By KEVNI ECKLEBRERRY

Daily News

The LaGrange Grangers, led by three individual champions, walked away with a third-place finish at the Gary Silva Invitational on Saturday.

The tournament, which is named in honor of the long-time wrestling official who died in 2012, was held at Gardner Newman Middle School, with teams from across the area competing.

Most of LaGrange’s wrestlers placed, including Colin Cavender, Matt Callaway and Julian Santiago, who each finished atop their respective weight classes.

Asa Leath and Jacob Anderson both advanced to the finals and finished second, and Grayson Whaley placed third.

Callaway, who has had a phenomenal senior season, had no problems in the 145-pound final.

Callaway was ahead 11-2 through two periods, and he won by major decision.

“(Winning) feels good, especially with all the hard work,” said Callaway, who only has one loss this season. “And anytime I can win at home, that’s great, too.”

In the 138-pound final, Cavender eased to a 12-2 victory after taking a 9-1 lead through two periods.

Cavender was facing an opponent he hadn’t seen before, and he said “when it comes up like that, you just try to be aggressive honestly, because you don’t have anything to lose. The best defense is a good offense.”

It didn’t take Santiago long to win his finals match at 152 pounds.

Santiago was in control from the get-go, and he won by pin in the first period.

“I enjoyed it,” Santiago said. “I got him down and kept him down.”

Leath and Anderson enjoyed successful tournaments as well.

Leath reached the finals at 132 pounds before falling short, and Anderson placed second at 160 pounds.

Whaley bounced back from a loss to reach the third-place match, and he won by pin at 126 pounds.

“We had a lot of placers,” Callaway said. “With the amount of kids we had, we did a really good job. Everybody’s been working hard.”

LaGrange will participate in the Callaway Duals on Saturday at Callaway High.

OF NOTE: For more photos, check out Facebook.com/LDNSports