Cougar grapplers learn lessons in tri-meet

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 24, 2013 1:47 PM

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Goldsboro missed two wrestlers and surrendered numerous forfeits during a non-conference tri-meet against Lejeune and Princeton on Wednesday evening.

The Cougars learned a few things, too.

Lejeune swept all three contested matches and handed Goldsboro a 39-24 loss. Princeton logged the initial takedown in four of five individual bouts and rolled to a 66-14 victory inside Norvell T. Lee Gymnasium.

"Anytime you get lumps, it's tough," Goldsboro coach Tom Garrou said. "It's definitely a learning experience. Sometimes fundamentals kick us in the seat a little bit and we just need to do simple things like wrist control which can change the pace of the match.

"I've often told our wrestlers to make sure you set the pace, not them."

The Devilpups, members of the highly-competitive Coastal Plains Conference, recorded the first points in two bouts. They wrestled well off their backs, including 145-pounder KJ Anderson, who worked a third-period reversal that led to a pair of pivotal nearfall points.

Anderson edged the Cougars' ShaQuan Oliver, 7-5.

Lejeune's Alex Galloway (138 pounds) overcame a pair of first-period technical violations to pin Mahogany Perkins early in the second period. Teammate Ryan Taylor collected a second-period fall over Goldsboro 152-pounder Nicholas Wiley.

Princeton notched eight forfeits against the short-handed Cougars and recorded three pins. Heavyweight Matt Peedin and 138-pounder Holden Hart spent a combined 93 seconds on the mat before each grappler pinned their respective opponent.

Brent Odham pinned Goldsboro's Jennifer Elaya with three seconds left in the opening period.

The Cougars' Oliver scored the match-clinching takedown with one-tenth of a second left in an 8-7 decision over Dillon Pace at 145. Teammate Kurtis Durham improved to a team-best 16-1 with a 19-4 technical fall over Cody Parrish at 152 pounds.

"Outside of him being a good wrestler for us, he's also a good leader," Garrou said of Durham. "He's showing good stuff out there, but I have to tell him not to play around. Sometimes when he gains the advantage, he decides to practice and try some stuff.

"He needs to get his win and go on."

Princeton (10-17 overall) hammered Lejeune (3-6) in the opening dual of the night. The Bulldogs emerged victorious in four of seven individual matches -- all by pin.

Patrick Norris needed two-plus periods to pin the Devilpups' Luke Boes. The grapplers combined for 12 reversals and were tied 6-6 in nearfall points before Norris stuck Boes with 46 seconds remaining in the third.

Cadenn Heflin (120), Hart Holt (126) and Holden Holt each pinned their respective opponent. Teammates Odham, Skylar Shields, Peedin, Matt Daughtry, Martin Bayles and Jesse Tomljenovich each drew a forfeit.