The Cougar wrestling team continues to work through their regular season schedule and toward the postseason, showing consistent improvement along the way.
Last week, the team traveled to Virginia High School to compete in the Ed Cressel Classic. The tournament features some of the top talent in Southwest Virginia and beyond. Last season, the Cougars saw four wrestlers advance to the second day of competition. This season, the Cougars had six wrestlers in action on day two, despite standout Evan Alger still being out due to an injury.
“Just like last year, Xavier Ramsey, Gavin Warner, and Nicolaus Golden placed, which is quite an accomplishment at a tournament like this one,” Cougar Head Coach Bobby Alger said. “It's pretty tough. I can only assume that had we been completely healthy, we would have sent more than that into the second day. We had other wrestlers experience success this weekend too, even though the medal count did not reflect it. Hopefully we can keep improving in the same way we have over the last few weeks. If we do, we should be in good shape for region.”
Ramsey, competing at 113 pounds, finished in seventh place overall. His days started with a win by pinfall over Deagen Bolling of Central High School. He dropped his second match in a 6-4 decision against Gabe Crewey of Rural Retreat. He moved on to pin Dodger Slyder of Holston, then earned a win by decision over Jaxon Ward of George Wythe. He lost by major decision in a rematch with Crewey of Rural Retreat, sending him to the seventh-place match. He earned a 3-1 decision over Sergio Rodriguez of Grayson County.
Warner, wrestling in the 126-pound division, earned a fourth-place finish. He started with a 9-3 decision win over Mason Harrington of Virginia High School. He pinned Justin Ryan Horne of John S. Battle High School, but was pinned by Ryan Barone of Fishburne Military School in the next round. Warner pinned Micah Ferguson of Graham, but lost in a tie breaker to Bryce Ramey of Union High School after regulation time ended in a tie.
Nicholaus Golden, wrestling at 132-pounds, also finished in fourth. He started with an 8-1 decision over Dalton Campbell of Holston. He followed that with an 8-2 decision over Austin Glass of Volunteer High School. He was pinned by Eli Blevins of Rural Retreat in the semifinals, but won a 6-5 decision over Zachary Rasnake of Abingdon to advance to the third-place match. He fell by an 8-0 major decision to Merrick Kestner of Holston to finish fourth.
Molly Keller wrestled in the 138-pound division, getting four matches. She started with a win by pinfall over Adryon Hollyfield of Central. She was pinned by Chris Phipps of Grayson County in the next match, but earned a 14-4 major decision over Isaac Eddy of Marion to advance. In her last match she was pinned by Seth Farmer of John S. Battle.
Kolton Knowles also wrestled at 138-pounds and had four matches. He pinned Jeremiah Gray of David Crockett High School, but was pinned by Zane Perkins of George Wythe in this next matchup. Knowles pinned Jackson Gilbert of Radford to advance, but was pinned by Edward Morales of Galax to end his day.
Carson Hall took on the 144-pound classification, getting three matches for the day. He was pinned by Gabe Clark of David Crockett in his first match, but rebounded by pinning Grant Ward of Graham. He was pinned by Connor Barr of Marion to end his day.
Austin McNeil wrestled at 144 pounds, getting four matches. He pinned Jacob Olinger of Patrick Henry-Glade Springs, then was pinned by James Travers of Amherst County. In his third match, McNeil pinned Gabe Canfield of Daniel Boone. His day ended with a 5-12 decision loss to Yenesew Smith of Abingdon.
The 157-pound bracket saw Patricia Eubanks in action with three matches. She was pinned by Felix Duncan of David Crockett, but earned a bye in the second round. She was pinned by Anthony Lastra of David Crockett to end her day.
David Ledbetter wrestled in the 175-pound division. He was pinned by Colton South of PH-Glad Springs to start the day. He was pinned by Tyler Gillespie of Tazewell to end his action for the day.
Shawn Head wrestled at 215 pounds. He was pinned by Lawson Leonard of John Battle, but had a second-round bye. He was pinned by Matthew Lineberry of Grayson County to finish up the day.
Two wrestlers competed at the 285-pound level.
Thomas Head started his day with a loss by pinfall to Riley Jo Vaught of Galax. After a second-round bye, he was pinned by Bishop Whittaker of Galax.
Jeffrey Eubanks started the day with a bye, but was pinned by Saba Mushkudiani of Fishburne Military in his first action. His final match was a loss by pinfall to Caleb Williams of Daniel Boone.
The Cougars followed their Virginia High School meet up with a match at Cave Spring against the Knights and the Lord Botetourt Cavaliers. Pulaski County dropped the overall matches on the scoreboard due to not having wrestlers in several weight classes, but individually several Cougars did well.
Xavier Ramsey earned a pinfall win over Declan Sullivan of Lord Botetourt and a 14-3 major decision over Nathaniel Muncy of Cave Spring. Gavin Warner earned a technical fall over Cody Williams of Lord Botetourt. Nicholaus Golden won 13-8 over Hunter Miller of Botetourt and pinned Cecilia Alouf of Cave Spring. Kolton Knowles was pinned by Trey Saunders of Botetourt, but pinned Joshua Terstegen of Cave Spring. Carson Hall was pinned by Noah Williams of Botetourt and David Henritze of Cave Spring. Damien Ledbetter was pinned by Xavier Williams of Botetourt and West Wingate of Cave Spring.
Evan Alger had a solid return to action after an injury that sidelined him for three weeks, pinning Andrew Gilbert of Lord Botetourt. Shawn Head was pinned by Dalton Oxley of Botetourt. Jeffrey Eubanks was pinned by Ben Gilbert of Botetourt. Thomas Head was pinned by Preston Lonker of Cave Spring.
“Once again very pleased with the effort,” Coach Alger said. “We led at points in both of these dual meets, but we were forfeiting five weight classes. I know that sounds like an excuse, but numbers are killing us. We handed each team 30 points right up front, and that's hard to recover from. Xavier, Gavin, Nicholaus, and Evan all showed out tonight. Each of them went 2-0. Man was it nice having Evan back in the line up! Kolton Knowles also picked up a win by pin against Cave Spring. Kolton has really turned it on as of late, and I cannot say enough about his desire to learn and grow.”
The Cougars will be back in action Saturday, January 28, when they travel to Grayson County High School.