The Riverbend Bears wrestling team finished off its season with four successful wrestling events: senior night against King George High School and the three conference tournaments. While this specific season is important to all of Riverbend’s wrestlers, it has been especially important to a select few.

Five seniors: Alex Miller, Hunter O’dell, Xzavier Darensbourg, Maxwell Bridges, and Dayn Roberts, many of which have wrestled on varsity since freshman year, have finally reached the end of their high school careers. Each had a successful season this year, with more wins than losses and have even placed at various tournaments. These seniors, under the guidance of head coach Mark Roberts, have laid down a tradition that younger generations will aspire to follow.

On February 3, 2015, the varsity lineup faced off against King George high school for the Bear’s senior night. The match was extremely ceremonious, the seniors walked out to the center of the gym one at a time alongside their parents, and each was able to choose a song to run out to before his match. The Bears earned a win against King George, and every senior walked away with a win.

The season was still not over with the district, regional, and state tournaments still ahead. Saturday, February 6, Riverbend hosted the 6A district tournament. throughout the day two teams dominated: Riverbend, and the juggernaut Colonial Forge. While Forge won the tournament overall, the finals matches  were tough and full of energy. Junior Austin Harlow and senior Hunter O’Dell pulled off incredible wins for first place at their weight classes, with many other Bears following in second, third and fourth in theirs. A total of 12 Riverbend Wrestlers placed top 4, including the 5 seniors, and advanced to the regional tournament on February 13th. This is the most wrestlers to advance to regionals at Riverbend, surpassing last year’s 11.

The Regional Tournament was held at Ocean Lakes High School down in the Chesapeake are  it was a two day tournament. After the first day, only half of Riverbend’s wresters remained, with five in semifinals and one in consolation quarter-finals. In the end wrestler Dayn Roberts placed sixth, and wrestlers Austin Harlow, Hunter O’Dell, Alex Miller, and Xzavier Darensbourg all placed second and went to states where Alex Miller placed third, Xzavier Darensbourg and Hunter O’dell placed fifth, and Austin Harlow placed sixth.

For most of our seniors, this marked the end of their wrestling career. While many are planning to wrestle during the spring, only seniors Alex Miller and Xzavier Darensbourg plan to wrestle in college. “These seniors this season were the first group to completely ‘buy in’ to the system I established,” said head coach Mark Roberts, “and this in turn lead them to be part of the our most successful teams in Riverbend Wrestling history. They have set the bar high for the underclassmen to follow and I have never wanted another season with a group as much as I do now.”