Local teen wrestles his way into national ranking spot
CAVE SPRING - Most 15 year olds have a Facebook page. Many are on Twitter and blog. Logan Turner however has his own website in addition to blogs, a Twitter account, and a Facebook page dedicated solely to his wrestling. That’s right, this teen is a serious wrestler.
“I got into wrestling as a way to stay in shape for football,’ explains Turner, a sophomore at Cave Spring High School, “but it turned out, I liked wrestling more.” That was four years ago and the athletic teen hasn’t looked back.
Logan Turner - submitted photo
Turner is the son of Steve Turner and Laura Davidson, both of Roanoke. He has two siblings: Graham Turner, 28 of Roanoke, and J.D. Tyree, 21, currently at Columbia University. He relocated here last year from the Martinsville area, where he had attended his freshman year at Magna Vista High School. It was while there that he won last year’s Piedmont Heavyweight Championship. He was also a two-time Middle School State Champion.
Currently, the 6-foot, 250lb sophomore that wrestles in the 285lb.weight class for Cave Spring High School. “There are 14 high school weight classes that range from 106lbs. to 285lbs” explained Turner’s wrestling coach Tim Nininger. “Logan wrestled in the Super 32 Preseason Tournament, thelargest national pre-season tournament in the country, October29-30 and reached the top 16. No freshman or sophomores finished as high as Logan, only one junior advanced further, the rest were seniors. Logan should compete for a state title this season and will face at least one 285lb.wrestler ranked higher than he is so hopefully he will move up even higher in the rankings.”
It is these rankings that have earned Turner his second year being ranked in Wrestling USA Magazine. Turner ranked #19 out of 100 for “Best High School Sophomores and Freshmen.” Last year, as a freshman, he ranked #14.
“I’m really proud of him” said Steve, Logan’s father. “I thoroughly enjoy going to the matches. I get to be a kid again. It’s a lot of fun to watch.”
When asked why he chose to focus solely on wrestling and to no longer play football, Logan simply answered with a laugh “I like winning.” He then went on to elaborate “I have more fun. I like the people I wrestle with and I like the coaches.”
Turner plans to continue his wrestling career well into his college years. He hopes to attend either Virginia Tech, ODU, UVA, or Columbia University. He has an uncle who wrestled at Tech and his brother J.D. was a Virginia All State football player who went on to attend Columbia University and play there.
Turner shouldn’t have any trouble with his pick of colleges. Not only does he have an impressive list of wrestling achievements and titles earned, but he also manages to maintain a 4.0 grade average. In fact, while he was still at in Martinsville he earned the Big “M” school academic reward in 2008, 2009, and 2010 – his 6th, 7th, and 8th grade years at the middle school. To earn the award a student must have a 3.7+ GPA. Turner, all three years, had all A’s in all his classes. Classes that were all in the advanced classes by the way.
More information can be found about Turner by visiting his website: www.loganturner.com or on his Logan Turner Wrestling Facebook page.
Story by Carrie E. Cox
