Cole Morris & Peyton Thompson take top honors at Cameron
by Jamie Harris
The past two weeks the Berkeley Springs High School varsity wrestling team has participated in two tournaments that produced some of the toughest competition to date. However, the Indian wrestlers were able to hold their own and build momentum toward the post season.
Back on December 27 and 28 the Indians ventured to Damascus, Md., to participate in the Damascus Holiday Tournament. The event featured 15 teams from the public and private schools from Maryland, a 6A Virginia school, and teams from Texas and Georgia.
On day one of the competition the teams were placed in two pools and over the course of Friday and Saturday wrestled seven dual matches. The catch was these dual matches were not for team scores but to keep individual wrestling records.
After the seven rounds of competition the wrestlers from the 14 weight classes with the top eight best records would compete in an eight man individual bracket tournament on Saturday afternoon.
The Indians were able to send six wrestlers to the individual bracket tournament as Gabriel Clark (132), Cole Morris (138), Evan Thompson (145), Vaughn Shaw (152), Peyton Thompson (160) and Landen Riggleman (170) all finished with outstanding records. In the bracket portion Clark and Shaw were eliminated in the first round with losses. Morris, E. Thompson, P. Thompson and Riggleman advanced to the semifinals with wins.
In the semifinals only P. Thompson emerged with a win to make the finals. In the third and fourth place match Morris finished third while E. Thompson and Riggleman finished fourth. In the 160 lb. championship finals P. Thompson lost a hard fought 8-6 decision to finish second.
This past weekend the Indians ventured to the northern neck of the state for the Cameron Invitational. The event featured numerous schools that represent Region I and would give the Indians a chance to see some regional competition.
The Tribe grapplers once again showed their resiliency as they had six wrestlers place in the top six of their respective weight classes. Morris (138) and P. Thompson (160) were able to go 4-0 in their brackets to capture individual championships. E. Thompson (145) and Shaw (152) went 3-2 to finish in fourth place. Isaac Harris (120) and Clark (132) finished in sixth place. As a team the Indians finished in sixth place out of 19 teams with 107 points. Region I powerhouses Oak Glenn took the top team honors with 212 points while Fairmont Senior was second with 202 points.
Up next for the Indians is the tough Winner’s Choice tournament this Friday, January 10 and Saturday, January 11 at Fairmont Senior High School. Wrestling starts this Friday at 1 p.m.