Sports - January 2004

West wrestling has successful Christmas break

Published January 5, 2004

Rebels lose to Red Devils in a battle of two undefeated squads, will have chance for revenge

By ELIZABETH ROSS CARPENTER, LTN Correspondent

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Christmas break wasn’t much of a break for West Lincoln wrestlers. Three tournaments in the two-week period gave the Rebels action and trophies, but not much rest.

On Dec. 20, West Lincoln hosted “The West Lincoln Duals”. They captured first place with wins over Kings Mountain, 61-7 in the semi-finals and Saint Stephens, 45-24 in the finals.

Following that win, West Lincoln’s wrestlers traveled to Cary to compete in “The Cary News Invitational” on Dec. 22 and 23. There, the team had nine wrestlers place in the top six, boosting the team to a second place finish with 219.5 points. This is the highest place that West Lincoln has finished since they have been attending this tournament.

The defending 4A State Champions, Cary High School Imps, won first place with 317.5 points. The teams that followed West in placing were Mt. Pleasant with 155, C.B. Aycock 153.5, and Great Bridge No. 2 145.

The tournament field was comprised of 24 teams from North Carolina, West Virginia and Virginia. Wrestlers placing from West Lincoln were John Harkey – fifth, Jeremy Pearson – fourth, Matt Avery – fifth, Zeb Elmore – second, Steele Barber – third, Daniel Scronce – third, Dustin Hester – fourth, Daniel Soto – second, and Antonio Rojo – second.

After a short break, the Rebel wrestlers were back in action this Saturday at East Burke High School for the 12th Annual Cavalier Classic. The field consisted of 16 highly competitive teams in North Carolina this year. Of the 16 teams, five teams are ranked in the top ten by “Mat News”, a newsletter dedicated to North Carolina wrestling, and four of the teams are on the “Other Notables” list within their respective classification.

West Lincoln, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, finished the round-robin portion of the tournament with wins over Lake Norman 63-6, Parkland 59-15, and Saint Stephens 36-29.

The Rebels then advanced to the championship bracket with East Burke, Bandys, and Newton Conover. West Lincoln defeated East Burke 34-33 in a close semi-final match, sending them to the finals with Midwest 2A Conference rival Newton Conover, who defeated Bandys 36-18 in the other semi-final match.

Both teams entered the finals undefeated this season. West Lincoln had a 19-0 record and Newton held an 18-0 record. The score seesawed back and forth throughout the hard fought match. At the end, it was the Newton Conover Red Devils that prevailed with a score of 33-29.

The top three teams at the tournament were conference rivals, with Bandys finishing third.

Head Coach Butch Ross was pleased with his team’s performance over the break.

“This was one of the most successful Christmas breaks that we have had. I was real pleased with the boys’ success, effort, and dedication over the holidays,” he said.

The No. 4 ranked West Lincoln wrestlers will be back on the mat at West Lincoln on Tuesday with a highly anticipated rematch against No. 2 ranked Newton Conover at 7 p.m.

Cavalier Classic Championship Match.

West Lincoln 29  Newton Conover 33

103: Eric Webster (NC) dec. John Harkey (WL) 7-1

112: Josh Webster (NC) won by forfeit

119: Jeremy Pearson (WL) won by forfeit

125: Nick Pittman (WL) pin Zac Elmore (WL) 3:24

130: Tyler Wilfong (WL) pin Josh Hight (NC) 3:37

135: Zeb Elmore (WL) maj. dec. Jeremiah McLean (NC) 11-2

140: Brian Galloway (NC) dec. Brent Gates (WL) 3-1

145: Steele Barber (WL) maj. dec. Kerry Michaud (NC) 14-3

152: Ryan Pittman (NC) dec. Dustin Hester (WL) 5-2

160: Chase Carter (NC) dec. Daniel Scronce (WL) 7-1

171: Keane Steele (WL) pin Joel Dietrich (NC) 3:50

189: Ben Crawford (NC) dec. Daniel Soto (WL) 2-0

215: Michael Walden (NC) pin Thomas Smith (WL) 1:42

275: Antonio Rojo (WL) dec. Kyle Brock (NC) 3-0

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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