Weather forces C.B. Aycock wrestlers to hit road

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on February 4, 2005 1:58 PM

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PIKEVILLE - Thursday morning's inclement weather forced the postponement of the eastern semifinals in the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 3-A dual-team wrestling playoffs.

Due to potential icy/snowy conditions, neither Morehead nor Orange High could make the afternoon journey to Charles B. Aycock for the four-team regional. School administrators did not wish to risk injury to their student-athletes and telephoned Aycock athletics director Charles Davis Thursday morning to discuss an alternative solution.

Morehead is located near the Virginia border north of Greensboro. Orange is roughly a 30-minute trip north of Chapel Hill.

"After I saw the weather (forecast), I was expecting this to happen but I was hoping we could get it in," Davis said. "Morehead's school system would not let them come down and Orange's school system was thinking about an early dismissal.

"I don't blame them for their decision. It's better to be safe than sorry."

School administrators flooded the NCHSAA office with phone calls late Thursday morning to discuss different scenarios. The association announced at noon that Orange agreed host to the four-team regional tonight. Aycock has a home basketball game against South Central and the NCHSAA didn't favor pushing the regional semifinals to Saturday.

If the teams had wrestled Saturday, the state final would have been scheduled for either Monday or Tuesday. The NCHSAA did not wish to stretch the dual-team tournament into next week since the individual regionals are scheduled for Feb. 11-12.

"I can't believe that (decision)," Aycock coach Kevin Smith said. "The East is working at a disadvantage right now having to wrestle back-to-back. The West (team) will get an extra pound that they don't have to earn.

"I'm not happy about it, but that's the way it works I guess."

Weigh-ins are scheduled for 5 p.m. with the semifinal-round matches slated to start at 6.

Admission is $5.

Morehead enters the four-team regional as the favorite. The Panthers have claimed four dual-team state championships since 1998 and finished runners-up to Jamestown Ragsdale last year. Orange is making its first-ever eastern semifinal appearance, while Aycock and West Carteret have advanced for the third straight year.

West Carteret has eliminated Aycock (15-1) from the playoffs each of the past two seasons. However, the Patriots have faltered against Morehead on both occasions in the regional final.

Aycock is making its fourth trip to the eastern regional since 2000 and is 0-3 in the semifinal round. The Golden Falcons' all-time playoff record is 11-8, including six wins in their last eight outings.