Southern Wayne matmen pin Goldsboro

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on November 19, 2014 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

DUDLEY -- O'Kanye Wallace checked in at the scorer's table, adjusted his headgear and walked toward center mat.

He shook his opponent's hand.

The whistle blew and Wallace felt right at home -- finally.

The Southern Wayne senior captain prevailed at 160 pounds and helped the Saints resurrect their wrestling program with a 66-10, season-opening triumph over county rival Goldsboro on Tuesday evening.

"With us not having a program last year, you really don't know what you've got until you face competition," first-year Saints head coach Kelvin Gurley said. "I told the guys so far you've been swimming in a pool with no water. Tomorrow, we're going to see who really can swim."

No one treaded water, that's for sure.

The teams combined to wrestle just four individual matches, with three decisions resulting in the Saints' favor. Zack Buff pinned the Cougars' Jharron Flanagan 67 seconds into their 126-pound bout.

Chris Wilson stuck Darius Oliver in 21 seconds at 172 pounds. Wallace needed 1 1/2 periods to pin Carlton Exum at 160.

"It's like I'm back home," a grinning Wallace said. "Going in, I was kind of nervous, thought I had lost it because I had been out for a season. As soon as I stepped on the mat, I felt pretty good.

"(But) I felt like I could have done better."

Returning east 2-A regional qualifier D'Qurious Bradford claimed the lone individual victory for Goldsboro, which had just five grapplers in the lineup. Bradford posted a 16-3 major decision over Robert Bartelucci at 132 pounds.

"Bradford was one win away from qualifying for state (last season) and I wanted to see if he (still) had it this year," first-year GHS head coach Dwight Glenn said. "You've got to have heart when you come out here (on the mat). We're looking for some good things out of him."

The Saints collected eight forfeits.