The William Byrd “Big Orange” wrestlers scored 171.5 points to
upset favored Staunton River in the Blue Ridge District wrestling
tournament last week. Staunton River hosted the tournament and the
Eagles will be host again this Saturday for the Region 3D tournament.
Last week in Moneta Staunton River finished seven points behind
Byrd with 164.5. Lord Botetourt was third with 127 followed by Northside
with 103.5, Franklin County with 40 points and William Fleming with 25.
“We ended up pulling off an upset,” said Byrd coach Thomas
Kessler, who was named the Blue Ridge District Coach-of-the-Year at the
event. “Everyone showed up and wrestled tough. We had a good week
and a half of practice prior and it showed during the district tournament.
“Staunton River is very very good,” continued Kessler. “They have
won back-to-back state titles and will more than likely win another title
this year. I have a lot of respect for Coach (Scott) Fike at Staunton River,
we played football together at Bridgewater College. The format of the
tournament and the number of teams played a big part in us pulling off the
upset. Whenever you can beat those guys in something wrestling team-
wise it’s a big deal, so I am very proud of our wrestlers and how they
performed on the mat.”
Byrd had wrestlers in the final in nine of 14 weight classes and
brought five champions back to Vinton on Route 24. Champions include
Lane Brunk at 106, Darin Witcher at 120, Davion Wade at 126, Stephen
Underwood at 175 and Graylen Castleberry at 215.
Brunk pinned Morgan Davila of Northside in 1:08 in the 106
pound final to improve to 22-10 on the season. Byrd then won back-to-
back finals at 120 and 126 as Darin Witcher improved to 25-5 with a 27
second pin of LB’s James Dean in the final followed by Davion Wade’s
technical fall win over Bryce Stevens of Northside at 126. Davion is now
25-10.
At 175 Stephen Underwood improved to 27-7 with a 4:44 pin over
Cooper Roberts of Lord Botetourt in the final. Finally, at 215, Graylen
Castleberry upped his season record to 24-8 with a 6-0 decision in the
final against Staunton River’s JaMarkus Murphy.
Byrd had four seconds, Raymond Johnson at 113, Timothy Duncan
at 132, Zane Taylor at 144 and Myles Preston at 150. Jonah Schofield was
third at 138 and Byrd had two fourth places, Sawyer Bolen at 157 and
Cameron King at 190.
Now the Terriers turn their attention to the region tournament. It’s
a big one as the top four in each weight class advance to the state
tournament at the Salem Civic Center on February 21 and 22.
“It’s important that we get as many kids as we can to go to the ‘big
dance’,” said Kessler. “We have a lot of goals of getting kids on the
podium this year.”
