It’s been a different sort of season for the Cougar wrestling program, as they began a new chapter with a young team under a new head coach. Saturday, years of hard work paid off as three Cougars punched their ticket to the State Championship meet, set for Friday, February 16, at the Salem Civic Center.
The team started the season under new leadership, as former assistant and now Head Coach Joseph Jakupczyk took charge of the program. With a roster of many young and some inexperienced wrestlers, along with a few wrestlers working to overcome injuries, the goal was to show continued positive progression throughout the season.
One of the top performers of the day for Pulaski County came as no surprise. Senior Xavier Ramsey finished the day as the Region Champion in the 120-pound division. He started off the day with a bye, then pinned Avi Gandhi (15-13) of Christiansburg. In the semifinals, he pinned Nathaniel Muncy (22-11) of Cave Spring to advance to the title match. That match put him up against Trenton Coleman (29-6) of Tunstall High School. Ramsey pinned Coleman to earn the top spot in the Region.
Ramsey also set another impressive mark Saturday. His win over Muncy was his 100th high school career win, a goal that very few wrestlers reach. He was presented a banner and shirt commemorating the event. His record now moves to 32-3 for the season.
Junior Parker Midkiff will head to the State meet after finishing third in the 175-pound division Saturday. He started the day with a bye, then won by an 8-7 decision over Graylen Castleberry (21-13) of William Byrd. He was pinned by Josh Kelly (16-3) of Staunton River, moving him to the consolation rounds. In his first match there, Midkiff pinned Brenden Rose (19-19) of Hidden Valley, setting up a rematch with Castleberry. This time, Midkiff earned the win by pinfall to secure third place overall. His record moves to 13-6 on the season.
Junior Braydon Fowlkes will head to the State meet after finishing fourth in the 132-pound division. He started the day with a win by 14-5 Major Decision over Gavin Barrett (13-13) of Abingdon. He fell by a technical fall to Cameron Noell (24-5) of Cave Spring, moving him to the consolation rounds. He started there with a win by pinfall over Gavin Rupp (2-9) of Christiansburg. He pinned Noah Nicely (16-19) of Hidden Valley next, then earned a 7-5 decision victory over Terrill Parker (29-7) of Bassett to move to the third-place match. In a rematch with Noell, Fowlkes was pinned to finish in fourth and with an overall season record to this point of 19-12.
Senior Jeffrey Eubanks just missed out on making the State meet. In just his second year of wrestling, he finished the day in sixth place in the 215-pound division. He started the day by pinning Nick Orfield (10-17) of Abingdon. He was pinned by Joeseph Spriggs (27-6) of Magna Vista, moving him to the consolation rounds. He started his time there with a win by pinfall over Justin Robertson (10-7) of Tunstall. He lost a tough 5-2 decision to Jamarkus Murphy (11-5) of Staunton River, moving him to the fifth-place match. In that, he was pinned by Kameron Hodge (30-10) of Bassett. Eubanks finished the season with a record of 20-13.
Nathaniel Clark finished in eighth place overall in the 113-pouind division. He started the day with a bye, but was pinned by Levi Roach (16-6) of Staunton River to move to the consolation rounds. Clark pinned Trenton Newman (6-7) of Carroll County to advance. He was pinned by Jacob Spence (10-10) of Lord Botetourt to move to the seventh-place match, where he fell to Tate Austin of Northside. Clark finishes the season with a record of 16-13.
Kanye Miller finished the day in eighth place overall in the 126-pound division. He stared the day with a bye, then fell by pinfall to Joshua Manning (19-7) of Staunton River. He started the consolation rounds with a bye, but fell by pinfall to Declan Sullivan (24-11) of Lord Botetourt. The final match with Josh Shepard of Hidden Valley (9-19) was a double forfeit.
Carson Hall finished in eighth-place in the 150-pound division. He started the day with a pinfall win over Sawyer Bolen (15-16) of William Byrd. He fell to Noah Nininger (19-5) of Staunton River by pinfall, then defeated Kiefer Widener (7-14) of Abingdon by pinfall. He was pinned by Carter McCraw (30-6) of Magna Vista. The seventh-place match with Conner Matherly (18-15) of Tunstall was a double forfeit. Hall finishes his season with a record of 12-11.
Austin McNeil dropped his opener to Ezekiel Ayala Pineda (23-20) of Northside in the opener of the 144-pound division by pinfall. He defeated Colton Meredith (3-11) of Carroll County by pinfall to advance, but dropped his match to Nathaniel Lilly (28-6) of Magna Vista by pinfall. McNeil ends the season with a record of 4-6.
In the 157-pound division, Patricia Eubanks fell to Garry Norris Jr. (9-14) of Hidden Valley by pinfall. After a bye in the next round, she was pinned by Cooper Roberts (22-8) of Lord Botetourt. She ends her season with a record of 3-16.
Matthew Lawson competed in the 165-pound division. He opened with a loss by pinfall to Martin Pauley (17-17) of Tunstall. After a bye, he fell by medical forfeit to Ishan Mahal (12-22) of Hidden Valley. Lawson ended his season with a record of 8-14.
Damien Ledbetter wrestled in the 190-pound division. He dropped his opening match to Louis Marshall (11-11) of Carroll County by a tech fall. After a bye in the next round, he was pinned by Landon Patterson (12-13) of Cave Spring. Ledbetter finished the season with a record of 9-19.
The final Cougar wrestler in action was Thomas Head in the 285-pound division. He began his day by pinning Preston Farmer (4-10) of Carroll County. Head was pinned by Preston Lonker (24-1) of Cave Spring, then Logan Brady (4-9) of Abingdon to end the day. His final record for the season is 13-15.
