Cleveland out-grapples short-handed Aycock

By From staff reports
Published in Sports on December 13, 2012 1:47 PM

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CLAYTON -- Short-handed Charles B. Aycock prevailed in the final four individual bouts, but Cleveland escaped, 41-36, in the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference opener for both teams Wednesday evening.

The loss snapped the Golden Falcons' eight-match win streak.

The Rams, the reigning ECC regular-season champions, won just four contested matches and received three forfeits. The final forfeit to senior Holden Bohannon at 220 pounds clinched the overall outcome for Cleveland.

"It was frustrating to win seven of 11 contested matches and fall short of our goal tonight," CBA head coach Marc Peck said. "We are still nursing a couple of injuries which resulted in a couple of forfeits, but the match played out exactly as we prepared. We just failed to execute our complete game plan against a very game opponent."

Daniel Romo's pin against Josiah Evans at 132 pounds forged a 6-6 tie during the early stages of the dual-team match. Jaquan Walker (152 pounds) and senior returning state qualifier Khalil Owens (160) each picked up a win, which shaved the Rams' lead to 17-15.

Cleveland reeled off 24 consecutive points to seize command.

The Golden Falcons (8-2 overall, 0-1 ECC) answered with a match-ending 21-0 run that started with Jorge Flores' 4-1 decision over Cleveland heavyweight Bryer Rogers. Zack Howard (106), Jacob Dickenson (113) and Jordan Bailey (120) each pinned their respective opponent to close out the match.

Aycock returns to action Saturday at the Warrior Classic, a day-long dual-team tournament hosted by county archrival Eastern Wayne.