Golden Falcons-Warriors outcome decided on 'first points scored' criteria

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on November 26, 2010 1:47 PM

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Oh, so close.

But not close enough.

Charles B. Aycock prevailed on the eighth criteria and slipped past Eastern Wayne, 41-40, in an intense- and emotion-filled, early-season battle on the wrestling mat Wednesday evening.

The teams grappled to a 40-40 deadlock after all 14 individual matches had been completed. Referee Joseph Davis pulled out the rulebook, eyed the scorebook and started eliminating the criteria one by one.

When Davis got to first points scored, Aycock held the edge and therefore, kept its unbeaten streak -- 13 straight victories -- alive against its archrival.

"Us and Aycock could not have been any closer," said second-year Warriors head coach Jonathan Jones said.

The county skirmish was part of a pre-Thanksgiving Day, six-team dual tournament in Eastern Wayne's old gymnasium. The Warriors (2-2 overall) and Golden Falcons (3-1) competed against fellow county member Rosewood, perennial 4-A power Western Harnett, Triton and Hertford County.

Eastern Wayne throttled Hertford and Triton and lost to Western Harnett. James Barrett, heavyweight Blake Terrell, Austin Helm and Nolan Kirkwood each posted a 4-0 worksheet during the six-hour affair that ended around midnight.

Jones had six freshmen and two first-year starters in the lineup.

"It was a nice, long evening of wrestling, but I really can't complain, especially since my guys wrestled well," said Jones. "The work we have done in the offseason is showing. The one who has come the furthest is Blake and his confidence is starting to come around.

"Austin is looking very strong."

Aycock dropped a heart-breaking one-point loss to Western Harnett in its season-opening affair. The Eagles thwarted a pin in the final individual bout to emerge with a 38-37 decision after each team won seven individual matches.

The Golden Falcons hammered Hertford County and turned back Rosewood. Daniel Romo, Zeb Darden and Khaleil Owens each ended the night 4-0. The trio combined for five pins and two technical falls.

Nick Jones, David Romo and Travion Lewis each exited with a 3-1 record. Newcomer Broc Doyle, a 215-pounder, concluded the day 2-0.

"First-year starters Nick and Broc exceeded our expectations, each providing us with pivotal victories when we needed it," said second-year Aycock head coach Marc Peck. "We are extremely optimistic with the young talent we have, as they are the most-coachable group we have had in years."

Rosewood, the reigning 1-A eastern dual-team champion, defeated Hertford County, Triton and Western Harnett. The Eagles received unbeaten efforts from Chris Lane (4-0), Nick Quillen (4-0), Josh Pipkin (4-0) and Tyler Dean (3-0).

Will Sawrey, Taylor McGill Adam McKane each finished the day 3-1.

"We have a lot of new faces on the team and a pretty good mix of returning wrestlers, which makes practice very productive," said Eagles head coach Bill Edmundson. "With the holidays, we were missing some pretty key personnel, but we wrestle with what we have and make no excuses.

"Several of our first-year guys did really good things on the mat, and will only get better with experience. Even though we and Aycock were missing starters in a couple of key spots, I thought we were pretty evenly-matched and gave the parents a good show."