Wells nearly takes state title, Indians close season with three state placers

Editor

Sports

After the send off of multiple beloved seniors, a third place finish in a region tournament they hosted and a state tournament that found three wrestlers placing within the top-4, the Powhatan Indians wrestling team can now close the book on the 202223 season.

Four Powhatan wrestlers traveled to the Class 4 State Championships with a chance to take the much-sought after gold medal, and though no one had the storybook run that the Indians found themselves witnessing from Mitchell Johnson last year, it was still a solid outing for Powhatan’s top athletes.

Atop the list of accomplishments was sophomore Luke Wells finishing as the 120-pound state runner-up a week after he won his region title in front of a home crowd in Powhatan High School’s gym.

Wells placed fourth in his first state championship appearance last year, and built on that performance with three straight wins to get to the final round.

He opened with a first period pin over Western Albemarle’s Lucas Silva, then faced a truly tough assignment versus Loudoun County’s Lincoln Kelley in the quarterfinals.

Wells opened that matchup with an early takedown to start the first period, but Kelley battled back and tied the match up

2-2 with his only takedown of the match. In the third period, with the clock winding down and overtime feeling like a legitimate possibility, Wells finally took back the advantage with a go-ahead reversal that sent him to the semifinals and kept his title hopes alive. He didn’t let the semifinals meeting with Hayden Thompson get to three periods, solidifying his spot in the final with a pin in 5:24 after only leading with a 2-0 lead off a reversal before ending the match for good.

Heading into the finals, Wells said he entered the match with the same mentality he always has, though he admitted it can be difficult when entering a stage as large as the state championship.

“I try to take things the same way, but maybe something will get to my head every once in a while,” he said.

His final matchup was against Colton Bendure from James Wood High School. The match started close with a 2-2 tie after Wells picked up points off two escapes, but the James Wood standout was able to pull ahead in the third period, never letting Wells earn another point while nearly pinning the Powhatan standout in the final minute of the second period. Wells was miraculously able to escape what felt like an inevitable pin, but Bendure was able to maintain

Please see WeLLs, Page B2