The Mathews High School wrestling team placed second out of 12 teams that took part in Saturday’s Mathews Invitational. Although the Devils placed second, they had more individual champions—three—than any other team competing.
L.C. Bird High School from Chesterfield County won the team trophy with 157 points, followed by Mathews (139 points), Lafayette (124), York (114.5) and Grafton (112). Rounding out the team scores were Franklin (103), Bruton (100), Northumberland (96), Essex (93), Peninsula Catholic (80), Warhill (68) and King and Queen (59).
Winning individual championships for Mathews were Caleb Johnson (113 lbs.), Sam Moore (138 lbs.) and Austin Fravel (195 lbs.). Johnson, who went 2-0, pinned Nasir Mitchell from L.C. Bird in 3:58 to claim the title.
Moore, moving up a weight class, won a close 8-7 decision over Grafton’s Zach Leherr in the championship bout.
Fravel pinned all four of his opponents on Saturday. In the finals, he pinned Northumberland’s Clinton Carter in 1:30. Fravel’s overall record stands at 13-0.
Placing second was A.J. White (182 lbs., 2-1), while Cody Correll (145 lbs.) took third with a 3-1 record. Wrestling up a weight class, Parker Thompson took fourth place at 145 lbs., winning two of his three bouts. At 170 lbs., Ronald Rife went 3-2 to take fourth place as well. Competing for Mathews but not placing were Tyler Zabel (152 lbs., 2-2) and Thomas Hall (160 lbs., 0-2).