Cave Spring High School wrestling team was one of 16 teams in the nation invited to compete in the 33rd Annual VA Duals National Tournament in Hampton, VA, known as “The Granddaddy of them all”. The National High School Division boasted competitive teams from New Jersey, Florida, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Colorado and Virginia. Cave Spring lost the first match against the #1 seed, favored-to-win, 7th ranked team in the nation -South Plainfield, NJ. We lost the second match to AAA power Ocean Lakes, but won 4 of the 9 matches we competed against them. In the third and final match, we lost to New Kent, who finished 3rd in the state last season, but we won 4 of the 9 matches against them as well.

Freshmen, Noah Webb and Cody Amos, both went 2-1 in one of the toughest dual tournaments in the country. Also having success with defeating their challenger was: McCray, won by major decision and McDaniel, by Tech-Fall against Ocean Lakes. Coty Love won by major decision and Jacob Plunkett by decision against New Kent. Honorable mention goes out to James Jackson who marginally lost two of his three match-ups by decision (6-5 S. Plainfield and 10-7 New Kent). We expect to have better results against these teams in February at the state tournament.

“Our wrestlers are committed, work hard and want to excel – not only in the state, but on a national level, so this was a great experience for our team”, said Coach Nininger. “It’s exciting because we are in the process of building a state championship program and a nationally ranked team. This experience showed our guys where I want this program to be in the near future.”

Cave Spring Squires Team placed 3rd in the VA Duals Middle School Division, producing several individual champions and placers at the VA Duals National Tournament. Five eighth graders placed: Tanner Whitesell and Noah Bushman got 1st place, Ben Chapman got 3rd, and Josh Neighbors got 4th. Seventh grader, CJ Poulsen, also placed 4^th. With an influx of freshmen talent from the middle school next year, the future looks bright for the Knights.

Submitted by Danielle Apple