The District Tournament for wrestling was held at RCHS on Jan. 26, and the tournament consisted of four-man brackets. The brackets were made up of wrestlers from Rockbridge County High School, Broadway High School, Spotswood High School, and Turner Ashby High School.

The tournament started off with a pin for the Wildcats, and ended strong with a pin. A pin is when someone’s back is flat on the mat, and a pin is worth the most team points. In the 106 weight class, freshman Graham Niebur placed second. In the 113 weight class, freshman Hudson Ryan placed third. In the 120 weight class, junior Ryan Maxwell placed first.

“Last year I placed second in the District, and so it feels good to come back stronger and hopefully do better at Regionals too,” said Maxwell.

In the 126 weight class, senior Zac Huntsman placed second. In the 132 weight class, freshman Markus Nelson placed third. In the 138 weight class, Caiden Cavazos placed third. 

“To go to Regionals as a first year is pretty exciting because I never thought I would like wrestling as much as I do now,” said Cavazos.

In the 144 weight class, sophomore Aidan Williams placed second. In the 150 weight class, senior Ezekiel Mohr placed second. In the 157 weight class, senior Thomas Maxwell placed first. In the 165 weight class, junior Tucker Towle placed second. 

In the 175 weight class, senior Brice Hall placed first. The first match of the night, Brice Hall pinned his opponent and reached 100 high school varsity career wins. Hall was awarded a plaque for this achievement, and he was also awarded a plaque for being wrestler of the year.

Also awarded two plaques, Coach Mike Wood had previously reached 300 career wins as a coach at the Strasburg Duals Tournament and was awarded coach of the year.

In the 190 weight class, junior Sawyer Hattersley placed second. In the 215 weight class, junior Je’san Henderson placed second. In the 285 weight class, junior John Lindberg placed third.

By a mere half of a point, the Rockbridge wrestlers are the 2023 Valley District Champions, and were awarded their third team trophy of the season. Every Rockbridge wrestler has qualified to go to Regionals, which will be held at Turner Ashby High School, on Feb. 4. Regionals are 16 man brackets, and top four wrestlers in each weight class will qualify to go to States on Feb. 17 and 18.

For more information, visit the Rockbridge Athletic website, or email Sarah Phelps.