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By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

Davie’s wrestling team has been so crazy dominant – its only hiccup all season was a 36-29 loss to West Rowan on Dec. 7 – that it’s impossible not to dream about its first state championship since 2006.

In the first two rounds of the 4-A dual team playoffs, the War Eagles smashed two opponents with a sledgehammer and waltzed into the Jan. 31 quarterfinals/semifinals at Hough.

At 20-1 with 11 straight wins, Davie is sporting is finest record through 21 matches in six years.

Before eliminating Myers Park and South Caldwell in the state playoffs, the War Eagles reclaimed the Central Piedmont Conference throne. They belted Glenn 69-9 in Kernersville on Jan. 24 to complete a 7-0 sweep through the conference. After finishing second the past two seasons, they outscored CPC rivals by an aggregate 504-49, won every match by at least 43 points and notched their 29th regular-season title in 39 years.

Andy Davis, Brett Foster, Elliott Gould, Jerred Alexander, Maddox Creason, Christian Boswell, Brysen Godbey and Tiaj Thao pinned their opponents, Luke Tehandon won a decision, and the Bobcats forfeited to Hunter Testa, Ryder Strickland and Stephen Jacobs.

Three days later at home, the War Eagles, the No. 1 seed in the West Region, hosted the first two rounds of the state duals.

They flat-out embarrassed Myers Park and S. Caldwell. The 83-0 and 70-3 margins, respectively, were especially impressive when you consider coach Josh Stanley inserted four backups after Davie had built insurmountable leads. All four – Gio Alcacio, Jack Bost, Leighton Reavis and Walker Matthews – were winners.

In the first shellacking over No. 16 Myers Park, Davie matched its largest margin of victory (83 points) all season.

With the match starting at 126, Thao pinned, Braxton Hunter got a forfeit and Davis rolled to a tech fall. Then came consecutive pins from Foster, Gould, Alexander and Creason. A forfeit to Testa at 175 made it 47-0 and clinched victory with six weight classes remaining.

The match continued with pins from Boswell, Alcacio, Bost, Reavis and Cayden Glass. Mixed in was a forfeit to Godbey.

Later in the evening, Davie kept the pedal to the metal against No. 8 South Caldwell.

Davie raced to a 40-3 lead behind a major decision from Hunter and pins from Davis, Foster, Gould, Creason, Testa and Boswell. With five weight classes left, it was over. Then Matthews (decision), Strickland (disqualification), Jacobs (decision), Reavis (pin), Glass (pin) and Thao (pin) padded the margin.

Winning records individually entering the quarterfinals: Testa 33-0, Godbey 34-5, Foster 33-5, Davis 31-3, Thao 30-4, Glass 29-2, Strickland 29-5, Gould 24-7, Boswell 23-10, Jacobs 21-5, Aidan Szewczyk 20-2, Alexander 20-14, Creason 19-6, Jamarius Pelote 18-12, Tehandon 14-6, Hunter 13-11, Bost 7-1, Reavis 5-2 and Jaden Conner 5-4.