brackets,” said LB coach Paul Craft. “We got some good draws. Realistically, every one of our guys is capable of being somewhere on the podium on Saturday night.”
James River competed in the Region 2C tournament at Liberty High in Bedford last Saturday and finished seventh among 10 teams despite having just five wrestlers in the tournament. Glenvar was the team winner with six champions.
Four of the five James River wrestlers qualified for the state tournament, including Silas Whitson who won the 120-pound class. Whitson pinned Carter Graffeo of Glenvar in 2:29 in the semifinal and then pinned Gabe Watson of Radford in the final in 1:20.
Ethan Serrano, at 113, and Cavann Hoelzle, at 126, both made the final and finished second. Ashton Orange went 3-1 on the day, wrestling back to win the consolation final at 190 and take third place. Jacob Thomasson was River’s other wrestler, and he finished fifth at 157.
