Rosewood repeats as Carolina/4 Rivers dual-team champion

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 10, 2011 1:46 PM

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LITTLEFIELD -- Goal accomplished.

Rosewood recorded four overwhelming victories and repeated as the Carolina/4 Rivers 1-A Conference dual-team wrestling champion Saturday afternoon at Ayden-Grifton High School.

The Eagles (23-2 overall) secured the league's No. 1 berth for the N.C. High School Athletic Association dual-team playoffs, which begin in mid-February.

"The coaching staff is very proud of our athletes for securing another conference championship and number one playoff berth," said Rosewood head coach Bill Edmundson. "This has been one of our goals for the entire season. We were able to get a lot of our young guys in these matches, and that will help us out with experience down the road."

Rosewood started the day with a difficult, 51-25 victory over Ayden-Grifton. The Chargers grabbed a 19-18 advantage when 215-pounder Joe Rouse squeezed out a two-point decision over Taylor McGill.

The teams traded falls at heavyweight and 103 before the Eagles responded with a match-ending 27-0 run. Chris Lane started the decisive surge with a six-point triumph over A-G's Steve Boseman at 112 pounds.

Teammates Angel Jaramillo, Nick Quillen, Zach Behrend and Will Sawrey each pinned their respective opponent to cap the rousing finish.

"(We) looked as flat as we have been all year," said Edmundson. "Coach (Jeff) Wooten had Ayden ready for us, and our guys were just not prepared to wrestle. We were very fortunate to have come away with a win in this match because it seemed a lot closer than 51-25.

"I think the guys realized we needed to step it up a notch or two, and the rest of the day we wrestled well."

The Eagles dispatched short-handed Manteo 71-9, rolled over archrival Princeton 68-12 and dealt league newcomer Goldsboro a shutout loss. It was the second shutout posted by a Rosewood team in program history.

Edmundson put five first-year wrestlers on the mat against the Cougars, who re-started their history-rich program after a 15-year absence.