James River wrestling team placed ninth in state
The James River boys placed ninth in Group A and the Lord Botetourt boys were 22nd in Group AA at the state wrestling tournament at the Salem Civic Center last weekend. Christiansburg, in Group AA, and Glenvar, in Group A, both repeated as state champions.
Lord Botetourt’s top finisher in the Group AA wrestling tournament was heavyweight Mike Jones (left) who is talking with hid dad between matches. He placed third overall. -Photo by Brian Hoffman
The River boys were all over the mats Saturday as they had a strong representation in Group A. The Knights were sixth at one point, and had a finalist in Jonathan Falls at 152.
“Needless to say, we were really happy with how things went,” said River coach Tim Jennings. “You always assume you could have done better, but it’s hard not to be pleased with the effort our kids gave. The program is on the rise here at River and I think if we can continue to get the kids out, we’ll continue to improve.”
The Knights had five wrestlers place. In addition to Falls, who took second, Ryan Hepler was fourth at 145, Ian Johnson was fourth at 171, K.W. King was fifth at 130, and Tyler Gore took seventh at 119. The Knights took eight wrestlers to Salem.
“That’s the most we’ve had since I’ve been here,” said Jennings. “The most I had before was three, so that’s an improvement in itself. Some of the guys didn’t wrestle as well as they have this year, but the level of competition is so much higher and just the environment itself can be a bit overwhelming, so I think that played a part in it, too. It’s hard to convey the amount of focus that’s needed to prepare for such a huge event, but I think the younger guys know exactly what is needed now, and will be much more prepared for next year.”
Falls and Johnson had outstanding tournaments. Falls made it to the final before he was defeated by Julian Minter of Radford, 18-1.
“Jonny and I had talked earlier in the week once we looked at the brackets, and we thought he had a good shot at the finals,” said Jennings. “I knew his quarterfinal match against the Kerns kid from J.J. Kelly would be really hard. He had lost to him earlier in the season, so he knew what he was up against. He went out and dominated from start to finish. The other kid spent most of the match on his back as Jonny beat him 21-7. That was huge.”
In the semifinal, Falls had to wrestle a kid from Madison that he had beaten just before Christmas, 2-1.
“He wrestled very well, and although the finals didn’t go as we would have liked, he still has a lot to be proud of,” said Jennings. “I think he knows he was a long shot to get where he was in the first place, but he has worked really hard all year, and it paid off.”
Johnson was another success story. He didn’t qualify for states last year and he’s only a second year wrestler, but Ian finished fourth.
“He had a major competitor in the semis, Colin Barnes from Strasburg, who went on to win the championship,” said Jennings. “Ian wrestled his best match yet. He truly did what any coach hopes of an athlete – he peaked at the right time. Everything seemed to click for him at regions and states. He even had the kid on his back in the second period, but just couldn’t get the pin.”
River has five qualifiers coming back next year, K.W. King, Falls, Creek Turner, Dylan Johnson and Dylan Newcomb. Kyle King, who placed fifth at regions, also returns.
In Group AA, Lord Botetourt’s top finisher was heavyweight Mike Jones, who placed third overall. That was a tremendous accomplishment after Jones dropped a close first round match. He then rallied and won five straight, including a win over Nick Criner of Christiansburg, who had upset Mike in the first round.
Trey Toliver won his first two matches but suffered a mild concussion in the quarter- finals and was withdrawn from the tournament as a precautionary measure.
“I felt really bad to see Trey’s high school career end on that,” said LB coach Robert Haynie. “He was peaking at the right time and was wrestling as well as anyone in his weight class before the injury. I really thought he had a good chance to get to the finals and win it all. Trey is a champion in my book.”
Travis and Zach Hodges also won matches at the state tournament before losing some extremely tight matches in the consolation bracket. Jesse Corl and Seth Carlton qualified, and gained some valuable experience. Overall LB won 10 and lost 11 matches, placing 22nd overall out of 66 teams.
“All six LB wrestlers represented their school well,” said Haynie. “I think our kids feel really good about the year they had and are excited about next season.”
Everyone but Toliver returns along with some top notch ninth graders.
“We placed high in every major tournament we were in and had a very respectable 13-8 dual record, considering five of the losses were against top 10 programs in Virginia and North Carolina,” said Haynie. “I really couldn’t have asked for any more out of this group as they exceeded all my expectations. Coaches Jason Oldaker and Jeb Wright did a fine job for us and I am already anxious to see how high they can climb next year. The sky is the limit for this group if we can keep everyone together.”
