Ayden-Grifton derails Rosewood's title hopes
By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 9, 2012 1:48 PM
LITTLEFIELD -- Rosewood seemed destined for its 17th regular-season conference dual-team wrestling championship Saturday afternoon.
Ayden-Grifton derailed the Eagles' title hopes.
The Chargers stormed back from a 29-point deficit and captured a stunning, 48-35 victory in the deciding match of the Carolina-Four Rivers-Tideland Athletic 1-A dual tournament on their home mat.
Ayden-Grifton (24-4 overall) secured the league's No. 1 berth for the N.C. High School Athletic Association dual-team playoffs, which begin in February. Rosewood grabbed the No. 2 seed and will make its 17th straight postseason appearance.
"I'm not going to make excuses for the loss to Ayden-Grifton about personnel absences, I will just say congratulations to Coach (Jeff) Wooten and his team," said Eagles head coach Bill Edmundson. "You have to work with the personnel you have on hand and every team is in the same boat as far as those things are concerned. They had the better team today ... as simple as that."
The Eagles (27-8) competed without 113-pounder Angel Jaramillo and Jacob Guthrie. Jaramillo is ranked No. 1 in the state, while Guthrie led the state in pins among all classifications before the conference duals.
Rosewood reeled off decisive dual-team victories against three short-handed foes -- Manteo, Cape Hatteras and Spring Creek. The Chargers took nearly the same route to the championship match, and started slow against the Eagles' lower-weight wrestlers.
Jacob Holliday and Chris Lane recorded back-to-back pins for Rosewood, which suffered its first loss against a 1-A opponent this season. Nick Quillen followed with a technical fall and remained unbeaten in 37 outings. Nick Lowrey and Samuel Drew capped the 29-point outburst with consecutive pins.
The Chargers triumphed in the next six individual bouts, including Tyler White's second-period pin over Quadre Ayers at 152 pounds. The Eagles' Taylor McGill, who has surpassed 100 victories in his prep career, momentarily stopped the run, but Ayden-Grifton sealed its first-ever league crown by taking the final two matches.
Spring Creek's five grapplers combined for a 21-4 individual record on the day. Carlos Osorio finished 5-0 for the Gators, who grabbed dual-team triumphs over Manteo and Cape Hatteras.
Thomas Edwards, Corey Howell, Carson Gramley and Kevin Lipscomb each logged a 4-1 worksheet.
"Carlos has actually come a long way ... a strong individual," said first-year Spring Creek head coach Frank Nelson. "We had worked on several things during the week and we didn't have too many practices because of finals (exams), but I told him heading into conference duals that this was 'make it or break it.'
"There was nothing to spare because this will help you get to regionals. Corey, unfortunately for him, was in the most-competitive weight for wrestlers at 132. He gave it his all each time and came out on top except against Rosewood, and I think that was good for him.
"We had an excellent day in my opinion. I certainly can't complain."