CBA grapplers dominate 'Dogs

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on December 1, 2005 2:02 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- A disciple of the Charles B. Aycock wrestling program, second-year Princeton assistant coach Matt Rast knew what to expect during Wednesday evening's non-conference dual match.

He just hoped the Bulldogs wouldn't lose their bite.

"I think they were a little intimidated coming over here knowing the team that they've got," said Rast of Aycock, a Class 3-A eastern regional dual-team finalist last season. "But my guys wrestled with intensity and that's what you like to see. I told them this is one of the better teams you're going to see this year.

"I said, 'Let's go out there, make a good showing ... be strong and show them what you've got.' That's all I could ask them to do."

A second-year program, Princeton emerged victorious in two individual matches, but the more-experienced Golden Falcons dominated the 60-minute affair. C.B. Aycock claimed a 72-9 decision and improved to 8-0 in season openers under head coach Kevin Smith.

"I think they're doing a super job," Smith said of the Bulldog coaching staff. "I told coach Rast after the match is that all those kids need is match time. They're aggressive, they work hard and they fight off their back exceptionally well.

"They do a lot of good things well that will make you a good wrestler."

Smith couldn't have been more pleased with his team's aggressive attitude. The Golden Falcons recorded the initial takedown in the 12 contested matches. Ten takedowns eventually led to Aycock falls in either the first or second period.

Josh Overton, at 135 pounds, posted the evening's fastest pin time -- 17 seconds -- against the Dawgs' Patrick Woodard. Zack Wright, a first-year starter, needed just 22 seconds to pin Joey Grantham in their 189-pound match.

Ngu Tran (119 pounds), Ronald Lynn (140), Bryant Lancaster (145), Steve Bentley (152), Jason Steed (171) and heavyweight Shane Lozier each earned a first-period pin. Derek Lancaster (125) and Tim Harrison (160) each notched a second-period pin.

"Getting the first takedown in every match tells me we're aggressive off the whistle," said Smith. "We've got to work a little bit on our body positions and some of our pinning was not very sharp tonight. I thought we did a good job of working from the top and turning the kids, but we've got to make sure we finish those pins.

"My young kids wrestled well. All of them wrestled tough."

First-year starter Josh Best collected the Dawgs' first win of the night at 130 pounds.

Aycock's Sam Rabhan, a first-year wrestler, controlled the first period and put Best on his back twice in the final minute before Best scored a reverse. Best battled well off his back and reversed Rabhan twice in the second period.

The second reverse led to a fall in 3 minutes, 23.8 seconds.

Princeton's Baudelio Valadez, a standout football player, picked up the visitors' second victory. He gained a critical third-period takedown and back points to edge Jarrett Covar, a first-year wrestler, 10-9.

"(Baudelio) is wide open when he steps onto the mat," Rast said. "If I could have his intensity from everybody (on the team), we'd never lose ... honestly. (Best) is a new kid and is a pistol (like Baudelio).

"They really are intense and do well."

Rast contended Princeton (0-3) still needs drilling on techniques and must work harder in the weight room. The Golden Falcons overpowered the Dawgs in several matches and showed better technique when executing holds and counter moves.

Smith stressed conditioning for his team.

"We haven't wrestled in two weeks and I was worried about us being a little rusty tonight, which wasn't the case at all," said Smith, who picked up career win No. 95. "We were pretty sharp in most cases. We knew coming in and it's a little bit by design, that we would not be in our best physical shape.

"We don't want to be in great shape yet, but conditioning from this point in the season will become a bigger factor in our practices."

C.B. Aycock's wrestlers get two days of rest before hitting the mats Saturday in the 12th annual Pierce-Davis Memorial at SouthWest Edgecombe. The Golden Falcons will make their sixth appearance in the one-day invitational, named in honor of former Cougar standouts Terry Pierce and Maurice Davis, who were killed in a multiple-car accident in 1993.

Also participating the tournament are county rivals Eastern Wayne and Rosewood. The Eagles finished second overall last season, while the Warriors took third.

"We haven't wrestled a lot of matches, so we'll probably catch some lower seeds," said Smith. "That's fine because we want those extra matches and we need the mat time. Our young kids need to wrestle.

"There are some tough weight classes where our more-experienced guys will be, so that will be a very good test for them."

C.B. Aycock 72

Princeton 9

112 -- Jordan Pearson (CBA) by forfeit; 119 -- Ngu Tran (CBA) wbf Brandon Baker, 1:25.9; 125 -- Derek Lancaster (CBA) wbf Matt Wilkins, 2:51; 130 -- Josh Best (P) wbf Sam Rabhan, 3:23.8; 135 -- Josh Overton (CBA) wbf Patrick Woodard, 0:17; 140 -- Ronald Lynn (CBA) wbf D.J. Langdon, 1:04.9; 145 -- Bryant Lancaster (CBA) wbf Zach Stephens, 1:08.2; 152 -- Steve Bentley (CBA) wbf 1:33.2; 160 -- Tim Harrison (CBA) wbf Matt Blackwell, 2:37; 171 -- Jason Steed (CBA) wbf David Strickland, 0:24; 189 -- Zack Wright (CBA) wbf Joey Grantham, 0:22; 215 -- Baudelio Valadez (P) dec. Jarrett Covar, 10-9; Hwt -- Shane Lozier (CBA) wbf Jonathan Hartley, 1:39.0; 103 -- Drake Gurley (CBA) by forfeit.

Records: C.B. Aycock 1-0; Princeton 0-3.