The Shadow
On Friday, February 16th, and Saturday, February 17th, three Alleghany Cougar wrestlers competed in the State Wrestling Championship which was held at the Salem Civic Center. Over 100 high schools competed in the highly anticipated event, as evidenced by the wall-to-wall traffic on both days of the tournament.
The Virginian Review caught up with head coach Dale Burdette shortly after the start of the tournament on day 1 to ask how the Alleghany Cougars prepared for the tournament. “Just a lot of hard practice,” Burdette said. “Hard practice. The guys were grinding in the practice room getting ready for this… Our record is 0-0 going into this, so it’s all new.”
First to wrestle for Alleghany on Friday was freshman, Hayden Wills (weight class 120). Can we pause briefly for a moment to appreciate the dedication and hard work that went into Wills’ extraordinary accomplishment of making it to state as a freshman? Job well done, Hayden. Wills (26-13) wrestled against senior Xavier Ramsey (36-5) of the Pulaski County Cougars and lost by fall. In his next match during the 2-day tournament, Wills won by fall —in 49 seconds— over senior Elijah Sapp (8-18) of the Tabb High School Tigers. In his final match, Wills was defeated by major decision after wrestling sophomore Cody Wimer (29-11) of the Broadway High School Gobblers. Overall, Wills scored 3 points for the Alleghany Cougars.
Next to wrestle on Friday was sophomore Carter Nicely (41-9) who went toe-to-toe with Marquise Brock from William Monroe High School in Stanardsville, Virginia. Brock won by fall over Nicely (weight class 157) after 3:46. In his next match, Nicely won by major decision over Joshua Baum (18-11) of the Lafayette Rams. Then in his final match, Nicely wrestled against junior Joel Swanson (36-7) of the Northside Vikings in Roanoke, Virginia. Swanson won by decision over Carter Nicely. Nicely scored 2 points overall for Alleghany during the 2-day tournament.
The last wrestler to compete for the Alleghany Cougars on Friday, February 16th was senior Caleb Walden (43-5). In his first of 5 matches between Friday and Saturday, Walden (weight class 285) wrestled against Kywon Moore (8-7) of Booker T. Washington High School in Norfolk, Virginia. Walden won by fall against Moore before advancing to the quarterfinal round where he faced off against sophomore Brian Bland (24-12) of the Fauquier Falcons. Like Moore, Walden won by fall over Bland. In the semifinal round, Walden was defeated by way of decision after taking on senior Preston Lonker (27-2) of the Cave Spring Knights. In his fourth round, Walden wrestled against sophomore Jerrelle Carter (35-5) of the Magna Vista Warriors who won by decision over Walden. In Walden’s final round, he met Brian Bland once again on the mat. Bland held his own, but in the end —pardon the pun— he was no match against Walden who defeated him in an ultimate tie breaker. Caleb Walden placed 5th in the state and earned 13 points for the Alleghany Cougars. The number 5 seemed a lucky one for Walden, as that’s how many matches he wrestled in during the tournament, it was his place in the state, and, ironically, it marks how few matches he lost all season.
Head coach Dale Burdette had these final words to say about the state wrestling tournament: “I’m proud of all three guys’ efforts. Hayden [Wills] was able to get his first win at the state level by beating a senior. Hopefully that’ll springboard him in his wrestling career. Carter [Nicely] also got a dominant win on the big stage. In his elimination match, he went blow for blow with one of the best wrestlers in the state at his weight. Hopefully, he realizes he’s in that class of wrestlers and uses that confidence moving forward. Caleb [Walden] lost a tough 1-point-loss in the semifinals. After such a tough loss keeping him out of the state championship match, the coaches were all really proud of how he fought back and gutted out a triple overtime victory to place 5th. That made him a two-time state placer, while only being the starter for two seasons.”
Congratulations to the entire Alleghany Cougar wrestling team for an amazing season, particularly Hayden Wills, Carter Nicely, and Caleb Walden, who ended things on such a high note by advancing all the way to the state championship!
