PREP WRESTLING: S. Wayne-Rosewood grapplers stage classic final

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on January 17, 2005 1:55 PM

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WINTERVILLE -- Wayne County wrestling rivals Southern Wayne and Rosewood threw the records when competing in the championship match of the South Central Duals, but they did need a rulebook to determine the winner.

Michael Sanders' second-period pin of the Saints' Josh Robinson forced a 39-39 tie and caused the referee to pull out his trusty rulebook. The first four criteria -- unsportsmanlike conduct points; number of overall matches won; points accumulated through falls, defaults, forfeits and disqualifications and technical fall points -- still left the teams tied.

Finally, the criteria of first-points scored benefited Southern Wayne. The Saints collected 10 takedowns and earned the extra point for the 40-39 victory.

"The match with Southern Wayne is always exciting," Rosewood coach Bill Edmundson said. "Our athletes see each other so many times at individual tournaments and they get to know each other very well. When we meet in a dual, you can just throw out the records because they are just go straight at each other.

"The last few meetings have come down to the final match and so did this one."

Rosewood (17-6) eased out to a 15-6 lead after four individual bouts. The fifth proved to be crucial, not only individually, but team-wise as well. Matt Davis suffered an injury and Edmundson, along with Davis' father, opted to default to the Saints' Thomas Mosshammer.

Mosshammer appeared on his way to gaining five points for the tech fall, but the default gave him six. That much-needed point proved crucial in the final match outcome.

Eric Futrell (135 pounds), Victor Darden (140) and Kevin Hash (145) followed with consecutive victories to push the Saints in front 27-15. After the teams traded falls, Southern Wayne still held its 12-point lead -- this time at 33-21.

Rosewood's Chris Holmes responded with his fourth pin of the day, a 31-second stick of the Saints' Ricky Coley. Southern Wayne recorded its final victory when Doni Wilkins pinned Antar Shafer in 4 minutes, 55 seconds.

"Chris had a stellar day," Edmundson said. "We felt very good about Antar in the 189 match. We still don't know exactly what happened there other than he was blue, rolled and pinned."

The Eagles received a forfeit at 215 before Sander's fall induced the 39-39 tie.

Rosewood reached the title match with lopsided victories against North Pitt (67-12), First Flight (58-23) and Washington (61-13).

Aycock finishes eighth

EDEN -- Charles B. Aycock's Turner Wood emerged a silver medalist and Randy Meisenhelder collected the bronze in their respective weight classes during the Sara Wilkes Invitational contested Saturday at Morehead High School.

Wood entered the 189-pound weight class seeded second behind Northwest Guilford's Alan Carter. The two met in the finals and Carter pulled out a 6-4 win.

Meisenhelder owned the No. 2 seed at 145 pounds and stumbled against Northwest Guilford's Brandon Garcia in the semifinals. Meisenhelder (28-4) bounced back to take third, pinning West Forsyth's Scott Matthews in 1 minute, 41 seconds.

Tim Harrison (152) and heavyweight Dustin Gurley, who was the top seed, each finished fifth in their respective weight classes. John Robertson (171) ended up sixth. Derek Lancaster (112), Ngu Tran (119) and 215-pounder Charles Covar each turned in eighth-place showings.

C.B. Aycock finished eighth overall in the 23-team tournament with 122 points.

The Golden Falcons return to action Tuesday at Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference foe South Central. A victory assures the Golden Falcons of a spot in the N.C. High School Athletic Association dual-team playoffs.

Taylor paces G. Central

BAILEY -- Cameron Taylor, competing at 130 pounds, fashioned a 4-1 record during the 6th annual Thomas Cowles Memorial Firebird Duals wrestled Saturday at Southern Nash.

The Rams ended the day 2-3 overall and captured seventh place with a 41-39 decision against 2-A Elizabeth City Northeastern.

Greene Central also earned its first-ever victory over Eastern Plains 2-A rival SouthWest Edgecombe in eight tries.