PREP WRESTLING: Robbinsville defeats Rosewood for the 1A state dual-team title

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on February 6, 2017 9:59 AM

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By RUDY COGGINS

rcoggins@newsargus.com

ROBBINSVILLE -- The job is not done.

This was just a "bump in the road."

Rosewood head wrestling coach Bill Edmundson and his staff spread that message as they tried to console their team after a heart-wrenching, 36-31 loss to Robbinsville in the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 1-A dual-team state final Saturday evening.

"It was a great year...super proud of the guys," Edmundson said. "I take full responsibility for not finishing it out. It was very emotional. We tried to spread the love and make them feel better about it, but they worked really hard to get to that point and it fell through for them."

In dramatic fashion.

Cameron Helt's 37-second fall over the Black Knights' Wess Hooper at 182 pounds pushed the Eagles in front 31-30 -- and on the brink of earning their second straight crown.

But Fredy Romero had other plans.

He toiled with the Eagles' Hunter Weeks for 3 minutes at 195 pounds and capped Robbinsville's championship run with a pin. It was the ninth -- and final -- lead change of the night.

"We won seven matches and they won seven matches. We just didn't get those bonus points and they did," Edmundson said. "That was the difference in the match. It was a great atmosphere...a very exciting time."

Robbinsville (22-5 overall) claimed the opening bout at 220 pounds. Rosewood answered with three consecutive wins -- a pin by heavyweight Nyterrius Williams, a decision from freshman Christian Decatur (106 pounds) and a major decision from sophomore Tim Decatur.

Decatur improved to 55-0 overall this season.

"We were very proud of Nyterrius. He had a tough guy and came through with a huge win," Edmundson said. "Tim had his opponent stacked three different times."

The Smoky Mountain Conference champions moved in front 18-13 with back-to-back falls. The see-saw affair continued as Rosewood collected victories from Jordan Todd (132), Louis Tortual (138) and Jayden Thomas (152).

The Black Knights (22-5 overall) "stole" the 170-pound match -- a 7-6 decision by Issac Wilkinson, who scored the game-winning point as time expired.

"That was tough," Edmundson said.

Rosewood fell to 1-2 all-time in state-title appearances.

Edmundson reminded his Eagles that broken wings will mend and they'll have a chance to fly again the next two weeks. Individual regional competition begins Friday and Rosewood (42-4) still has the state 1-A individual team title to defend.