By Brian Pitts
Davie Enterprise Record

The Davie-Northwest Guilford wrestling match in the first round of the state dual playoffs couldn’t have been any more thrilling.
Unfortunately for Davie, it was left with a heartbreaking defeat. The Vikings walked away with a giddy victory, 34-30.
The four-team meet was held at Davie last week. Later in the night, Northwest rallied past Alexander Central 35-30 to improve to 25-1. Its only loss to that point was 54-13 to unbeaten Parkland, which eventually captured its seventh straight state championship.
Meanwhile, Davie’s first loss in nine matches finished its dual-team season at 21-13.
The War Eagles owned four of six pins in the match, and also received a forfeit. But Northwest won nine of 14 weight classes, including the final one that started with Northwest clinging to a 31-30 lead.
Northwest is tough in the lower weights, and Davie had no answer from 113 (the first weight class of the match) to 138. The Vikings took the first five matches – all decisions – to methodically build a 16-0 lead.
Ryan Smith is one of Davie’s top guns, but he lost at 126 by a score of 8-4. It’s not that Smith didn’t show up. He was matched against Austin Jamison, a defending state champion. While Smith slipped to 35-6, Jamison improved to 38-3.
“I knew they were good at the bottom,” coach Buddy Lowery said. “They were good on their feet.”
Davie went on a 30-15 run to get in position to win. The heroes during the charge were Logan Cartner (pin at 145), Josh Lankford (pin at 160), Nathan Howard (pin at 170) and Craig Moore (pin at 285). After Howard’s winning streak grew to 14, star Alex Gobble (42-3) received a forfeit to give Davie its first – and only – lead at 24-22.
“We had a pleasant surprise at 160 (in Lankford),” Lowery said. “Josh has gotten better. Howard’s hips are what help him so much.”
Northwest’s Cary Miller, who is 41-4, pinned Jack Robertson at 195 as the Vikings regained the lead at 28-24.
“That guy (Miller) is a man,” Lowery said.
How close was Davie to rallying all the way to victory? Parker Correll ultimately lost 13-9 at 220, but …