Aycock grapplers put finishing touches on ECC 3A-4A regular-season crown

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 24, 2015 11:26 PM

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GREENVILLE -- After a year of rebuilding, Charles B. Aycock's wrestlers have become students of the grueling sport and they earned a reward for their efforts Friday evening.

The Golden Falcons emerged victorious in five of nine contested matches and drew four forfeits in a 53-21 conquest of J.H. Rose. Aycock (16-8 overall) secured the Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference regular-season championship in perfect fashion at 6-0.

It was CBA's seventh regular-season crown since the league's inception in 2002.

"The rebuilding year is paying dividends ... a great job this season," second-year CBA head coach RJ Allen said. "We accomplished our season goal of being the 3-A/4-A champion. We had some ups and downs, but were able to win when we needed to. I am very proud of these young men and what they have accomplished."

The Rampants' Marquez Keyes started the night with a 106-second pin over Jonathan Girad at 182 pounds. But short-handed Rose surrendered four consecutive forfeits and could never completely recover from the 18-point deficit.

Jacob Dickenson sandwiched a 1:33-second fall over Jorge Hernandez at 120 pounds around pair of Rampant victories. That closed the gap to 30-17, but Aycock answered with a match-deciding 23-0 run.

Zack Howard (132 pounds) posted a technical fall over Alex Hammond. Teammates Zack Creel (138), Daniel Bryant (145) and Josh Wallace (152) followed with pins that took a total of 2:46 to execute.

Rose won the final contested bout -- a major decision at 160.

Each team forfeited at 170 pounds and Aycock celebrated its first league championship since 2011.

"Greenville had some great wrestlers," Allen said. "(But) it was a great night for Aycock wrestling."