Senior James Boone’s second-place finish was the highlight for Nansemond River High School’s wrestling team in Salem during last weekend’s Virginia High School League Group 4A state championships.

But a restructuring of the event fostered controversy and may have overshadowed Boone’s accomplishment.

“It went great for our team,” NR coach Tripp Seed said of states. But at the same time, “it was a horrible ran tournament because they changed the format to one-day.”

Much as it has for basketball tournaments around the state this year, weather played a factor in the change. The tournament was originally scheduled for two days, but the expectation of snow on Saturday caused organizers to announce on Thursday evening that the tournament would become a one-day event, instead. Seed said he didn’t get the message until Friday morning.

This change meant any wrestlers who lost in the first round, the quarterfinals, would simply be eliminated, with no hope of placing at states. Placing at states is a key accomplishment for a wrestler.

“We had five kids lose in the first round, so they were all out of the tournament,” Seed said. Had the two-day tourney been preserved, “they would have all had a chance to come back and place in the tournament,” as high as third.

Seed said most teams already had spent the money to stay in nearby hotels through Friday night, so they were going to be there on Saturday, anyway.

He added that he believed an early return trip in the snow would have been more dangerous than simply staying and competing on Saturday. At worst, he said, his team would have had to pay for another night at the hotel.

“I would say the VHSL didn’t think in the best interests of the kids,” he said.

Despite the complications, Seed was pleased with James Boone’s performance in the 120-pound weight class.

He advanced out of the quarterfinal round by defeating James Wood High School sophomore Matt Artrup via a 9-6 decision. In the semifinals, he topped Millbrook High School senior William Meushaw by a 10-7 decision. He lost by a 10-7 decision in the final to Fauquier High School senior Daniel Ariola.

Junior 113-pounder Malcolm Dawson, senior 132-pounder Hunter Hill, senior 145-pounder Jacob Clark, junior 152-pounder Malik Neely and sophomore heavyweight Dia Gray were the other participants for Nansemond River.

“All five kids either wrestled somebody in the first round who was a state champion or who was a state runner-up,” Seed said.