By Stephen Henderson
The Patrick County High School Cougar wrestling team traveled to Franklin County for a quad meet against Franklin County, Martinsville, and Bassett last Wednesday night.
The Cougars wrestled well on the night coming away with three victories.
The team started the night with an exciting 33-31 win over host Franklin County. The Cougars then kept rolling with 39-24 win over Martinsville, followed by a 51-22 victory over Bassett.
“I thought, as a whole, we wrestled fairly well, especially given the fact this was our first event back in action in almost a month,” said Coach David Morrison.
“There were some things that we are definitely going to have to address in the next week or so, but I think that we are still improving—which is very encouraging,” he added. “We see a great deal of upside with our guys and understand that we still have room for growth and improvement which is great given the fact that we are still winning and we haven’t yet reached our full potential,” he said.
“We are really pleased with our guys’ performance on the evening,” he added.
Four Cougar wrestlers compiled perfect records at Franklin County. Brian Lange (113 lbs.) had pin of 2:30 against Franklin County and two forfeits. Alfredo Gutierrez won three matches by forfeit. Colt Martin had three tough matches at 138 lbs, winning two by decisions (3-2 and 8-0) and one with a pin in 4:4. Tyler Stanley had three solid pins on the night—a 3:52 pin against Martinsville, a 2:35 pin against Martinsville and a 1:00 pin against Bassett.
Four more Cougars picked up two wins at Franklin. Ethan Rorrer won by pin (2:44) against Bassett and won by forfeit against Martinsville. Jeremy Gunter won with two forfeits. Hunter Kenyon (182 lbs.) had a pin of 1:46 against Franklin County and a forfeit from Martinsville. James Lane won an 11-7 decision over Bassett and picked up a forfeit from Franklin.
Also competing for the Cougars were Jeremiah Anderson (1 win), Dakota Helms and Shemar Hill
Saturday, the Cougar wrestlers traveled to Bassett to take part in the Border Clash Tournament which featured some of the top local teams from Virginia and North Carolina.
The Cougars had two individuals who placed in the tournament. Ethan Rorrer finished in third place at 120 lbs., and Tyler Stanley finished second at 145 lbs.
“Overall, we saw some very good wrestling out of our guys,” Morrison said. “We had several wrestlers who, even though they did not place, went on to win two and three matches for the tournament. That really says a lot about you when you go into event with this level of competition and hold your own,” he added.
“I think that Ethan Rorrer and Tyler Stanley both wrestled very well,” Morrison said.
“Unfortunately, Tyler came up against a kid who is more than just pretty good. Tyler found himself out of position, and against a kid that good, even a small mistake can beat you,” he explained. “Tyler still has a good amount of wrestling left for his senior season, and at this point, he has a 24-2 record. “That’s pretty solid no matter where you go,” he said.
“Ethan is wrestling better every week and unfortunately, he found himself in the same boat as Tyler. He ran up against a really tough kid in the semifinals and fought hard, but wasn’t able to overcome his opponent,” Morrison said.
“He fought back and worked his way back th rough the bracket and came away with third by beating his opponent from Bassett in 35 seconds,” said Morrison.
“This makes the second time this year that the only kids these two have lost to were the eventual champions or runners-up of the tournament we were attending. They are really starting to wrestle very well. I know their families are really proud of them as are we,” Morrison said.
Wednesday (today) the Cougars travel to George Washington of Danville for a quad match with Dan River and another unnamed team. The home tournament originally scheduled for Saturday has been eliminated from the schedule.
