The 15th Falcon Invitational

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 5, 2015 1:48 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- Zack Howard matched a school record and Charles B. Aycock teammate Alex Johnson stayed in a groove during the 15th annual Falcon Invitational.

And each earned a gold medal.

Howard emerged as the 132-pound champion and tied alum Ronald Lynn for the most wins (171) in program history. Johnson, meanwhile, won his second consecutive individual tournament crown.

The duo's efforts helped the Golden Falcons amass 116.5 points, good enough for fourth place overall in the 12-team affair. Rocky Mount claimed its second Falcon crown with a 196.5-193 triumph over Corinth-Holders, which was the smallest margin of victory in Invitational history.

Northern Nash took third with 157.5 points, followed by Aycock and Southern Wayne (89.5 points). Eastern Wayne, led by Justice Johnson's third-place finish at 160 pounds, took seventh overall with 59 points.

"To finish among the top five here, with some of the heavy hitters in this tournament, we are extremely pleased," said SW head coach Kelvin Gurley, whose team had three medalists and five top-four finishers overall.

"Now, we know we've got four places to improve (in future Invitationals)."

One of eight grapplers to protect his No. 1 seed, Howard (25-3) cruised through his weight class. The senior needed a total of just 2 minutes and 4 seconds to pin his first two opponents, which set up a championship showdown -- and second meeting of the season -- against Princeton's Michael Daughtry.

The second-seeded Daughtry (14-4) advanced to the finals with back-to-back pins over Northern Nash's Matt Andrews and Corinth-Holders' Greg Alford.

Daughtry stayed on the defensive and didn't give Howard much room to maneuver on the mat during their title bout. The strategy frustrated Howard, who eventually won 5-0.

"He wouldn't turn, kept one arm underneath him and I just couldn't get a hold of it," said Howard, who has battled flu-related symptoms the past two weeks. "(But) I knew I could beat him."

The No. 1 seed at 103 pounds, Johnson (13-4) pinned all three opponents in total of 2:56. He needed 1:40 to stick Rocky Mount's Rashun Lawrence, the No. 2 seed, in the finals.

"As I saw him (wrestle), I started making decisions in my head about what I was going to do," Johnson said. "I had lot of confidence. When I shook his hand, realized he was pretty strong but I wasn't going to let that play with my head. I decided to wrestle defensive and let him do the chasing."

Johnson secured the victory when he caught Lawrence in a cradle.

"I wasn't going to let go," grinned Johnson.

Aycock received runner-up finishes from Daniel Bryant (145 pounds) and Joshua Wallace (152). Jacob Dickenson placed third in the 120-pound division.

O'Khanye Wallace and heavyweight Bobby Stocks each earned second-place finishes for the Saints. Nick Kennon ended up third at 152 pounds. Teammates Zach Buff (126) and Tyquan Collie (195) each placed fourth on the day.

Short-handed Eastern Wayne battled strong throughout the 9-hour affair. Johnson wound up the highest finisher for the Warriors. Kyler Sprague (132), Jordan Wooten (170) and Andre Collie (220) each claimed fourth in their respective weight class.

In addition to Daughtry, Princeton got top-four efforts from freshman Luke Brush (103) and Martin Bayles (138).