Parry McCluer Wrestlers Place Fifth In Home Invitational
For a team that could fill only six of 14 weight classes, Saturday turned out to be a pretty good day for the Parry McCluer High School wrestlers.
PM opened its season with the annual Blues Invitational in Buena Vista, which was shortened to one day after an influx of winter weather. The Blues boasted three individual champions in Brody Julian (126-pounds), Isaiah Gilbert (138) and Jordan Brockenbrough (144). In addition, the Blues had eight medal winners and placed fifth of seven teams.
“I thought we had an extraordinary effort,” said PM head coach Jeremiah Brockenbrough. “We’re a super-young wrestling team, but we still had three champs and everybody medaled. It says a lot for their work ethic, especially since they didn’t get to practice Friday and had to make weight on Saturday. That’s tough.”
Only Riverheads, which had four champions, had more first-place finishers than PM. The Gladiators took the team title with 139.5 points. Staunton, with 123.5 points, placed second, followed by Bath County (104.5), Lord Botetourt (86) and PM (84.5) in the top five. Buffalo Gap (54.5) and Smith Mountain Lake Christian Academy (39.5) completed the field, while Appomattox County, Brookville and Franklin were unable to make the trip because of the weather.
PM’s three champions cruised through the day in dominant fashion. At 126, Julian posted a 4-0 record for the tournament. The sophomore won three of his four matches via pins, with none of those going past the first period. His fourth victory was a 12-4 major decision over SMLCA’s Peter Lignos.
The wrestlers competed in a round-robin format, in which each grappler faced the competition, and the wrestler with the best records faced off for placement.
At 138, Gilbert, a freshman, won all three of his matches via pin. In the championship round, he rolled past freshman teammate Lucas Ramsey with a technical fall in the semifinals and took early control in the title match against Staunton’s Hudson Powell. Gilbert scored a takedown just 13 seconds into the match and recorded the pin for the title in 1:38.
Jordan Brockenbrough, a junior, also rolled through his competition. Entering the championship round with a 3-0 record, posting two pins and a technical fall, the 144-pounder scored another technical fall over SMLCA’s Grant Gardner in the semifinals. Brockenbrough won the championship with a 12-1 major decision over Bath County’s Jeremy Burns.
“All three of them showed great wrestling ability on Saturday,” said the PM coach of his champions. “They didn’t show any flaws. They were pretty impressive.”
After his loss in the 138-pound semifinals, Ramsey took third place after a medical forfeit.
Sophomore Timber Thomas, one of PM’s two heavyweights, finished fourth when he pinned Mason Flint of Riverheads in 1:52. PM’s Graysen Simmons also finished fourth at 157-pounds.
Rounding out PM’s medal winners were junior Brad Spinner and freshman Liam Long (150). Spinner, another heavyweight, finished fifth after a grueling doubleovertime win against Tryston Crabb of Riverheads. Spinner fell behind 3-0 after Crabb scored the first takedown but was able to tie the match with an escape in the final period of regulation. Spinner scored the pin in 7:53.
“To pin somebody in double overtime says a lot,” praised Coach Brockenbrough. “To be a heavyweight and have that kind of stamina early in the season is pretty great for him. He needed to have some success early. He had a heck of a tournament.”
Long recorded an early victory with a pin fall over Bath County’s Paul Yoder and finished sixth in Saturday’s tournament, which was somewhat of a statement for the Blues.
“It says we’ll be able to hang with most people in doubleelimination tournaments, I believe,” Coach Brockenbrough said. “I believe this year we have a tournament team and not a dual team, based on our numbers. As long as we can win more matches than the opposing team on the mat, we’ll be happy.”
