The Mathews High School wrestling team placed ninth in the VHSL Group 1A state tournament, which was held on Friday and Saturday at the Salem Civic Center.

On Saturday morning, Mathews was tied for sixth place, but dropped because the Blue Devil wrestlers went 2-5 in the placing rounds.

Rural Retreat (162.5 team points) won the state title, followed by Chilhowie (102) and George Wythe (89.5). The Devils ended the tournament with 71 team points, just behind eighth-place finisher Washington and Lee (72 points) and seventh-place Rappahannock (72.5).

“We had a good year and finished better than we thought at the beginning of the season,” MHS head coach Tom Holaday said. Two Mathews wrestlers made it all the way to the championship bout, before placing second in their respective weight classes. Sam Moore (132 lbs.) went 2-1, losing in the finals to Simon Urban of Middlesex, while Austin Fravel (195 lbs.) also won his first two bouts before losing a close 2-1 decision to David...