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The Parry McCluer High School wrestling team defeated Bath County 54-30 to win the Pioneer District title on Monday of last week in Buena Vista. For the Fighting Blues, it was the last home competition of the season and the final action before the postseason.
The meet was primarily against Bath County, with Pioneer District rival Covington bringing only two wrestlers. Other than losses by forfeit, the Blues only lost one bout.
Before the meet, the Blues honored their three seniors: Kabell Austin, Ryan Patterson and Cody Thomas.
In his only bout of the night, Ryan Patterson pinned Bath’s Lyric Altizer in under a minute at 120-pounds.
Austin (215-pounds) went 1-1. He was pinned late in 3:30 by Covington’s Luke Connor, but he bounced back by pinning Bath’s Austin Miller in 47 seconds.
At 190, Thomas took a 10-3 lead over Bath’s Ignacio Malpica before pinning him in 3:45.
PM freshman Jacob Shafer went 2-0, pinning Covington’s Trevor Dennon in the first round and winning by forfeit against Bath.
At 144, PM sophomore Jackson Brockenbrough pinned Bath’s Ethan Bryant in 3:37.
In his only bout of the night, PM junior Scottie Garrett (150) was pinned in the second round by Bath’s Jeremy Burns.
Blues winning by forfeit were sophomores Cyler Driscoll (106), Junior Convers (175) and Timmy Lesher (285/heavyweight) and freshman Clyde Vassar (113).
Prior to the meet, PM played host for a match of little league wrestlers from the Rockbridge Area Recreation Organization. Reviewing the night, PM head coach Jeremiah Brockenbrough said, “Tonight was a big night for our wrestling program. Tonight was the first time we’ve ever been able to have a little league match before a high school match in Buena Vista.”
The Blues will compete in the Region 1C tournament at Fort Chiswell on Saturday, starting at 10:30 a.m. The top three wrestlers in each weight class will advance to the Class 1 state tournament, which will take place next Friday and Saturday, Feb 17 and 18, at the Salem Civic Center.
Confident about his wrestlers’ chances, Coach Brockenbrough said, “I think if we wrestle well at regions, we can get everyone qualified for states.”
