Golden Falcon matmen pin down county archrival

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 17, 2013 1:47 PM

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Charles B. Aycock brought its "A" game and its senior class departed with a 12-year streak intact Wednesday evening.

The Golden Falcons controlled the lower- and middle-weight classes during an intense- and emotion-filled 49-25 triumph over Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference wrestling archrival Eastern Wayne.

Aycock (22-4 overall) rose to 2-1 against league opposition this season and remained in the chase for a dual-team postseason berth.

"A rivalry ... doesn't matter who has weight troubles, skin issues or injuries, it's always a spirited battle with an archrival," Golden Falcons head coach Marc Peck said. "I'm pleased with the success we've had in these spirited battles. We know we've got to bring our 'A' game against Eastern Wayne.

"I felt like we did tonight."

Aycock leads the all-time series 23-0.

"They were focused tonight," Eastern Wayne assistant coach Bruce Gates said. "A couple of close matches could have gone either way, and didn't go in our favor. My 26-pounder (Romario Torres) ... three times I thought he (CBA's Jordan Bailey) was stuck and that would have been a heckuva an upset.

"Give it to the other kid for fighting off as long as he did."

And reversing his pending misfortune.

Torres, the Warriors' lone senior in the starting lineup, put Bailey on his back midway through the second period. His teammates encouraged him to "squeeze" and boisterous Eastern Wayne fans roared their approval when it appeared Bailey had gassed himself out fighting off the pin.

Bailey fought through, scored a reversal and extended the 126-pound match into the third period. The Aycock senior eventually pinned Torres in 4 minutes, 52 seconds, and claimed his 18th win in his last 19 outings since Dec. 1.

"The key to the turnaround ... Jordan sticking out that head and arm in the second period and not going to his back," Peck said. "He fought hard (and) took care of business in the third period."

Bailey's triumph gave the Golden Falcons a 22-18 advantage in the overall match score after the Warriors raced to an 18-0 start. Daniel Romo boosted the lead to 28-18 with a second-period pin of Kevon Tune at 132 pounds.

Eastern Wayne pulled to within 28-27 on Vic Rodriguez's 7-6 decision over Trent Marquard at 138 pounds, and Darrian Adkins' 44-second fall over Alex Edmonds at 145.

But Aycock answered with four consecutive victories, including Khaleil Owens' 3-2 triumph over Quadrick Williams at 160 pounds. Owens earned a third-period escape and halted Williams' eight-match win streak that included a victory over Owens in mid-December.

"It was the main attraction ... fun to watch, was a clean match," Peck said. "Once Khaleil had that early takedown, he was in command of the match unless he made a mistake."

Aycock, which is 57-6 in ECC play since 2002, also received individual victories from Blake Davis, Zack Howard, Jacob Dickenson, Jaquan Walker, Broc Doyle and Ryan Morton.

Contributing points for the Warriors were Jamal Barrett, heavyweight Bryan Wooten and Andre Smith.