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By Brian Pitts
Enterprise Record

Davie’s wrestling team didn’t have a champ in the Midwest Regional and it didn’t claim the trophy for the second year in a row. But to see how the War Eagles performed in the consolation semifinals, which is also known as the blood round, was glorious.
Davie hosted 25 teams on Feb. 14-15. The top three team scores: Hickory Ridge 200.5, Davie 188, Grimsley 149.5. The top four in each weight class punched their tickets to this week’s state tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum.
The War Eagles turned in four runner-ups, two bronze medalists and three fourth places. Although they were shut out in the finals, they were electric in the do-or-die blood round, going 5-1, and they qualified nine guys, or one more than they did last year when they won the state individual title.
“I feel like we could have had a champ or two, but ultimately I’m really happy with the guys that made it through,” coach Josh Stanley said.
At 120, sophomore Aidan Szewczyk went 3-1 with two pins and a tech fall. Although he suffered his first loss of the season in the finals, he advanced to the state for the second time with a 21-1 record.
“Aidan has been beat up and he’s had a really tough time maintaining his weight because he can’t really do anything,” Stanley said. “He’s fighting a hamstring injury. It’s the first time seeing him move again like he can. He’s just been surviving the last week or two and doing what he could.”
At 126, senior Cayden Glass had two pins and a major decision, qualified for the state for the third time and improved his record to 42-5. At 144, junior Andy Davis rolled up two techs and a pin, reached the state for the second time and ran his record to 22-4. And at 150, junior Elliott Gould had two pins and a major, qualified for the state for the second year in a row and pushed his record to 38-8. Glass, Davis and Gould joined Szewczyk as second-place finishers.
“Every single day, Elliott is getting better,” Stanley said. “I am so pumped to see what he does next weekend.”
At 132, junior Tiaj Thao went 4-1, punched his ticket for the third time and moved to 35-5. Senior Ryder Strickland went 4-1 at heavyweight. Both had brilliant winning streaks snapped in the semifinals – Thao and Strickland had won 23 and 22 straight, respectively – before taking third place.
Strickland, who is 44-2, redeemed himself after absorbing a gut-wrenching 9-8 loss in the 2024 blood round.
“It’s the first time Ryder cracking through to states, and that was really cool for us to see,” Stanley said. “His dad’s been a part of the program forever. With Ryder’s brother (Hunter), they’ve been around for 10 years.”
Finishing fourth with 3-2 efforts were sophomore Jack Bost at 113, senior Brett Foster at 138 and junior Maddox Creason at 190. It’s the second state appearance for Foster, and Creason’s pin in the consolation semis was a feel-good moment after he fell in the 2024 blood round.
“Jack is wrestling amazing,” Stanley said. “He knocked off the two seed with a tech fall. He is starting to believe it.
“A Glenn kid teched (Creason) the other week, and Maddox teched that kid today. Maddox’s turnaround was amazing. The guy he lost to in the semifinals is one of the best guys in the state. He looked really amazing. In the consolation semifinals, he was on his back at one point and looked really bad. He fought out of it and came back and pinned the kid. That was what we needed to see out of him at the right time. I’m pumped for Maddox, too.”
Davie’s only hiccup in the blood round was at 165, where Jamarius Pelote lost after winning three of his first four matches. He’ll have one more shot after a 33-12 junior season.
“That was such a great round,” Stanley said of Davie’s 5-1 performance in the consolation semis. “You know how intense that is and how much it means to the kids. We were running mat to mat in that blood round and the kids just kept pulling it out and kept pulling it out. It’s a testament to the work they are putting in in the room and the level they’re pushing their cardio. They can gut it out and they’re believing in themselves.”
Freshman Graylan Anderson went 2-2 at 106 and failed to qualify, but man was he gritty while battling sickness. He had a major and a pin, and one of his losses was a forfeit.
“Graylan went to the hospital Friday night,” Stanley said. “He was six pounds underweight and he had been throwing up. He wasn’t running a fever, but he couldn’t hold anything down. (He had to forfeit in the quarterfinals because) his whole body turned into one big cramp. Every single muscle in his body was cramped up, so he had to forfeit the second round and they sent him to the hospital. He came back and got a pin.”
Notes: Bost is 32-13, Foster 27-10 and Creason 26-13. … Anderson closed his ninth-grade year at 25-16. Carter Hoots went 2-2 at 157 and wrapped up a 25-7 freshman season. Senior Max McCall went 1-2 at 175 and bowed out with a 20-14 record. … Last year Davie won the regional with 197 points to Hickory Ridge’s 145.5. “Hickory Ridge got eight (state qualifiers) and we got nine – but they had more champs,” Stanley said. … The War Eagles are shooting for their third title in the state individuals. They won it in 1995, and last year they carried eight to Greensboro and triumphed with 100 points to Lumberton’s 96. “I’m not sure that anybody got more than nine except for Hough,” Stanley said. “I think they got 10, but we have as good a chance as anybody (this) weekend.”