The Salem High wrestlers finished 12th in the 19-team Big Orange Classic at William Byrd last weekend, and this Saturday the Spartans are back on the mats at Lord Botetourt.
The “Cavalier Classic” will begin at 9:30 am Saturday at Lord Botetourt High School. It’s a 10-team dual-tournament and the tournament will use both gyms for a full day of team matches. Joining Salem and host LB in the tournament will be Lebanon, Blacksburg, Western Albemarle, Northside, James River, Parry McCluer, Abingdon and Tunstall. Admission fee is $8 for an “all day pass.” The championship match is tentatively scheduled for 5:30 pm.
Salem is hoping to wrestle well this week after a solid showing in the “Big Orange” in Vinton. Poquoson, a perennial state contender, won the tournament with 277.5 points, followed by Rockbridge with 155.5, Northside with 150, Lord Botetourt with 148 and Franklin County was fifth with 128.
“The Big Orange was a great test for us at the half way point of the season,” said Salem coach Lawrence Van Liew. “We had several starters out due to the holidays and we had two new wrestlers competing for the first time because of football, Ja’tavion Hale at 220 and Zavion Wood at 170. They are going to be great additions to the team.”
Hale took a third in his first tournament of the season. He wrestled six matches and had five wins, with four of them by fall. He pinned Wendell Tyson of Rockbridge in the quarterfinals in 48 seconds, then pinned Eian Walker of Rustburg in the semifinals in 49 seconds. Tae lost to Bryson Chrisman of Franklin County in the championship match when he was caught on his back for a pin after leading, 8-2.
Jeremy Muncy took a second at 113. He’s 15-3 overall and he’s been in the finals in three tournaments, taking second each time. He has 14 pins among his 15 wins.
In Vinton, Muncy pinned his way into the semis, then took a 10-7 decision over Latrell Davidson of Heritage. He lost to Brett Poultney of Poquoson, 11-7, in the championship match.
Preston Saunders placed 4th at 145 to improve to 12-8 on the year. Christian Crawley won twice at 132 before losing in overtime in the consolation bracket and he’s now 11-7. David Patterson didn’t place but won twice. He’s now 8-6 at 195.
Salem now has a full lineup as the Spartans head to Daleville Saturday. Next Wednesday, January 10, the Spartans will host Glenvar. The middle school teams from Andrew Lewis and Glenvar will tangle on the Salem mats that night at 5 pm prior to the high school match.
The Glenvar High team competed in the 21-team Aggie Skeens Memorial Tournament in Grundy this past Friday and Saturday. The tournament was comprised of teams from across Virginia, Kentucky and West Virginia with the top eight placing. Grundy was the champion followed by Johnson Central of Kentucky as the runner up.
Glenvar only entered seven wrestlers in the competition with three Highlanders taking fifth places, Tanner Speight (106), Christian Smith (160) and Terence Maloney (170). Of the seven wrestlers two had to be removed from the tournament due to injuries, leaving Glenvar with only five scoring out of 14 weight classes. Despite that, the Highlanders finished a respectable 13th out of 21 schools in a very strong field.