Rural Retreat shared fifth place at the Bobby Bates Wrestling Classic held at UVA-Wise and hosted by Wise Central with Martin County High School. Each team finished with 166 points.
The Indians had seven placers and one champ in the bunch this year.
Returning state and Bates champ Caleb Gibson, who won the title last year at 106 pounds, defended his title at 113 pounds this season.
Gibson never got out of the first period until the finals, recording pins across the board. He stuck Holston’s Cash Wilson in 47 seconds, Martin County’s John Cline in 48 seconds and Anderson County’s Tripp Haire in just over a minute.
When he got out of the first period, though, he really got out of the first period, taking the title through an extended battle with Grayson County’s Caleb Thompson that was decided by ultimate tie breakers. Gibson took the win, 3-2.
Gabe Crewey claimed third place for the Indians at 120 pounds. After besting Gavin Barrett of Abingdon 8-3 to open his tournament, Crewey fell 7-0 to Brayden Owsley of Wise Central. On the back of the bracket, Crewey pinned Martin County’s Nick Harless and Kari Streit of John S. Battle, before taking a 7-1 win over Grayson’s J.T. Porter. In the battle for third, Crewey claimed a 5-2 victory over Fort Chiswell’s Jeramia Caviness.
The Indians had a pair of placers at 106 pounds, one at fourth and the other at fifth.
Justin Walker kicked things off with pinfall wins over Central Wise’s Keagan Slemp and Evan Brinkley.
In the semifinals, Bo Anders of Grayson took a 4-3 win over Walker. Walker then took out teammate Houston Bear 4-1 before dropping the third-place match 4-0 to Bryson Church of Dobyns-Bennett.
Bear got his tourney rolling in exciting fashion getting the takedown in overtime for a 4-2 win over Honaker’s Hunter Dye. Bear then pinned Greenville’s Gabriel Oakley before falling to Church by pin. Bear, on the back of the bracket, handed Slemp a 6-3 loss and claimed an 11-2 win in a re-match with Dye. Walker stung Bear with a 4-1 loss and Bear took a 2-1 victory in the battle for fifth against Holston’s Dodger Sluder.
Chaz Penwright also secured a fifth-place finish at 138 pounds. After pinning Elijah Berryhill of Holston, Penwright worked a 7-2 victory over Martin County’s Brock Messer. In the quarterfinals, Penwright fell by pin to eventual champ Slade Castle of Castlewood.
Penwright worked his way through the consolation rounds, beating Lee High’s Owen Penix 8-2 and pinning Patrick Henry-Grald Spring’s Ben Hahn before falling 5-1 to Holston’s Merrick Buchanan. In the fight for fifth, Penwright claimed a major, 14-4, over Tristan Faidley of John S. Battle.
Odell Stroupe took seventh at 165 pounds. Stroupe’s tournament got off to a rough start, falling 7-5 to Greenville’s Angus Herrell, but he worked his way through the consolation rounds, pinning Ben Mullins of Honaker, Josh Stewart of Harlan County and Kalib Simmons of Lebanon, before losing 5-3 to Dobyns-Bennett’s Austin Conners. In the battle for seventh, Stroupe pinned Grayson’s Jaxon Haga.
Mason Fields took seventh at 175 pounds for the Indians. After pinning Michael Peterson of Harlan County and Caleb Casey of Holston, Fields lost by pinfall to Charles Wissert of Dobyns-Bennett.
Fields battled back claiming a 6-4 win over Paul Anderson of Greenville before losing by pin to Douglas Blevins of John S. Battle. Fields took a pinfall win over Matthew Arnold of Patrick Henry-Roanoke to close his tournament.
