Corinth-Holders pins Goldsboro wrestling
By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 15, 2011 11:29 PM
Experience is a valuable tool.
And Goldsboro High's wrestlers continue to soak it up like a sponge on the mat these days.
The Cougars managed just four individual wins, but showed marked improvement in a 56-24, non-conference loss against Corinth Holders at Wayne Academy on Friday evening.
"The guys I expected to win, did win," said first-year GHS coach Jim Phillips. "(Dijon) Ward and (Kevin) Taylor, they were really out-matched as far as experience, even though they wrestled sophomores, you could tell those guys have been on the mat longer.
"(Ward, Taylor) fought back and gave us a chance to stay in at the early stages of this match. They did lose their match, but by not being pinned really shows that they're growing as a wrestler."
The Pirates, of the Northern Carolina 2-A Conference, scored the first 26 team points of the match. Matt Duncan (130 pounds) stopped Ward 15-9 and Ty Johnson earned a technical fall over Taylor at 135.
Shaquan Walden (140), Tyler Sigler (145) and Charlie Gray (152) continued the early surge for Corinth Holders, which picked up its sixth dual-team victory of the season.
Maurice Yelverton stopped the run.
The Goldsboro senior scored the initial takedown against Clark Wiggs, but could never find the right pin combination -- until the second period. Yelverton got the single-leg takedown and eventually pinned Wiggs in 3 minutes, 6 seconds.
"I wish he would have been wrestling since he was a freshman, but of course there was no program (here)," said Phillips. "His strength is incredible. He just doesn't have the tactics and the experience to really get it done."
The Cougars' Devin Crim prevailed at 189 and heavyweight Elijah Slater pinned the Pirates' Aubrey Bussey with nine seconds left in the opening period. It was Slater's eighth win of the season.
"Elijah squeezed the life out of their heavyweight and wrestled up (tonight) to fill in the lineup, give us a chance to win," said Phillips. "I thought as a team we had a fighting chance to do something tonight. Elijah has some martial arts background and you can tell when he's out there.
"He likes to do the throws and the tosses, and he's got really good balance."
Cyle Gurley, who injured his ankle in practice, drew a forfeit at 112 pounds for the Cougars.
Corinth Holders scored the initial takedown in nine of 12 contested matches, and logged six falls on the night.
"The team, when some things happened in our favor, they were really excited about it. They don't like losing, but who does?," said Phillips. "The boys who are here and the athletes who are here, are committed to winning.
"This program is committed to winning. We're not interested in mediocrity and we are going to keep fighting to become what this program once was."
And keep improving along the way.