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Led by senior Ryan Maxwell’s individual championship at 132-pounds, five Rockbridge County High School wrestlers advanced to the Class 3 state tournament by placing in the top four in their weight classes at the Region 3C tournament on Saturday at Brookville High School in Lynchburg. The Wildcats placed fourth of 16 teams.
Maxwell, who placed third at the regional tournament when he was wrestling at 120-pounds last year, pinned his way to the finals on Saturday and then defeated Heritage’s Dmitri Jones in a 7-2 decision for the title. A week earlier, Maxwell had won the Valley District title. Maxwell will be making his second state tournament appearance after placing sixth at 120 last year.
RC junior Kellan Dorey advanced to the state tournament by placing second at 190, while junior Aidan Williams (157) and sophomore Hudson Ryan (138) qualified by placing third. Also advancing for the Wildcats was senior Sawyer Hattersley (175), who placed fourth.
Other Wildcats who were regional placers (top six), both placing sixth to miss out on the state tournament alternate spot by one place, were seniors Tucker Towle (165) and John Lindberg (215).
As a team, the Wildcats improved on their performance from last year, when they placed sixth. Heritage defended its team title with 221 points, while RC’s Valley District rival Turner Ashby followed up its district title by placing second with 176.5 points. Rounding out the top five were Liberty Christian Academy (146.5), RC (131), and the Wildcats’ district rival Broadway (fifth, 121.5).
Relieved at his team’s impressive finish, second-year RC head coach Mike Wood said his grapplers “wrestled the best they’ve wrestled all year.”
“This year has been a rollercoaster kind of year,” said Wood. “One week, we wrestled well, and the next week, we’re not where we want to be.”
The RC coach noted that Region 3C is the biggest region in Class 3, making it more difficult to advance to the state tournament.
In addition to Maxwell, Wood was especially impressed by Dorey, who followed up on his district title a week earlier with his first regional title. Wood said Dorey, who had to sit out last winter with an injury, “has done a great job at 190.”
To reach the finals, Dorey pinned his first two opponents, taking down Brookville’s Frank Lukanich in 3:13 in the semifinals. In the championship bout against Wilson Memorial’s Alexander Jordan, it was scoreless until the third period, when Jordan got Dorey in a headlock and pinned him in 5:15. Wood said the two wrestlers should meet again when Dorey makes his state tournament debut.
Williams will be making his second state tournament appearance after going 1-2 at the state tournament last year. Moving up from 144 as a sophomore last year to 157 this year, Williams followed up on his third-place finish in the district by placing third at the regional tournament on Saturday. In the regional quarterfinals, Williams lost in a 7-2 decision to Alleghany’s Carter Nicely, but he bounced back by pinning three opponents in the consolation bracket to reach the thirdplace bout, where he defeated Heritage’s Israel Garland in an 11-3 major decision.
At 138, Ryan will be making his first state tournament appearance. Ryan was pinned by Heritage’s Matt Garland in 3:24 in the regional semifinals, but he pinned LCA’s Maleeq Jennings in 4:33 in the consolation bracket before defeating TA’s Nate Wilkins in a 3-1 decision in the thirdplace bout.
Following up on his district title, Hattersley placed fourth at 175 to advance to the state tournament for the first time as a senior. Hattersley lost to Liberty Christian Academy’s Aidan Armbrust in an 11-3 decision in the quarterfinals, and Armbrust went on to win the regional title. In the consolation bracket, Hattersley defeated East Rockingham’s Kristian Hearn 7-4 before falling to Heritage’s Ronald Black 3-0 in the third-place bout.
At 165, Towle pinned Heritage’s Elijah Erskine in 4:56 in the first round and pinned Waynesboro’s Eli Morris in 2:19 in the quarterfinals, but he lost in a 12-2 major decision to TA’s Wyatt Haskell in the semifinals. Erskine then pinned Towle in 1:18 in the consolation bracket, and Towle concluded his high school career when he was pinned by Fluvanna County’s Luke Dillon in 1:25 in the fifth-place bout.
Wrestling at 215, Lindberg pinned Heritage’s Bentley Fleshman in 4:34 in the quarterfinals, but he was pinned by Waynesboro’s Cameron Newsome in 3:22 in the semifinals. Lindberg lost to TA’s Emikal Porter 1-0 in the consolation bracket before falling to Staunton’s Dashawn Shifflett 6-2 in the fifth-place bout to wrap up his high school career.
The Class 3 state tournament is scheduled for next Friday and Saturday, Feb. 1617, at the Salem Civic Center, starting at 10 a.m. on both days. Last year, with four wrestlers competing at the state tournament, the Wildcats placed 12th.
Wood said he isn’t fond of having nearly two weeks and 10 practices without competition against other schools, but he said the Wildcats are going to “do some things other than being on the mat. It’s about staying healthy and not getting injured … We’re going to be creative.”
Wood said the Wildcats may go to the pool and will do some running to prepare. “We’ve got to stay busy,” he said.
