CBA wrestlers advance

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on February 4, 2004 2:08 PM

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JACKSONVILLE -- The jovial jaunting floating around the White Oak gymnasium Tuesday evening centered around county wrestling rivals Charles B. Aycock and Southern Wayne.

"We traveled down here to see these two wrestle again?" one person quipped when the first-round matches had been completed.

But the two Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference foes needed sterling efforts from their middleweights to pull off wins in the N.C. High School Athletic Association dual-team playoffs.

Aycock, the ECC's No. 2 seed, survived an early surge and stopped Mideastern champion Jacksonville White Oak 42-28. Meanwhile, the Saints turned back Northeastern Coastal champ Manteo 37-36.

"We were thrilled to death to get that first playoff win and that's a big accomplishment, especially for a team that brought ten wrestlers," Southern Wayne coach David Lee said. "We're happy with that, but we knew it was a long-shot against Aycock because they're stacked with a full lineup.

"We just don't match up very well with them."

The second-round matchup seemed anticlimactic since the two teams had recorded dramatic come-from-behind victories against conference champions in their respective opening-round matches.

C.B. Aycock (12-1) prevailed in all six contested matches and collected four forfeits in a 60-24 win. It was a rematch of last year's bout won by the Golden Falcons in Dudley.

"There is always a little concern that your team will have a letdown after a big, intense and emotional match like the White Oak dual," Smith said. "We talked about this with the team between matches, telling the kids that Southern Wayne stood in the way of getting a second shot at West Carteret.

"The kids responded well, I think."

The Golden Falcons, ranked No. 5 in the Elite 10 poll, raced to an early 24-point lead. Will Medus earned a forfeit at 160. Teammates John Robertson (171), Turner Wood (189) and Lacardra Mitchell (215) followed up with pins.

Robertson rebounded from a disappointing one-point loss in his earlier match. He needed about half a minute to score the initial takedown against Stephen Witt and then pinned the Saint senior in 1 minute, 39.1 seconds.

"John wrestled a super match against Stephen," Smith said. "I think that loss was a real motivator going into his match with Witt. I'm very pleased with how John is wrestling right now."

Southern Wayne heavyweight Paul Robinson received a forfeit and teammate Josh Richards nearly pulled off a stunning upset at 103. Richards put Derek Lancaster, the Eastern Carolina Conference champion, on his back midway through the first period.

Lancaster rolled through, earned an escape and the Aycock fans in attendance rose to their feet. The period ended with Lancaster trailing 5-1 and he became the aggressor as the second two-minute session began.

The two grapplers started from the neutral (standing) position and Lancaster immediately put Richards on the mat. Richards tried to squirm underneath Lancaster, but he tightly held his grip en route to the pin.

"Josh had him," Lee said.

Six of the next eight matches resulted in forfeits. Smith elected to save his wrestlers and not risk any injuries with another dual, and the individual regionals on the horizon.

With the victory, Aycock advanced to the eastern semifinals for the second time in Smith's tenure and the third time overall in school history.

White Oak extended the Golden Falcons to the limit in the early stages of their match. The Vikings claimed three of the first four individual bouts and led 13-3.

Heavyweight Dustin Gurley and 112-pounder David Rose kept Aycock within striking distance in their respective matches. Gurley earned a second-period pin and Rose notched a 16-12 decision. That trimmed White Oak's advantage to 19-12.

"Dustin and David's matches were huge," Smith said. "Coach (Mark) Bass and I had tagged 112 and heavyweight as two must-have weight classes for us tonight. Both wrestlers delivered and were a big part of our win tonight."

The Vikings' Jack McGee, ranked No. 5 among the state's 119-pounders, knocked off Greg Coudriet 8-3. As the clock ticked down on Coudriet's seventh loss of the season, Randy Meisenhelder walked over to his teammates who hadn't wrestled. Meisenhelder's comments couldn't be heard, but he appeared to offer a little motivation.

Aycock didn't lose again.

Jackson Massey started an incredible 24-0 run with a pin as time expired in the first period. Luan Tran (130) and Blake Brockmeyer (135) each stuck their respective opponent in 32 seconds. Meisenhelder finished off the match-clinching spurt with a pin in 1:59.2.

"White Oak is well coached and has some great upperweights," Smith said. "We knew we needed to keep things close through the upperweights and give our middleweights a chance to win the match for us."

Southern Wayne (15-9) trailed by 18 points with six matches remaining against Manteo. The Saints' comeback started when Eric Futrell scored a 13-1 major decision against Nick Thames.

Thomas Mosshammer (130) pinned Nick Short in 3:02. Victor Darden aggressively attacked his opponent Jack Macaranas and built a 7-0 lead after one period. Darden earned two second-period points and then pinned Macaranas in 3:27.

