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Wildcats Send 12 Wrestlers To Regionals
Led by three individual champions, 12 Rockbridge County High School wrestlers advanced to the Region 3C tournament at the Valley District Regional Qualifier last Wednesday night at Turner Ashby High School in Bridgewater.
Eleven RC wrestlers advanced by placing in the top four in their weight classes, and RC sophomore Finn Miller (120-pounds) placed fifth and advanced as an alternate.
Wildcats winning individual titles were senior co-captain Kellan Dorey (190-pounds), senior Gabe Wade (215) and junior co-captain Hudson Ryan (144).
Dorey, who also won last year, pinned East Rockingham’s Connor Roadcap in 56 seconds in the semifinals before he was awarded a forfeit in the finals due to an injury to his opponent. For the season, Dorey is 29-3.
Wade pinned Rocktown’s Ben Livick in 2:49 in the semifinals before pinning Spotswood’s Dawson Simons in 3:39 in the finals, improving to 32-8 this season.
Ryan pinned Broadway’s Parker Wood in 1:44 in the semifinals and defeated Turner Ashby’s Adam Arenas in a 20-1 technical fall (lead of 15 points or more) in 5:39 in the finals, improving to 33-10.
Two RC seniors, co-captain Aidan Williams (165) and Wyatt Eisenbrown (157) placed second. Williams, who is 37-6, pinned Broadway’s Conner Mason in 1:50 in the semifinals before he was pinned by East Rockingham’s Kristian Hearn in 2:40 in the finals. Eisenbrown, who is 16-7, pinned TA’s Walter Rhodes in 1:53 in the semifinals before he lost in an 11-0 major decision to ER’s Grant Malin in the finals.
Wildcats placing third were senior Isaiah Woolfrey (175), juniors Graham Niebur (132), Markus Nelson (150) and Aiden Meyers (138); and freshman Davis Welsh (113). Also advancing by placing fourth was RC sophomore Billy Chittum (285/ heavyweight).
Coming up a place short of advancing, in fifth place, was RC junior Carlos Reynolds (126).
To place third, Woolfrey pinned TA’s Kyle Smallwood in seven seconds and then won the third-place bout by forfeit. Niebur pinned Rocktown’s Urbina Jim in 36 seconds in the third-place bout, while Nelson pinned ER’s Jackson Merica in 31 seconds. Meyers defeated Broadway’s Jaxen Phillips in a 16-1 technical fall in 2:25 before winning the third-place bout by forfeit. Welsh was one of only three wrestlers in his weight class, and Chittum was one of four wrestlers in his.
Reviewing the qualifier, RC head coach Mike Wood said, “They all wrestled pretty well. We lost a couple close matches where we were winning and we just got caught in a scramble.”
Team scores were not kept, but host TA was rewarded as the Valley District team champion for the second consecutive year after an impressive regular season. The Wildcats finished second to TA for the second year in a row.
The Region 3C tournament will take place on Saturday at Turner Ashby, starting at 9 a.m. The top four wrestlers in each weight class will advance to the Class 3 state tournament, which will take place next Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21 and 22, at the Salem Civic Center, starting at 10 a.m. on both days. At last year’s regional tournament, the Wildcats placed fourth and advanced five wrestlers to the state tournament.
Looking ahead to the regional tournament, Wood said he has confidence in his team because “we’re a little bit better of a tournament team than in duals. I’m hoping if we wrestle well, we could be in the running with [two-time defending regional champion] Heritage.”It’ll come down to the guys that wrestle back [in the consolation rounds], scoring some points for us. It’d be nice to have a handful of guys in the finals.”
Wood also expects TA, last year’s runner-up, to be a contender for the regional title, and he hopes at least five or six Wildcats will advance to the state tournament.
