Saint matmen fall to Patriots

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 22, 2004 2:00 PM

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DUDLEY -- West Carteret put the finishing touches on its second straight Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference regular-season wrestling championship at the expense of Southern Wayne on Wednesday evening.

The Patriots dominated the middle weight classes, as usual, and cruised past the Saints 53-19. They captured their 23rd title overall since the mid-1970s and defeated an ECC opponent for the 15th time in 16 tries.

"We just don't match up very well with West Carteret," Saints coach David Lee said. "Where we've got decent guys, they've got decent guys. Tonight their guys, in some cases, out-wrestled our guys ... guys we were depending on.

"Overall, not a bad effort from our kids. But I'm a little disappointed in the outcome of some of the matches."

West Carteret entered the contest ranked No. 1 in the latest Elite 10 dual-team poll compiled by ncmat.com. The Patriots collected four pins, two major decisions and a slim two-point win in the 11 contested matches. They also received 18 points on three forfeits.

Southern Wayne, 0-3 against state-ranked teams the last three weeks, emerged victorious at four weight classes. The Saints' Reggie Faire began the match with a 12-2 major decision at 189. After the Patriots won the 215-pound class, senior heavyweight Paul Robinson dusted off Kenny Matthews in 1 minute, 8 seconds. It was Robinson's 107th win of his career.

"Reggie wrestled well; did what we needed him to do, which was get the pin," Lee said. "Reggie has been wrestling well the latter part of the season. He started off a little rough and I think his confidence is building.

"Paul was aggressive with his kid and knew we needed a pin. He got it for us."

Once the teams got into the middle part of the lineup, the Patriots took over. The visitors grabbed five of six matches during that stretch, and built a 25-point advantage in the overall match score.

Thomas Mosshammer secured the Saints' lone win, a tough 8-6 decision against Cory Desteunder at 130. Mosshammer exploded from the start and put Desteunder on his back in the opening period, but couldn't get the pin.

Mosshammer escaped Desteunder's grasp in the second period and led 8-3. The grapplers finished the period on their feet since neither could get a takedown. Desteunder began the third period with a reverse and earned a penalty point on stalling, but Mosshammer hung on.

"I thought Thomas wrestled well," Lee said. "He was aggressive from the beginning. I was proud of him."

Four of West Carteret's five state-ranked wrestlers each picked up a win -- Victor Hojilla (125), Travis Varner (135), Eddo Hojilla (140) and Jake Anfinson (152). Varner, a state runner-up last season, grabbed a forfeit. Defending 103-pound state champion Ty Roach, who is at 112 this year, didn't wrestle.

The match took 66 minutes to complete.

"We knew tonight was going to be an uphill battle to begin with," said Lee, whose team is 3-2 in the conference. 'It's the first time we've seen some of these kids head to head. We're going to see them again (at the ECC tournament). Now we know a little bit more about how to approach them."

The ECC tournament is Jan. 31 at Eastern Wayne.

Notes: Southern Wayne fell to 10-8 overall. ... West Carteret (22-0, 6-0 ECC) opposes the Big Eight South runner-up in an opening-round match in the N.C. High School Athletic Association dual-team playoffs on Feb. 3. .. The ECC's No. 2 team, most likely Charles B. Aycock, faces Mideastern champion Jacksonville White Oak.

West Carteret 53,

Southern Wayne 19

189 -- Reggie Faire (SW) maj. dec. Ryan Offenberger, 14-2; 215 -- Billy O'Neil (WC) wbf Doni Wilkins, 3:07; Hwt -- Paul Robinson (SW) wbf Kenny Matthews, 1:08; 103 -- Paul D'Elia (WC) wbf Josh Richards, 4:44; 112 -- Jonathan McKinney (SW) by forfeit; 119 -- Kyle White (WC) by forfeit; 125 -- Victor Hojilla (WC) wbf Eric Futrell, 3:32; 130 -- Thomas Mosshammer (SW) dec. Cory Desteunder, 8-6; 135 -- Travis Varner (WC) by forfeit; 140 -- Eddo Hojilla (WC) maj. dec. Mastafa Springston, 12-2; 145 -- Frankie Dennis (WC) maj. dec. Kevin Hash, 20-9; 152 -- Jake Anfinson (WC) wbf Ryan Bragg, 4:35; 160 -- Ralph Williams (WC) by forfeit; 171 -- Patrick O'Reilly (WC) dec. Stephen Witt, 6-4.

Warriors collect

first ECC win

Two wrestlers returned to the Eastern Wayne lineup as the Warriors cashed in on their first Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference victory of the season Wednesday evening at New Hope.

Tyler Sasser (chemical burn) pinned his opponent and Joey Burridge (knee) received a forfeit in a 57-24 decision against West Craven. Eastern Wayne improved to 1-4 in the league and returns to action Friday -- at home -- against Rosewood, ranked No. 1 in the Elite 10 dual-team 1-A poll.

The Warriors' Josh Stevens started the evening with a 14-9 decision against Joe Pescia at 119.

Adam Hughes, a two-time ECC champion, and John Fulcher received forfeits at 125 and 130, respectively. The visiting Eagles (1-4 ECC) owned a 12-6 advantage.

However, Eastern Wayne took the next seven matches. Burridge, Timmy Brown (140), Brian Lincoln (145) and Anthony Cape (152) each collected a forfeit.

Sasser, ranked No. 8 among the state's 160-pounders in the Super 32 Report, needed nearly two minutes to pin Bryan Small en route to his 19th win against no losses. Teammates David Brown (171) and Travis Turner (189) each seized a first-period pin. Turner (28-3) remained unbeaten in five ECC matches.

Eastern Wayne heavyweight Cameron Anderson pinned Kevin Westover in 3 minutes, 57 seconds in the final contested match of the evening.

Phillip Dingus (112) received the Warriors' last forfeit of the evening.

Eastern Wayne 57, West Craven 24

119 -- Josh Stevens (EW) dec. Joe Pescia, 14-9; 125 -- Adam Hughes (WC) by forfeit; 130 -- John Fulcher (WC) by forfeit; 135 -- Joey Burridge (EW) by forfeit; 140 -- Timmy Brown (EW) by forfeit; 145 -- Brian Lincoln (EW) by forfeit; 152 -- Anthony Cape (EW) by forfeit; 160 -- Tyler Sasser (EW) wbf Bryan Small, 1:49; 171 -- David Brown (EW) wbf Chris McCaw, 1:47; 189 -- Travis Turner (EW) wbf Joe Patrick, 1:42; 215 -- Corey White (EW) by forfeit; Hwt -- Cameron Anderson (EW) wbf Kevin Westover, 3:57; 103 -- Chris Smith (WC) by forfeit; 112 -- Phillip Dingus (EW) by forfeit.