RC Wrestlers Go 1-2 At Home

In three busy days of competition, the Rockbridge County High School wrestling team went 1-2 in its first home meet of the season on Thursday night before placing ninth of 22 teams at the Liberty Christian Academy Invitational on Friday and Saturday in Lynchburg.

In front of a spirited crowd on Thursday, the Wildcats defeated Bath County 68-12 before falling to Turner Ashby and Strasburg at the RC gym.

Against Valley District rival Turner Ashby, last year’s district champion and Region 3C runnerup, the Wildcats lost 48-25. RC ended the night with a 44-33 loss to Strasburg. In duals this season, the Wildcats are 4-2.

RC head coach Mike Wood said the dual against TA “was disappointing. We were flat. Luckily, that one doesn’t count in our district duals. Hopefully, we can figure out some things and get them when it matters at districts. We change two of those matches, it’s different. We beat a couple of the kids at [the Harrisonburg Invitational on Dec. 14], and they beat us back here. You can’t have that.”

“We did not wrestle well today,” added Wood. “We wrestled flat.”

One of the highlights of the night was when RC senior Kellan Dorey, who went 3-0 at 190-pounds, made big moves late in his final bout to defeat the state runner-up from Strasburg in a 9-5 decision.

Wood was familiar with many of the wrestlers at Strasburg because he coached there for nine years before coaching at RC, and most of the Strasburg wrestlers were in his youth club. He also coached five of their older brothers in high school.

In addition to Dorey, RC senior Aidan Williams (165-pounds) and junior Graham Niebur (132) went 3-0.

Hoping that his wrestlers would bounce back at LCA over the weekend, Wood said, “It’s either, put your tail between your legs and go cry in the corner and get beat up some more, or learn and wrestle harder tomorrow.”

Wood added that it was important for his wrestlers to face tough competition. “I don’t care if they go to the state tournament with seven or eight losses,” he said. “That’s why I bumped these guys up [weight classes] in some of these matches because I don’t want the veterans to get forfeits. If I bump them up and they take a loss, that’s fine. We got the mat time.”

Wildcats Ninth At LCA

The Wildcats scored 110 points to place ninth of 22 teams at the LCA Invitational on Friday and Saturday, edging Region 3C rival Brookville, which placed 10th with 106 points. It was a solid showing for the Wildcats, who had five wrestlers earn medals by placing in the top six. Last year, the Wildcats placed sixth at the tournament.

Washington won this year’s tournament with 219.5 points, while Central (Wise) placed second with 195.5 points. Rounding out the top five were Hanover (193), William Byrd (169.5) and Staunton River (144).

Williams had the top finish for the Wildcats, placing second at 165. In the semifinals, Williams pinned Jefferson Forest’s Julian Sakural in 1:09, but he lost in a 21-6 technical fall (lead of 15 points or more) to Washington’s Blake Jacobson in the finals.

Also stepping up for the Wildcats were juniors Markus Nelson (150) and Hudson Ryan (138), both placing fifth, while Dorey (190) and senior Gabe Wade (215) finished sixth.

In their fifth-place bouts, Nelson pinned Hanover’s Chase Hughes in 51 seconds, while Ryan defeated Dan River’s Shawn Jones in a 12-2 major decision.

At 215, Wade lost the fifthplace bout to Randolph-Henry’s Tre Wheeler in a 6-3 decision.

Dorey made it to the fifthplace bout, but then took a medical forfeit due to an injured ankle.

Ryan Eighth In Pa. Tourney Facing fierce competition at the Southmoreland Holiday Classic Dec. 27-28 in Alverton, Pa., near where Coach Wood is from, Ryan led the Wildcats by placing eighth at 139-pounds. RC placed 28th of 33 teams, scoring 39.5 points.

The Wildcats took 11 wrestlers to the tournament, which Wood said is “a bit harder than our state tournament.” The weight classes were slightly different than in Virginia.

“Those guys had some real tough matches,” said Wood.

Ryan went 4-3, winning four bouts in the consolation bracket before losing the seventh-place bout in an 8-0 major decision to North Catholic’s Angelo Amelio.

Other Wildcats who made it to the second day of the tournament were Williams (160) and Dorey (189).

Corry Area won the tournament with 200.5 points, Butler placed second with 188.5, while North East (179) finished third. Rounding out the top five teams were Fox Chapel Area (178) and Indian Land (163).

The Wildcats will return to action with a quad meet at Riverheads on Saturday, starting at 10 a.m.