That pulled the Saints within 30-28.

"From 125 on, we just really stepped up and took it to those guys," Lee said. "I can't say enough about all my kids as far as the effort all year long. But when you take kids like Vic, who is a first-year wrestler, he is fearless.

"He goes out there and tries his best to get that win. He doesn't know what it means to think that somebody is better than he is. He just goes out there and gets it done."

Darden's fearlessness certainly rubbed off on senior Mastafa Springston and 145-pounder Kevin Hash. Springston's second-period pin gave the Saints a 34-30 lead. Hash squeezed past Anthony Sawyer 6-5 and helped deal Manteo (13-8) its seventh loss by either one point or one match this season.

"It was an unbelievable effort by our kids," Lee said.

The Golden Falcons will play host to the four-team eastern regional on Thursday. Aycock opposes archrival West Carteret, ranked No. 1 in the latest Elite 10 poll compiled by ncmat.com. Defending state champion Eden Morehead squares off against Wilson Hunt.

The two semifinal matches begin at 6 p.m.

"We are going to get in the weight room today and just get some light drilling and mental preparation taken care of," Smith said. "We have to wrestle our best dual of the year tomorrow night, and we want to be fresh.

"At this point of the year, the most important thing a coach can do for his kids is keep them healthy and focused."

2003 N.C. High School

Athletic Association

Class 3-A Dual-Team Playoffs

(at White Oak HS, Jacksonville)

First round

C.B. Aycock 42, White Oak 28

160 -- Reed (WO) maj. dec. Will Medus, 18-7; 171 -- David Pelsang (WO) dec. John Robertson, 3-2; 189 -- Turner Wood (CBA) dec. Chip Baker, 8-5; 215 -- Patrick Wareham (WO) wbf Lacardra Mitchell, 0:59; Hwt -- Dustin Gurley (CBA) wbf Fischer, 3:31; 103 -- Johnston (WO) wbf Derek Lancaster, 1:04; 112 -- David Rose (CBA) dec. Eruy, 16-12; 119 -- Jack McGee (WO) dec. Greg Coudriet, 8-3; 125 -- Jackson Massey (CBA) wbf Askins, 2:00; 130 -- Luan Tran (CBA) wbf Justin Pons, 2:13; 135 -- Ronald Lynn (CBA) wbf Delarosa, 0:32; 140 -- Blake Brockmeyer (CBA) wbf Tootle, 0:32; 145 -- Randy Meisenhelder (CBA) wbf Walter, 1:59.2; 152 -- Craig Marva (WO) by forfeit.

Southern Wayne 37, Manteo 36

160 -- Graden Shaw (M) by forfeit; 171 -- Duncan Silver (M) dec. Stephen Witt, 15-9; 189 -- Reggie Faire (SW) by forfeit; 215 -- Daniel Twiddy (M) wbf Doni Wilkins, 1:04; Hwt -- Paul Robinson (SW) wbf Mike Ramos, 0:10; 103 -- Ryan Mitchell (M) dec. Josh Richards, 7-2; 112 -- Mike Boring (M) by forfeit; 119 -- Josh Sherman (M) by forfeit; 125 -- Eric Futrell (SW) maj. dec. Nick Thames, 13-1; 130 -- Thomas Mosshammer (SW) wbf Nick Short, 3:02; 135 -- Victor Darden (SW) wbf Jack Macaranas, 3:27; 140 -- Mastafa Springston (SW) wbf Tyler Swan, 0:15; 145 -- Kevin Hash (SW) dec. Anthony Sawyer, 6-5; 152 -- Louis Suprenant (M) by forfeit.

Quarterfinals

C.B. Aycock 60,

Southern Wayne 24

160 -- Will Medus (CBA) by forfeit; 171 -- John Robertson (CBA) wbf Stephen Witt, 1:39.1; 189 -- Turner Wood (CBA) wbf Reggie Faire, 5:14; 215 -- Lacardra Mitchell (CBA) wbf Doni Wilkins, 2:50; Hwt -- Paul Robinson (SW) by forfeit; 103 -- Derek Lancaster (CBA) wbf Josh Richards, 3:15.8; 112 -- David Rose (CBA) by forfeit; 119 -- Greg Coudriet (CBA) by forfeit; 125 -- Jackson Massey (CBA) wbf Eric Futrell, 1:34.1; 130 -- Thomas Mosshammer (SW) by forfeit; 135 -- Ronald Lynn (CBA) wbf Victor Darden, 1:02.1; 140 -- Mastafa Springston (SW) by forfeit; 145 -- Kevin Hash (SW) by forfeit; 152 -- Tim Harrison (CBA) by forfeit.