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On its senior night last Wednesday, the Rockbridge County High School wrestling team defeated rival Parry Mc-Cluer 46-33 and beat Bath County 60-24 in front of a large crowd in Lexington. The Fighting Blues won on criteria after finishing in a 36-36 tie with Bath, their Pioneer District rival.
RC improved to 6-1 in duals this season, while PM is 3-6.
Before the meet, the Wildcats honored their eight seniors: Todd Caputo, David Castillo, Caiden Cavazos, Sawyer Hattersley, John Lindberg, Ryan Maxwell, Stephanie Ross and Tucker Towle.
Although he was trying to get another home meet scheduled this month, RC head coach Mike Wood made sure that all of his seniors wrestled in case this was their last home meet. Four of the seniors are starters, led by co-captains Hattersley, Maxwell and Towle.
“I was able to get all of them matches, which was great because I like to send those guys off, especially at home,” said Wood. “The seniors wrestled well.”
The RC coach noted that even the junior varsity wrestlers got to compete in exhibition matches, and several of the varsity wrestlers switched weight classes after the dual against Bath. “We moved a few things around to get them to be able to do that, but I was glad that was able to be done,” said Wood.
Wood said it was unfortunate several of his wrestlers only got to compete once due to PM or Bath having to forfeit because they weren’t able to fill a weight class. The Wildcats, meanwhile, struggled in the lower weight classes, including at 120, where they don’t have a wrestler. “Giving up the 120-pound weight class kills us,” said Wood. “We’re just so inexperienced at 106 and 113. They’re wrestling hard, they’re doing a good job. They just don’t have mat time.”
Wildcats who went 2-0, including wins by forfeit, were Maxwell (132-pounds), Cavazos (138 and 144), Hudson Ryan (138 and 144), Towle (165), Hattersley (175 and 190) and Gabe Wade (215).
The Blues were missing two wrestlers due to injury, including sophomore Jacob Shafer (132), who placed fourth in the Class 1 state tournament at 126 last year.
Reviewing the meet, PM head coach Jeremiah Brockenbrough said, “We wrestled well tonight, I thought.” Brockenbrough was proud of his team for overcoming Bath and credited the Wildcats for wrestling well.
“We’re a little shorthanded right now, coming out of the holidays, but at the end of the day, it’s no excuse,” said Brockenbrough.
In the eight bouts they did wrestle against each other, without forfeits, RC and PM each won four times. Like RC, several of the Blues switched weight classes after wrestling Bath.
Blues who went 2-0 were Clyde Vassar (106 and 113), Cyler Driscoll (120), Jordan Brockenbrough (126 and 132), Jackson Brockenbrough (150) and Timmy Lesher (285/heavyweight), whose final bout was a 7-6 win over Lindberg.
RC Sixth At LCA
The Wildcats followed up by placing sixth of 20 teams at the Liberty Christian Academy Invitational on Friday in Lynchburg.
RC was originally scheduled to travel to Roanoke for the Knights of the Roundtable tournament on Saturday, but the Wildcats competed at LCA instead due to inclement weather, and the LCA tournament was condensed from two days to one, resulting in a very late night for the wrestlers.
Pleased with how his grapplers did, Wood said, “We wrestled probably, at this point in time, the best we’ve wrestled. We’re slowly getting better.”
Against tough competition, the Wildcats scored 122 points, finishing just ahead of Chancellor (seventh, 113) and LCA (99.5), while Amherst County (75) and Grace Christian School (68.5) rounded out the top 10. Washington (235) won the tournament, while Poquoson (211.5), last year’s Class 2 state runner-up, placed second. Completing the top five were Hanover (167), William Byrd (140) and Salem (132).
Four Wildcats earned medals by placing in the top six in their weight classes. Ryan (138) and Williams (157) both placed second, Maxwell (132) and Hattersley (175) finished third, and Gabe Wade (215) placed fifth.
See Grappling , page A9 Wood said both Ryan and Williams had great tournaments, but they faced “really solid kids” in the finals.
Ryan defeated LCA’s Maleequ Jennings in an 11-3 major decision in the semifinals before Poquoson’s Bryan Latta pinned him in 1:11 in the finals.
Williams pinned LCA’s Sam Rodgers in 5:35 in the semifinals before William Byrd’s Bricen Lancaster pinned him in 3:30 in the finals.
At 132, Maxwell lost 5-0 to the eventual winner, Hanover’s Carter Perry, but he then beat Rustburg’s Santiago Eric 4-2 and won by forfeit in the thirdplace bout.
In the quarterfinals at 175, Hattersley lost in 4:57 in a 17-1 technical fall (lead of 15 points or more) to Grace Christian’s Corban Schmandt, but he battled back in the consolation bracket. In the third-place bout, Hattersley beat Jefferson Forest’s Ethan Boone 5-1.
At 215, Wade lost 5-3 to E.C. Glass’s Lawson Divine in the semifinals. Wade then pinned Amherst County’s Preston McPhatter in 2:32 in the consolation bracket before falling to E.C. Glass’s Robey DelaRosa in a 12-4 major decision.
Wood was also pleased with the performances of Cavazos (144), Towle (165) and Lunsford (285/ heavyweight). “Those guys all got quality matches, even though they didn’t place,” said Wood. “This time of year, it’s about getting mat time.”
Today, Wednesday, the Wildcats will compete in Valley District duals at East Rockingham, starting at 6 p.m. On Saturday, they’ll travel to Riverheads for a quad meet, scheduled for 10 a.m.
PM Eighth At Heritage
Competing against larger schools, PM placed eighth of 18 teams at the Pioneer Take Down the New Year tournament, which took place Dec. 28-29 at Heritage High School in Lynchburg.
The Blues were the only Class 1 school in the tournament, won by Class 3 school Heritage.
“We wrestled well,” said Coach Brockenbrough. “I think that some of the younger kids are starting to come on.”
Leading four Blues who earned medals was Jackson Brockenbrough, who placed first at 144. At 126, Jordan Brockenbrough placed third. Also earning medals by placing in the top six for PM were Vassar (fourth, 106) and Shafer (sixth, 132).
On Saturday, the Blues will compete in the Matt Bryant Memorial Duals at Franklin High School in Franklin City. PM will then have a home quad on Tuesday against Buffalo Gap, Northside and Rural Retreat, starting at 5 p.m.
