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Led by three individual champions, 12 Rockbridge County High School wrestlers advanced to the Region 3C tournament by placing in the top four in their weight classes at the Valley District Regional Qualifier on Saturday at Turner Ashby High School in Bridgewater.
Wildcats winning individual titles were senior co-captains Ryan Maxwell (132-pounds) and Sawyer Hattersley (175) and junior Kellan Dorey (190).
In the finals, Maxwell beat Turner Ashby’s Jay Bowman in a 6-0 decision, and Hattersley defeated East Rockingham’s Kristian Hearn 6-4. Dorey won the title by beating Spotswood’s Aland Mohammed 3-0.
Six Wildcats placed third at the qualifier: Hudson Ryan (138) Caiden Cavazos (144), Aidan Williams (157), Tucker Towle (165), John Lindberg (215) and Price Lunsford (285/heavyweight). Wildcats placing fourth were Finn Miller (106), Jack Davis (113) and Markus Nelson (150).
Ryan won the third-place bout with a bye, while Cavazos pinned Spotswood’s Kellen Conahan in four minutes. Williams pinned TA’s Isaac Hiner in 1:48 in the third-place bout. At 165, Towle pinned ER’s Damien Villalobos in 3:35 to place third. Lindberg won the third-place bout at 215 by pinning ER’s Parker Dean, and Lunsford pinned ER’s Trevor Klager in 1:42 to earn third place at 142.
Team scores were not kept, but host TA was rewarded as the Valley District team champion after an impressive regular season.
Next up the Wildcats will compete in the Region 3C tournament on Saturday at Brookville, starting at 11 a.m. The top four wrestlers in each weight class will advance to the Class 3 state tournament, which will take place Feb. 16-17 at the Salem Civic Center.
