Rosewood matmen dominate Carolina-Coastal 10 tournament

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on February 3, 2014 1:48 PM

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PRINCETON -- Rosewood concluded its regular season in dominating fashion during the Class 1-A Carolina-Coastal 10 wrestling tournament contested at Princeton High on Saturday afternoon.

The Eagles walked away with 12 individual championships and claimed the team crown with 248 points. Princeton emerged the team runner-up with 112 points, followed by Tarboro High with 70.5 points.

Manteo (43 points) and Neuse Charter (7) rounded out the five-team event.

"I told our guys after last weekend's tournament (at Campbell) that we were only guaranteed 11 practices, to make the most of them, then the snow came knocking out four of those all important practice times," RHS head coach Bill Edmundson said.

"Considering I haven't seen our wrestlers since Monday, and they were all on weight, well conditioned and focused, that speaks highly of our wrestlers' determination."

Ticoree Owens emerged the 106-pound gold medalist, which started the impressive championship-round run for Rosewood. David Dotson prevailed at 120 pounds.

Sam Drew triumphed at 132 pounds and started a string of 10 consecutive championship victories by the Eagles. Teammates Jordan Batson (138), Evan Reiss (145), Trevor Thompson (152), Kaleb Smith (160), Josh Drew (170), Garner Beasley (182), Chad Keefer (195), Rayquon Jones (220) and heavyweight Kaleb Taylor polished off the competition.

Princeton's Michael Daughtry earned the 126-pound crown, while Tarboro's David Guevera took the 113-pound championship.

"We are wrestling with poise and confidence right now and we're looking forward to an exciting week," Edmundson said.

Rosewood returns to action Tuesday at either Pamlico County or East Montgomery in opening-round play of the N.C. High School Athletic Association dual-team playoffs. South Stanly rounds out the four-team pod.

Should the Eagles advance, they would play host to the eastern regional championship on Thursday.

"If we realize our goal this week, I will be extremely happy for the team, but if we don't, I will not be disappointed," said Edmundson, whose team fell in the eastern finals a year ago. "This is one exceptional group of young men. We are excited about the possibilities."

The Eagles are 15-18 all-time in 18 postseason appearances since 1996.