Falcons win another Terry Pilkington title

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 8, 2007 2:33 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- The Charles B. Aycock wrestling team scratched another goal off its "to-do" list for the 2006-07 season Saturday afternoon.

Nine Golden Falcon grapplers posted unbeaten records and C.B. Aycock seized its seventh consecutive Terry Pilkington Memorial Duals championship with a 56-12 thrashing of county rival Southern Wayne.

"Winning this tournament is one of the team's goals every year," said Aycock head coach Kevin Smith. "Coach (Mark) Bass and I started this memorial tournament many years ago to honor a man that was very important to this wrestling program.

"So, it is obviously very satisfying for us to perform as well as we did today."

Southern Nash defeated Heide Trask 47-34 in the third-place match. Perennial Class 1-A power Rosewood dumped Wilson Hunt 54-22 for fifth place. Princeton crushed Greene Central 49-27 in their seventh-place matchup, and Tarboro High nipped archrival SouthWest Edgecombe 33-24 for ninth place.

Smith gushed over seeing three Wayne County programs finish among the top five teams overall.

"I think that says tons about what the kids and coaching staffs are doing to improve wrestling in this county despite not having middle school programs like many other schools that we all compete against every week," said Smith. "Parents, coaches and wrestlers from all over the county should be very proud of their showing today."

C.B. Aycock (16-0) dropped just seven individual bouts and easily rolled through its five-team pool. The Golden Falcons shut out Greene Central and yielded just six points to Heide Trask and SouthWest Edgecombe.

County rival Rosewood challenged Aycock in the lower weight classes and trailed by just three points after four contested matches. However, the Golden Falcons reeled off 36 consecutive points and claimed a 62-14 decision.

The 4-0 finish set up a championship tilt against Southern Wayne, which also fashioned a 4-0 record. The Saints defeated Princeton (43-36), Hunt (46-24), Tarboro High (50-18) and Southern Nash (42-30).

Aycock triumphed in six of nine contested matches against short-handed Southern Wayne, which surrendered five forfeits. Kevin Carmel (130), Ronald Lynn (135), Bryant Lancaster (145), Josh Grimes (152), Steve Bentley (160) and Drake Gurley (119) each grabbed an individual win.

Ngu Tran (125), Kyle Harmon (171), Bryan Diorio (189), Jarrett Covar (215) and Nick Bentley (103) each received a forfeit.

Southern Wayne's Josh Richards (140), heavyweight Josh Robinson and 112-pounder Doogie Niemond each earned an individual win.

"The coaching staff and I saw a lot of positive things out of our team today," said Smith. "We continue to improve on our feet, and we looked much better from the bottom position today.

"We are still making some mental mistakes concerning mat awareness, so we will continue to work on that area this upcoming week."

Eight Golden Falcon grapplers were 5-0 -- Gurley, Tran, Lynn, Lancaster, Grimes, Bentley, Harmon and Covar. Kevin Carmel turned in a 3-0 performance.

"Those guys wrestled great all day," said Smith of his unbeaten competitors. "I was glad to see a couple of the underclassmen break through with undefeated records today. They continue to improve daily, and that is what we need them to continue to do."

Rosewood started pool play with a 51-point pummeling of Greene Central. The Eagles lost their final two individual matches against Trask and endured a one-point defeat. They pounded SouthWest Edgecombe 64-22 and finished off the day with a double-digit victory over Wilson Hunt.

"I felt really good about all of our matches today even with the one-point loss to Trask," said Rosewood head coach Bill Edmundson. "As long as we are continually learning and can bring something productive out of a loss, I don't have to like it, but I can live with the losses."

Jim Bish and Chris Hare each ended the day 5-0. Hare also gained a little revenge with a pin over SouthWest Edgecombe's Richard Barnes, who beat Hare in their previous meeting.

Olivia Neal, who wrestled up a weight class, pinned three opponents en route to a 4-0 showing at 112 pounds. Neal improved to 20-2 overall and is 8-0 against 103-pounders this season.

J.D. Baker concluded the day 4-1 with three pins. Byron Cavenaugh, Chris Holmes, J.P. Person and heavyweight Trevor Morris each turned in a 3-2 worksheet.

"It was really nice to be back at C.B. Aycock for the Pilkington Memorial," said Edmundson. "Terry was a driving force in developing and elevating Wayne County wrestling to the point it is today."

2007 Terry Pilkington

Memorial Duals

(at C.B. Aycock, Pikeville)

Championship

C.B. Aycock 56

Southern Wayne 12

125 -- Ngu Tran (CBA) by forfeit; 130 -- Kevin Carmel (CBA) tech fall Richards, 3:40; 135 -- Ronald Lynn (CBA) dec. Tristan Bass, 8-5; 140 -- Josh Richards (SW) dec. Josh Overton, 9-5; 145 -- Bryant Lancaster (CBA) dec. Eric Futrell, 3-0; 152 -- Josh Grimes (CBA) wbf Rudolf, 0:18; 160 -- Steve Bentley (CBA) dec. John Futrell, 7-4; 171 -- Kyle Harmon (CBA) by forfeit; 189 -- Bryan Diorio (CBA) by forfeit; 215 -- Jarrett Covar (CBA) by forfeit; Hwt -- Josh Robinson (SW) dec. Khiry Reid, 5-3; 103 -- Nick Bentley (CBA) by forfeit; 112 -- Doogie Niemond (SW) wbf Pulley, 0:35; 119 -- Drake Gurley (CBA) wbf Bradshaw, 3:09.

Record: C.B. Aycock 16-0.

Next match: C.B. Aycock, Saturday at TDR Invitational hosted by Wilson Beddingfield; Southern Wayne, home Tuesday vs. Wilson Hunt.

Fifth-place match

Rosewood 54

Wilson Hunt 22

119 -- Jim Bish (RHS) wbf Marno Eradi, 1:21; 125 -- J.D. Baker (RHS) wbf Cameron Hutchens, 1:21; 130 -- Chris Hare (RHS) wbf Bradley Williams, 1:27; 135 -- Jackson Parker (H) wbf Scott Pate, 3:52; 140 -- Ryan Lippert (H) maj. dec. Richie Pelt, 21-7; 145 -- Byron Cavenaugh (RHS) wbf Johnny Coleman, 1:25; 152 -- Jordan Owens (RHS) wbf Cody Parrish, 0:48; 160 -- Spencer Morton (H) wbf T.J. Sprinkle, 0:35; 171 -- Jeff Watson (H) by forfeit; 189 -- Chris Holmes (RHS) wbf Taylor Aycock, 0:43; 215 -- J.P. Person (RHS) by forfeit; Hwt -- Trevor Morris (RHS) wbf Terrell Dunn, 4:39; 103 -- double forfeit; 112 -- Olivia Neal (RHS) wbf Spencer Rhem, 5:37.

Record: Rosewood 12-6.

Next match: Tuesday, at Spring Creek.