Warrior matmen upend Saints in ECC 3-A opener

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on December 10, 2008 1:47 PM

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DUDLEY -- Not 100 percent satisfied with their respective weekend performances, county wrestling archrivals Eastern Wayne and Southern Wayne tried to make amends Tuesday evening.

And the Warriors got lucky.

Southern Wayne triumphed in six of 11 contested individual matches. Eastern Wayne, meanwhile, dodged a quality wrestler and grabbed two crucial forfeits in a 42-35 victory.

It was the Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference opener for both teams.

"You put your kids where you think they can win ... move them around," said Warriors head coach Mike Brown. "Every coach does it and I got lucky tonight. The chess match paid off."

First-year Saints head coach Jonathan Jones hoped to get senior Dustin Richards, one of three returning starters, a match at either 145 or 152 pounds. Brown opted to forfeit at 145 and Jones followed suit.

Richards trotted to the scorer's table, slapped his thighs as he walked to the mat and waited. Brown signaled forfeit and a disappointed Richards had his hand raised as the winner.

"When he bumped Richards to 52, that allowed me to bump my 52 (Cody Britt) to 60, which I was going to forfeit," said Brown, whose team climbed to 2-2 overall this season. "It really hurt them by doing that."

Britt replaced an injured Mike Pugh and pinned the Saints' Ray Teachey as time expired in the second period. In addition to Britt, heavyweight Zack Meyers, Roderick Ayers (112 pounds), Corbin Harris (130) and Zach Hahn (140) each collected a pin.

The Warriors' Josh Hahn (119) and Logan Wicks (189) each received a forfeit. Starters Matt Sparks (112) and Greg Taylor (285) were absent from the Saints' lineup.

"Very disappointed ... didn't get a couple of wins we thought we were going to get," said Jones. "I did see some good things tonight. My 35-pounder (Jamison Dove), even though he had problems with locking hands, he listened to me and worked around it to get the win.

"I was proud of the way most of the guys wrestled tonight. I knew it was going to be a close match and that we were giving up some points."

Southern Wayne (4-5 overall, 0-1 ECC) picked up falls from Minek Ford (171), Derek Whitman (215), freshman Ryan Gross (103) and 125-pounder Miles Bradshaw. Gross remained unbeaten in 13 outings this season, while Bradshaw improved to 10-3.

Eastern Wayne 42

Southern Wayne 35

130 -- Corbin Harris (EW) wbf Jacob Richards, 0:24; 135 -- Jamison Dove (SW) wbf Monroe Simmons, 3:26.8; 140 -- Zach Hahn (EW) wbf Ethan Brogden, 2:10; 145 -- double forfeit; 152 -- Dustin Richards (SW) by forfeit; 160 -- Cody Britt (EW) wbf Ray Teachey, 4:00; 171 -- Minek Ford (SW) wbf Cameron Herring, 3:55.7; 189 -- Logan Wicks (EW) by forfeit; 215 -- Derek Whitman (SW) wbf James Barrett, 4:12.9; Hwt -- Zack Meyers (EW) wbf Anthony Grantham, 0:54; 103 -- Ryan Gross (SW) wbf Tyler Wallace, 0:49; 112 -- Roderick Ayers (EW) wbf Hunter Brown, 0:30; 119 -- Josh Hahn (EW) by forfeit; 125 -- Miles Bradshaw (SW) wbf Austin Helms, 1:34.

Records: Eastern Wayne 2-2, 1-0 Eastern Carolina 3-A; Southern Wayne 4-5, 0-1 ECC

Next match: Saturday, both teams at 13th annual Eagle Invitational hosted by Rosewood