The Warriors wrestling team finished as the region runner-up over the weekend.

One week after winning the sectional tournament, the Nansemond River High School wrestling team now has its eyes set on the state tournament.

Nansemond River had four region champions and seven state qualifiers in total. Elijah Williams at 145, Daniel Peacher at 150, Aaron Whear at 170 and Zechariah Gray at 182 were all crowned regional champions for the Warriors. The Warriors also had two runners-up and one third-place finisher. In the final days of preparation for the regional tournament, Warriors coach, Tripp Seed wanted his guys to be loose and relaxed as they wrestled in the regional tournament.

“I think our overall performance went very well,” Seed said. “A team that we had wrestled in the prior weeks had beat us, and we beat them this time around. Our goal is to win the tournament, but you don’t want to put pressure on the guys. I just told them to go out there and have fun. Just a few things didn’t go our way.”

To prepare for states, Seed has been putting his state qualifiers in different situations throughout practice. Other wrestlers on the team throw his state qualifiers different looks that they could possibly see in the Class 5 state tournament. They are also watching film on opponents, and Seed is encouraging his guys to continue to do the same at home as well. Four of the seven heading to the tournament wrestled in it last year. Seed feels that experience will help those same guys this time around.

“I think we are prepared to go there,” Seed said. “We have had a good couple of days of practice so far, and we are looking forward to a good week. looking at the big picture even after the state tournament, I will have five guys returning for next year.”

The Class 5 state tournament will be held Feb. 16-17 at Oscar Smith High School.