Amherst County High School will be the site of the Region 4D wrestling tournament this Saturday. Action begins at 9:30 am.
“I personally want to finish in the top two at regions, which is very possible,” said Salem coach Lawrence Van Liew. “ That being said, if we take last at the region, but we have 10 go to states, I would still be satisfied.”
Salem has had a good year, losing only one dual match all season. However, the big prize is the state tournament.
“The whole off season, the whole season, we have one goal. . . state medal,” said Van Liew. “We set goals at the beginning of the season. My team goal is 10 to state. Last year it was sevn to state and we had five make it.”
Salem has five seniors and all five have a shot at advancing.
“When they started as freshmen, there were 12 in their group,” said Van Liew. “Seven have moved on to other sports, or other things. These five have stuck with me, and grown as a group of leaders.”
Jeremy Muncy is looking to head back to states for a fourth time, building on his fourth place finish last year. Alex Royston is looking for his third trip to states while Christian Crawley is looking to place at regions and punch his first ticket to states. Christian Wood made it last year with a dramatic blood round, come from behind pin, and Davey Patterson also is looking to advance.
A junior, Walker Chambers at 106, leads the team in pins, wins, and finalist appearances.
“Long story short, I’m optimistic for getting 10 plus to states this year, stay healthy, do the work and complete the job,” said Van Liew.
