William Byrd junior Darin Witcher won his second straight state
championship and the Big Orange finished seventh as a team as Heritage High
School hosted the Class 3 wrestling finals Saturday. The tournament was held all
on one day in Lynchburg after being postponed a week by bad weather.
Skyline High won the state championship with 218 points, followed by
2023 and ‘24 state champ Staunton River of the Blue Ridge District with 178.5.
Byrd had 88 points in finishing seventh among 45 teams who sent wrestlers to the
tournament.
Byrd put five wrestlers on the podium, including a champion at 120 with
Witcher and a state runner-up in Lane Brunk at 106. Stephen Underwood, at 175,
and Graylen Castleberry, at 215, both took fifth and Zane Taylor was sixth at 144.
“We had a very successful weekend,” said Byrd coach Thomas Kessler.
Witcher had pins in three of his four matches. He opened with a 1:02 pin
over Liam Donley of Lakeland, then pinned Miles Neil of Rocktown in the
quarterfinals. That set up a big semifinal against two-time state champion Tristan
Carter of New Kent. Darin considered that to be his biggest challenge of the
tournament.
“That was a revenge match,” he said. “He was the kid who beat me in the
state finals my freshman year.”
That was at 106 pounds in 2023, and both are bigger and better two years
later. This time Witcher proved to be a little better as he took a 10-5 win over
Carter, who finished his season 35-11.
Darin met a familiar opponent in the finals, Warren Hicks of Northside.
Witcher won the All-Blue Ridge District final when he pinned Hicks in the first
period just 1:32 into the match.
“When I got a tight crossface to a bundle, I felt pretty confident that I
would win at that point,” he said.
With the win, Darin finished the season with a 32-5 record. In his three
years on the team he’s won 99 matches and lost just 13. He’ll be looking for his
third state championship as a senior.
“He has an opportunity to become the school’s first three-time state
champion,” said Kessler.
That’s impressive in a program that’s been as successful as the Big
Orange. Witcher credits his coach and teammates for helping him achieve his
goals.
“Coach Kessler made sure to seek out tough competition to help our team
prepare,” said Darin. “My team pushes me to work hard and they are my biggest
supporters. We had a great season together.”
Byrd has another strong lightweight in sophomore Brunk at 106. Lane had
pins of 2:57, 5:25 and 5:23 to reach the final where he lost to Paden Alyea of
Skyline. Alyea won by tech fall to finish 49-4 on the season.
“All of his matches leading to the finals were tough and he pulled out falls
late in the matches,” said Kessler of Brunk, who finished 29-11.
Underwood and Castleberry and seniors and won fifth place matches to
finish their Byrd careers with victories. Underwood was 33-10 at 175 and
Castleberry was 30-11 at 215.
“It’s very satisfying for them to end their careers on the state podium,”
said Kessler. “Both guys battled back through the bracket and earned their all-
state honors.”
Taylor, a sophomore, won his first two matches before dropping to the
consolation bracket and finishing sixth. He was 28-11 on the season.
“He had a tough loss in the blood round,” said Kessler.
Raymond Johnson also wrestled in the tournament but did not score as the Terriers took seventh overall. That’s five spots better than last year, and with three state place winners returning and some talent on the rise the future looks bright for the Big Orange.
