Falcons, Warriors finish 1-2 at tourney

By Steve Roush
Published in Sports on December 5, 2005 2:03 PM

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PINETOPS -- Three Wayne County wrestlers protected their respective No. 1 seeds and unbeaten records with gold-medal efforts in the 12th annual Pierce-Davis Memorial contested Saturday at SouthWest Edgecombe.

Eastern Wayne's duo of Chris Tesar and Travis Turner each claimed their third individual championship in a three-week period. Tesar (11-0) emerged the 112-pound champion, while Turner (14-0) survived a tough 171-pound final bout against Manteo's Gradon Shaw.

Charles B. Aycock junior Ronald Lynn climbed to 8-0 after taking the 140-pound crown. Lynn and his Golden Falcon teammates seized their first-ever Pierce-Davis Memorial title with 212.5 points with Eastern Wayne a distant second at 151.

"Ronald wrestled extremely well today," said eighth-year C.B. Aycock coach Kevin Smith. "I preach to the kids that they need to be watching their bracket, and taking the down time to watch their opponents wrestle. Ron watched several of his finals opponent's matches throughout the day.

"The outcome, I think, shows how much of a benefit that was."

Lynn pinned every opponent he faced.

The Warriors stood fourth overall heading into the latter rounds, but got key consolation semifinal-round victories from 140-pounder Detori Mitchell and 160-pounder Brian Lincoln. Mitchell and Lincoln each defeated a Jacksonville White Oak grappler en route to third-place finishes in their weight classes.

"I was just pleased with the overall dedication of the kids," said veteran Eastern Wayne coach Mike Brown. "They knew when it was close, we talked to them and said 'we have to have this. If y'all win, we'll probably take second. (There is) no pressure, but it's on you two.'

"We had a good idea that Chris and Travis would win. I was really pleased with Detori and Brian."

White Oak, the reigning Pierce-Davis champion, eventually settled for third with 150 points. First Flight and Southern Nash rounded out the top five.

A total of 17 wrestlers from area schools earned medals in the 15-hour, 20-team affair. Aycock had eight medal winners, while Eastern Wayne had six. Rosewood, which finished second in last year's Pierce-Davis, picked up two medals. Heavyweight Justin Wellington claimed a silver medal for Greene Central.

"It was great to see our friends over at Eastern Wayne have such a good showing," said Kevin Smith, whose program made its first Pierce-Davis appearance since 1999. "Wayne County teams finishing one and two at a 20-team tournament is a very impressive feat.

"I think that it shows that this county continues to become of the best wrestling counties in the east."

Eastern Wayne placed second at the Falcon Invitational and finished third behind Rosewood in the Tarboro Turkey Tumble.

Junior Brandon Johnson helped the Warriors' cause with a runner-up effort at 215 pounds. Senior Joey Burridge tied for third with Aycock's Steve Bentley at 152 pounds since both wrestlers had reached the five-match limit allowed by national federation rules.

"Kevin is just loaded ... strong," said Brown. "I didn't think we could beat them, but I went in hoping for a top-five finish. White Oak and First Flight were several of the strong schools there and finishing second was great.

"A few of the young guys didn't do quite as good as I thought they would. (But) I couldn't have been happier, though. We had six medals and that's the most we've had since Rosewood when Robert Stallings wrestled for me ... I guess ... seven years ago."

Ten Golden Falcon wrestlers placed among the top five.

Junior Ngu Tran, senior Derek Lancaster and second-year starter Tim Harrison each ended up second in their weight classes. Lancaster endured a tough 5-3 loss against White Oak's Aaron Johnston, while Harrison fell to Southern Nash's Eric Wischhusen in the 160-pound final.

Tran extended defending Class 1-A/2-A champion Mike Boring to double overtime before losing 1-0. Boring also beat Tran in the Falcon Invitational.

"This was by far the best match of the day," said Smith. "Ngu wrestled a nearly-flawless match against the best 1-A/2-A kid in the state. He had a good plan and wrestled it to near perfection.

"I think this match is a real stepping stone for Ngu. Even though he took the loss, the match should prove to him that he can wrestle with anyone in the state."

Drake Gurley (103 pounds), Steve Bentley (152) and Jason Steed (171) each received third-place ties. Josh Overton recorded a fourth-place finish at 135 pounds, while senior Shane Lozier tied for fifth at heavyweight.

