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F our R ockbridge C ounty 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 Turner Ashby High School in Bridgewater. The Wildcats placed sixth of 16 teams.
Senior Brice Hall won at 175-pounds, while seniors Zeke Mohr (150-pounds) and junior Aidan Williams (144) placed second, and junior Ryan Maxwell (120) finished third.
The Wildcats, who had defeated Broadway by half-apoint for the Valley District title nine days earlier in Lexington, didn’t do as well as a team at the Region 3C tournament. RC tallied 129 points to finish a place behind fifthplace Broadway (133).
Heritage won the regional tournament with 213 points, while Turner Ashby, which had placed third in the Valley District tournament, stepped up to finish second with 152.5 points on Saturday. Liberty Christian Academy (138) placed third, and Wilson Memorial (134.5) finished fourth. Following the Wildcats in the top 10 were Brookville (seventh, 89), Liberty (eighth, 84) Fluvanna County (ninth, 81.5) and Fort Defiance (10th, 60). RC’s team finish was an improvement from last year, when the Wildcats placed 10th.
Reviewing the Wildcats’ team finish, with a program-record 14 wrestlers competing in the tournament, first-year RC head coach Mike Wood said, “It’s disappointing because we beat TA and Broadway in the district tournament, and they finished higher than us in the region. Disappointing because we had such a good year from start to almost the finish.”
Individually, Hall, a senior co-captain for the Wildcats, won his second consecutive Region 3C title. He won at 195-pounds last year before moving down to 175 this season. In the finals on Saturday, Hall pinned Wilson Memorial’s Alexander Jordan in 2:14.
Hall, the Valley District wrestler of the year, has his eyes on the state title, having placed fourth at the state tournament the last two years. The other three Wildcats advancing will be making their first appearances at the state tournament.
Mohr, a senior co-captain who missed advancing by one spot last year, made it to the finals of the regional tournament at 150 before losing to Spotswood’s Owen Hartman in a 4-2 decision. At 144, Williams advanced to the finals, where he was pinned by Broadway’s Feodor Dronov in 5:12. After placing fifth at 113 last year, Maxwell advanced this year by placing third at 120.
The Wildcats had two wrestlers who placed fifth, making them alternates for the state tournament: senior co-captain Tom Maxwell at 157 and junior first-year wrestler Je’san Henderson (215). Tom Maxwell was a state qualifier last year, when he placed fourth at the Region 3C tournament. Also wrestling well on Saturday but narrowly missing advancing was RC junior Tucker Towle.
“We had three guys that probably should’ve made it,” said Wood. “Unfortunately, sometimes, the end of the season, it could be nerves.”
The Class 3 state tournament will take place next Friday and Saturday, Feb. 17 and 18, at the Salem Civic Center, starting at 10 a.m. on both days. At last year’s state tournament, with three wrestlers competing, the Wildcats placed 28th of 48 teams.
Looking ahead to the state tournament and the extra time to practice, Wood said he’s reminding his state qualifiers that they have a clean slate. ‘”It’s a new weekend, all even,” he said. “They’ve just got to wrestle.”
