The high school wrestling season will take the whistle tonight and both county teams are in action. Lord Botetourt will host Northside and James River will be at Glenvar.
Both schools are looking forward to good seasons. Botetourt has the largest team in school history under coach Paul Craft, including six girls.
“We now have three separate teams wrestling three separate schedules, an A team, B team and a girls team,” said Craft. “Coach Kincer and Coach Burton and the rest of the staff at Read Mountain have done a great job of creating a culture there and getting kids to come out. Between the middle school and high school we have over 80 wrestlers on the mat.”
Impact returnees include junior James Dean at 120 pounds, sophomore Jacob Spence at 126, senior Declan Sullivan at 132, senior Canden Saunders at 138, junior Morgan Parr at 144, soph Kevin Gergely at 150, junior Kayden McCluer at 165, senior Cooper Roberts at 175, senior Ty Hensley at 190, junior Aaden Thomas at 215 and two juniors, Gabriel Glenn and Tyler Butler in the 215-heavyweight range. LB also has two returning girls, juniors Jasmine Andrade and Serenity Shearer. Both made successful runs in the girls state tournament last season.
“Our goal for the season is aim for the highest bar possible and consistently give maximum effort,” said Craft. “We want to continue developing our younger and inexperienced guys and girls and keep them invested in our program.
“We also want to expand our fundraising and the size of The Takedown Club that helps to support Lord Botetourt wrestling. Those are our team goals. The rest takes care of itself.”
At James River, senior Xaiden Wynn will be looking to add a third state title to his belt at 120 pounds. He’s committed and signed with Cleary University in Michigan.
Brayden Forbes returns for his senior season at 132 with his eye on a state title to complement his three previous state placements while Nate Stewart returns for his junior season at 144. He finished second in the state his freshman and sophomore years and is looking to garner the title.
Georgia Miller returns as a junior for the female division and Caiden Martin returns for his sophomore season with the goal of a top state placement.
“Team goals for the season are a Region 2C title and a top five finish in the state as a team,” said coach Bobby Stewart.
This weekend the Knights will be wrestling in the Titan Toughman Tournament at Hidden Valley High while LB goes to Parry McCluer for a tournament.