Aycock eclipsed its best-ever finish -- sixth in 1999 -- at the Pierce-Davis and became just the third team champion to surpass the 200-point plateau. Manteo owns the scoring record of 234 set in 2001, while Raleigh Millbrook tallied 223 in the inaugural PDM in 1994.

"I didn't feel like many of our kids would get very good seeds (coming in), and in some cases that held up," said Smith. "A couple of kids drew number one seeds as early as the quarterfinals, but what I really liked to see was that nearly all those kids wrestled back to get a medal.

"It was a marathon-like day, and it really takes a lot out of a kid to stay concentrated for such a long time. For the most part, we were able to maintain our intensity throughout the 15 hours of wrestling.

"I think that had a big part to play in our success."

Rosewood senior Matt Davis, a returning state qualifier, improved upon last year's third-place finish. He ended up second after getting pinned by Wilson Fike senior John Brewer. Brewer improved to 12-0, while Davis slipped to 9-3.

J.D. Baker tied for third at 119 pounds, while Jim Bish claimed fourth at 112. Bish fell into the consolation bracket after a loss to Tesar. Chris Hare (125 pounds) and Chris Holmes (171) each tied for fifth.

All four teams return to action next week with dual matches.

Rosewood plays host to the 10th annual Eagle Invitational next Saturday and will battle for team supremacy with county rivals Eastern Wayne, Southern Wayne and Spring Creek. Aycock doesn't wrestle in a tournament environment until the WRAL Invitational on Dec. 16-17 at Raleigh Athens Drive.

The Golden Falcons entertain Clayton for a non-conference dual match next Thursday.

"Duals are probably our weakest area right now, so we are hoping to get a lot of matches and experience with the format over the next two weeks," said Smith. "We have scheduled some tough matches for the kids so we can see where they stand at this time of the year."

Notes: Greene Central, which is the guest of Rosewood next Wednesday, placed four wrestlers among the top five in the 14 weight classes. ... The Pierce-Davis is named in memoriam of former SouthWest standouts Terry Pierce and Maurice Davis. The two wrestlers tragically lost their lives in a multiple-car accident in 1993. ... Ten of 14 wrestlers successfully defended their No. 1 seeds. ... Aycock is the 10th different team champion in PDM history.

12th annual

Pierce-Davis Memorial

(at SW Edgecombe HS)

Team scores

1. C.B. Aycock (CBA) 215.5; 2. Eastern Wayne (EW) 151; 3. Jacksonville White Oak (WO) 150; 4. First Flight (FF) 131.5; 5. Southern Nash (SN) 131; 6. Manteo (Man) 122; 7. Washington (Wash) 115.5; 8. Pasquotank (Pas) 112; 9. Rosewood (RHS) 107; 10. Wilson Fike (Fike) 105; 11. Tarboro High (THS) 90; 12. Greene Central (GC) 80; 13. South Central (SC) 73; 14. Nash Central (NC) 56; 15. Roanoke Rapids (RR) 43; 16. Wilson Hunt (Hunt) 42; 17. West Craven (WC) 38.5; 17. Rocky Mount Senior High (RMSH) 38.5; 19. SouthWest Edgecombe (SWE) 27; 20. North Pitt (NP) 20.

Championship finals

103 -- A.J. Sykes (Pas) wbf Ryan Moszcienski (WO), 1:30; 112 -- Chris Tesar (EW) dec. Ryan Mitchell (FF), 7-2; 119 -- Mike Boring (Man) dec. Ngu Tran (CBA), 1-0 (2 OT); 125 -- Aaron Johnston (WO) dec. Derek Lancaster (CBA), 5-3; 130 -- John Brewer (Fike) wbf Matt Davis (RHS), 3:06; 135 -- Jimmy Miller (WO) dec. Shawn Ward (Was), 8-6; 140 -- Ronald Lynn (CBA) wbf Brandon Brickhouse (Pas), 1:27; 145 -- Paul Horner (SN) maj. dec. Andrew Langois (Pas), 9-0; 152 -- Zack Shearin (SN) dec. Randall Herring (SN), 6-1; 160 -- Eric Wischhusen (SN) maj. dec. Tim Harrison (CBA), 11-3; 171 -- Travis Turner (EW) dec. Gradon Shaw (Man), 1-0; 189 --Kirk Heffley (THS) dec. Marquez Staton (NC), 12-8; 215 -- Gerald Lawrence (Was) dec. Brandon Johnson (EW), 2-1; Hwt -- Eric Sutton (THS) wbf Justin Wellington (GC), 1:45.