Aggressive, strong Chargers handle Docs in Carolina/4 Rivers play

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 6, 2011 2:02 PM

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PRINCETON -- Alan Fader shook the opposing coach's hand, walked off the mat, grabbed a cup of water and plopped down behind the Princeton bench.

The sophomore took a huge breath, pulled down his knee pad and sipped on the refreshing drink. Beads of sweat popped out on his forehead and rolled down his cheek while he watched a teammate take his turn on the wrestling mat Wednesday evening.

Fader's exhaustion personified the Bulldogs' skirmish with Carolina/4 Rivers 1-A Conference foe Ayden-Grifton. The stronger, aggressive Chargers dictated the tempo in nearly every individual contested bout and exited with a 60-24 victory.

"We had some bright spots, but we have some work to do. It seems like we've gone backwards a little bit," said Princeton head coach Terry Braswell. "Forrest (Stewart) wrestled one of his better matches. Nathan (Woodward) had his best match of the year and Alan had a good match, wrestled smart."

Fader (119 pounds) emerged one of four Bulldogs to have his hand raised in victory after pinning the Chargers' Douglas Deans late in the third period. It was Fader's 10th victory in 15 outings this season.

Stewart collected his seventh win of the season with a third-period pin over 171-pounder Hayden Edwards. Heavyweight James Hawley picked up his team-high 12th win with a first-period pin over Ayden-Grifton's Kevin Johnson. Woodward earned a disqualification against Christian Gray, who committed a locking hands violation four times during their 125-pound contest.

Ayden-Grifton (12-13 overall) drew four forfeits and claimed six individual victories -- all by pin. The Chargers have won all three meetings against the Bulldogs this season, and the teams will meet again Saturday in the Carolina/4 Rivers Conference duals on A-G's home mats.

"They're getting better," said Chargers head coach Jeff Wooten of Princeton. "They're improving and you can tell they work hard in the wrestling room. I thought we wrestled like we've practiced. I told them tonight that there was no motivation, let's do what we practice and we go hard every day.

"That's what I expected to see."