The Patrick County Wrestling team finished 4th in the Class 2 C Regional Wrestling Tournament that was held on Saturday, February 5 at Radford High School. The team scored a 141 team points and had 7 wrestlers to qualify for the State Tournament, held February 18-19 in Salem at the Salem Civic Center. Glenvar won the regional team title and James River finished as runner-up.
“We wrestled hard but just came up short in the end and could not put together enough team points to pullout a team title or runner-up. We had a couple injuries and did not wrestle well enough in a couple key matches that might have made a difference in our team placing higher. This was our third multiple team competition for the week,” said the Cougars coaching staff.
Jonathan Culler, Ethan Cobbler, Trent Alexander, Stephen Spencer, Josh Wright, Tristan Hardy, and Jaheim Johnson were the wrestlers that qualified for the Cougars by finishing in the top 3 in their individual weight classes.
“We are proud of these young men for their hard work and effort. This is the most individuals that have ever qualified for the Cougars in a single season. They have and continue to represent themselves, their school, and their community well. They have accomplished a lot and reached a lot of personal and team goals with one more opportunity to reach higher,” the coaches said.
Josh Wright and Tristan Hardy were the two finalists for the Cougars. They both came up short in the finals, but earned their first trip to the Big Show (States) in Salem.
Josh lost his first match of the season in the last 10 seconds. He was up 5-4 and got caught in a bad situation, losing 8-5. He is 43-1 on the year and has a chance to win both a State Championship and set the school record for the most wins in a season at the State Tournament.
Tristan lost to the defending 195-pound State Champ in the finals. As always, he wrestled hard, and he gets another chance at him again this weekend.
After losing in the semifinals Jonathan Culler, Ethan Cobbler, Trent Alexander, Stephen Spencer, and Jaheim Johnson all wrestled back to a third-place finish in their weight classes to earn their trip to the State Tournament.
Ethan Cobbler and Trent earned their second trip to that States. They both qualified last year in Covid shortened season. Jaheim qualified last year as a back-up, but because of the covid altered season did not get to participate. Stephen and Jonathan have improved tremendously over the season and stamped their first trip through this hard work. All these young men have a good chance and will be working at bringing home the first state championship in wrestling for the Cougars.
All team members have worked hard and contributed to the team’s success this season. This team only has 2 seniors, and that looks good for the future. They pushed each other in practice, in the weight room, and in the classroom to be better all around. The weight room was the key to these young men’s improvement and success from last year.
Coach Morrison, Head Football and strength coach, does an awesome job helping all athletics with strength training. Strength training in the Cougar program is not just about lifting weights, but includes flexibility, agility, balance, and speed training, with emphasis on improving an athlete’s overall athleticism.
Other team members that wrestled this season and contributed to the team success include Nic Yaple, Jackson Iacocvone, Hunter Mitchell, Nate Gusler, Skyler Conner, Aden Penn, Xavier Torres Seda, Rawl Mabe, Paul Pascale, Caleb Geiger, Josiah Spangler, and Jay Howard. This young group has not come close to reaching their potential.
(See related results from the Regional Tournament.)
