East’s Jasmyne Brown decisioned Salisbury’s Dashia Canada.

 

Carson’s Joseph Little won at 113. This is his match with South Rowan’s Traydun Freeze.

Brian Wilhite photo.

 

South’s Garrison Raper pinned North’s Anton Pontoon in the 126 final.

 

South’s Aiden Carter was champ at 175.

 

South’s Mateo Ruiz won the title at 120.

 

Carson’s Griffin Barber won at 165.

 

 

By David Shaw

For the Salisbury Post

CHINA GROVE — Nobody asks how the West Rowan boys wrestling team does it, only how many.

The Falcons answered by making history Friday at Carson High School, becoming the first program to capture seven consecutive Rowan County Tournament titles. West crowned five weight-class champions and MOW Kevin O’Brien, but prevailed in less-than-dominant fashion.

“It’s getting a little tougher,” longtime coach John Brown said after West secured 247.5 points and outscored South Rowan (184), Carson (141.5), East Rowan (114), Salisbury (109) and North Rowan (57). “We’ve been fortunate and our guys keep working hard. Yeah, that’s seven in a row. But the rest of the county, they’re getting better. The gap is closing.”

West also took the second annual girls tournament, winning five of 12 final-round matches and earning 158 team points. East (85) placed second, followed by Salisbury (68), North (23), Carson (20) and South (20). Defending state champion Leah Edwards of East was selected girls MOW.

***

West’s boys team has gone 7-2 in duals, but Brown was nonetheless concerned. “Tournaments are different,” he noted. “South has four really strong wrestlers. Carson has studs and East has two or three of them. When you reach these tournaments — and all those studs show up from different places — that doesn’t always work out too well for you. But today, we got enough third-place finishes and enough guys in the finals to get the points we needed.”

O’Brien, a 144-pound senior who placed second in last winter’s 3A state meet, was the toughest scrapper in the gym. He improved to 24-0 this season with a pair of falls, pinning East freshman Jayden Green in the semifinals and flattening Salisbury’s Amir Bethea in 2:38 to win his third county championship. “Kevin hasn’t had a close match yet,” Brown said. “He’s killed everybody.”

For O’Brien, already committed to nationally ranked Lander University, it was simply a tune-up for more demanding matches ahead.

“I’ve won one match by 13 points,” he explained. “All the others were by tech fall or pins. It feels like I’m getting to a better place.”

He got there by stopping Greene in 79 seconds, then outlasting Bethea in a mistake-free battle. “I just tried to break him down slowly,” O’Brien said. “I think I have the best cardio in the state. I train all year. I think I could wrestle for 10 periods if I had to.”

Other West champions included Stetson Collins (138), Andrew Taylor (150), Max Brown (157) and Dakota Athey (215). Each recorded final-round pins —  and Collins, now a four-time champ, upped his season record to 23-1 by leveling Salisbury freshman D’Mhad Bethea as the second period expired.

“He’s a pretty good wrestler,” Collins acknowledged. “I used a bar-half, but all I was thinking about was getting a pin and more points for the team.”

West aided its cause by winning four of five matches in the consolation round. South had four champions, including unbeatens Mateo Diaz at 120 pounds and Garrison Raper at 126. Diaz (25-0 with 92 career wins) earned his fourth county championship with 17-1 technical fall victory against East freshman Lucas Restrepo, winner of 21 matches this year.

“I was scoring points at a fast pace,” said Diaz, a senior who placed third at 106 in the 2023 state tournament. “Just kept the pressure on him. Felt like I could do whatever I wanted.”

Raper (26-0), a sophomore who won 35 bouts and a state championship ribbon last February, navigated an uncluttered path. He had byes in the first and second rounds before pinning North junior Anton Pontoon in 3:14 for the title. “I used an arm bar-half,” he said matter-of-factly. “It’s an arm bar on one side and a half Nelson on the other.”

South coach Tre Jackson, a former Salisbury grappler, was most impressed with his team’s improvement over last year’s fourth-place finish. “Well, we filled 12 of the 14 weight classes,” he said. “The surprising thing is they all wrestled the way they’re supposed to. They know how to do it now.”

Other South winners were Aiden Carter (175) and heavyweight Evan Cox, who notched his 20th victory. Carson had three title-winners in Joseph Little (113), Griffin Barber (165) and Andrew Reaves (190).  Little triumphed for the 26th time in 27 decisions by routing West’s Mason Truman in an 18-2 tech fall. Barber (24-3) pinned West’s Hunter Ingram in 1:13 and Reaves won by major decision over West senior Robert Coleman. East had two champions —- 22-match winners Christopher McDonald (106) and Jamal Hall (132).

***

For Coach Tim Pangburn and the West girls, it was all about numbers.

While participation in the county tournament decreased from 31 to 24, the Falcons squeezed 10 into the championship round and easily won their second straight crown. “We dominated,” said the newlywed Pangburn. “But we have numbers. Our girls keep going out and pull other girls into our program. Then they come to practice and do a good job. We must have had 30 or 40 girls at the start of the season. You can tell they want to be good at this.”

Among West’s best are sophomores Hadley Perry, Olyvia Brown and Waylon Collins. Perry (100) improved to 17-1 after making fast work of Chyalia Vang, pinning the North freshman in 14 seconds.

“I just looked for something I had that she didn’t have,” Perry said. “Which was muscle. As I went in to hand-fight with her, I immediately determined I was stronger and quicker.  I saw her go on her heels, so I shot and got that first takedown. That was it.”

Brown won without removing her warm-ups. As the only entrant in the 107 weight class, she took the first-place ribbon without wrestling a match. “I was supposed to wrestle a girl from North Rowan (Preston Pratt), but she had a concussion,” she reported.

Collins needed less than a minute to win the 126-pound competition. She stopped Salisbury’s Kassidy Cartus in 44 seconds, winning her second county title and 16th match of the season.

“I snapped her down and just caught her on her back,” Collins said. “Looked easy but I’m always nervous out there. Nothing can stop that.”

Other West champions included junior Nevaeh McCullough and freshman Taylor Miller. McCullough wasn’t required to wrestle en route to the 145 title and Miller won by injury default to take the sash at 165. Finishing second for West were Kierah Keller (114), Gracie Dale (138), Faith Barton (152), Lindsey Russell (185) and Margaret Leach (235).

***

Edwards, now a senior with close to seven years of wrestling experience, improved to 19-0 this season by pinning Keller in 1:01. The girls MOW owns a 51-1 career record, mostly due to an uncanny knack for accurately assessing foes.

“It’s hard to explain,” she said with a pensive grin. “Sometimes I see a move before it’s there. I like to read opponents — their hips, the way they stand, the way they position their feet. It all counts when you’re out there.”

Other East champs were Jasmyne Brown (120) and Marlianna Polito (235). Brown, a senior with a 19-1 record, won a well-contested 3-0 final-round decision over Salisbury’s Dashia Canada, a defending champion. Polito surprised West’s Leach, an 18-match winner, with a second-period pin.

“It’s a fast-growing sport that’s becoming more and more competitive,” said Brown, a two-time county champ. “I know at East, we recruit everybody. There are no specific characteristics needed. We just want numbers and girls who are willing to compete.”