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Sunday, Feb. 12 – Nine Parry McCluer High School wrestlers advanced to the Class 1 state tournament by placing in the top three in their weight classes at the Region 1C tournament on Saturday at Fort Chiswell, where the Fighting Blues placed third of eight teams.
Two PM wrestlers, sophomores Jackson Brockenbourgh (144-pounds) and Cyler Driscoll (106), won regional titles, while four Blues were runners-up, and three Blues finished third.
Brockenbrough won the title by defeating Grayson County’s Keyon Mitchell in a 9-2 decision in the finals. At 106, Driscoll overcame GC’s Bo Anderson in a 4-3 decision.
In the team standings, Grayson County won its second consecutive Region 1C title with 191.5 points, while Galax (158) placed second. The Blues, coming off winning the Pioneer District title on Jan. 30, tallied 156.5 points to finish third. George Wythe (124) placed fourth, and Fort Chiswell (86) finished fifth. Rounding out the standings were Bath County (78), Giles (68) and Covington (29).
Blues placing second to advance were seniors Ryan Patterson (120) and Cody Thomas (190), junior Cole Chittum (285/heavyweight) and freshman Jacob Shafer (126).
PM grapplers advancing by placing third were senior Kabell Austin (215), sophomore Junior Convers (175) and freshman Clyde Vassar (113). Junior Scottie Garrett (157) completed his freshman season by placing fourth.
The tournament was a notable improvement for the Blues from last year, when they placed fifth and advanced six wrestlers to the state tournament.
The Class 1 state tournament will take place on Friday and Saturday at the Salem Civic Center, starting at 10 a.m. on both days.
For the full story on the Region 1C tournament, please see our Feb. 15 newspaper.
