Rosewood grapplers seek 10th consecutive regular-season wrestling title

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 12, 2007 2:24 PM

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LOUISBURG -- Realignment, along with the surprise addition of N.C. School of Science and Math this season, created quite a stir among the wrestling coaches in the Class 1-A Carolina/Tar-Roanoke/Albemarle Conference this season.

The seven-team league spans an incredible 218 miles from Manteo to Durham, and points in between. With extensive travel time involved, the coaches organized a two-day, dual-team weekend tournament to determine the regular-season champion.

Matches begin today at 5 p.m. on the Louisburg High campus involving the host Warriors, Rosewood, Spring Creek, Princeton and North Johnston. Each school will wrestle two duals and return to action Saturday at 10 a.m.

"NCSSM and Manteo will join us Saturday to complete the round-robin format where everyone wrestles everyone," said Rosewood head coach Bill Edmundson. "There will be a few cases where designated conference matches will have already been wrestled with NCSSM and Manteo so they do not exceed their five-match rule."

The winner and runner-up seize the league's two automatic bids to the N.C. High School Athletic Association dual-team playoffs, which begin Feb. 6.

Rosewood is the reigning C/TRC/Albemarle champion. The Eagles (12-6) are seeking their 10th consecutive regular-season title and 12th overall in the program's 15-year history.

Edmundson has a career record of 283-113 heading into the weekend.

Seven Rosewood grapplers have 20 or more victories this season. Senior Jim Bish leads the way with 33, followed by J.D. Baker (32) and Chris Hare (31). Byron Cavenaugh has posted 24 individual wins, while heavyweight Trevor Morris is next with 23.

Olivia Neal is a sparkling 22-2 overall, including an 8-0 worksheet against 112 pounders. Josh Holmes has 20 wins.