Carolina/Albemarle wrestling

By Staff Reports
Published in Sports on February 2, 2009 1:46 PM

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LITTLEFIELD -- Less than a month after ending Rosewood's 13-year reign as the Class 1-A Carolina/Albemarle Conference regular-season champion, North Johnston ended another streak Saturday afternoon.

Despite having just four individual champions, the Panthers defeated the Eagles 211-191 for the season-ending Carolina/Albemarle Conference tournament crown.

"Coach (Dan) Miner and I were elated with today's performance," said Rosewood head coach Bill Edmundson. "Our 'A' group wrestlers only gave up six pins on the day. That's tremendous ... makes a huge difference in the team scores and shows how much heart these guys have."

The Eagles' Zach Behrend (103 pounds), Joshua Holmes (145) and Jacob Roberts (160) each claimed a gold medal. Teammate Andrew Sass, who pulled off a stunning upset of Manteo's Chad Parks, ended up in a three-way tie for first at 152 pounds and had to settle for the bronze medal.

Rosewood also got top-three efforts from Scott Pate, Dillon Guss, Greg Cavenaugh, Jon Rudolph, Jamie Wooten, Cameron Lane and heavyweight Paul Atkinson.

"Jon has gained such a wealth of experience and maturity this year," said Edmundson. "It's going to pay off for him in wrestling and more importantly, in life."

Spring Creek's Daniel Richter captured the 119-pound title. Heavyweight Josh Rodriguez finished second and Garrett Lewis took third at 112 pounds. The Gators compiled 59 points in the six-team event.

Princeton, which amassed 88 points, got a gold-medal effort from 171-pounder Tyler Baker. Patrick Woodard ended up second at 152 pounds, while B.J. Creech won the bronze medal in the 145-pound weight class.

Rosewood and North Johnston return to action Tuesday in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1-A dual-team playoffs. Opening-round pairings have not been determined.

"With the experience gained this year with our young wrestlers, I hate to see North Johnston is going to be moving up to 2-A due to the size of their school," said Edmundson. "They have helped make our conference stronger, but they need not worry ... we'll keep them on the schedule."

2009 Carolina/Albemarle 1-A

Conference

Wrestling Championships

(at Ayden-Grifton HS, Littlefield)

Team scores

North Johnston 211

Rosewood 191

Manteo 152

Princeton 88

Ayden-Grifton 70

Spring Creek 59

Individual champions

103 -- Zach Behrend (R); 112 -- Trevor Jones (AG); 119 -- Daniel Richter (SC); 125 -- Jaurice Freeman (M); 130 -- Michael Webster (NJ); 135 -- Shane Brinn (M); 140 -- Richard Bateman (M); 145 -- Joshua Holmes (R); 152 -- Chad Parks (M); 160 -- Jacob Roberts (R); 171 -- Tyler Baker (P); 189 -- Jacob Lewis (NJ); 215 -- Wayne Johnson (NJ); Hwt -- Manshon Shoulars (NJ).