Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Brian Pitts
Enterprise Record

South Davie’s wrestling team held on for dear life in a three-point win over North Davie.
Before traveling to North, the Tigers ran into powerful China Grove and lost 80-29 on the road on Nov. 18. Three of South’s five wins came from Harris Wagstaff (pin), Jason Voss (pin) and Elijah Tatum (tech fall). The other two victories were forfeits.
Later in the evening, South hammered North Rowan 76-24.
North Davie lost to Erwin (78-30) and West Rowan (63-42) before breaking into the win column. Getting four pins at Erwin on Nov. 12 were Hailey Thao (76), Connor Gannon (113), Peyton Jordan (175) and Mason Sheppard (215). Aubrey Ishuin (83), Gannon, Paxton Broadus (120), Sawyer Hall (144) and Jordan (175) turned in pins in the loss to West Rowan.
After starting 0-4, the Wildcats broke through against visiting Selma Burke on Nov. 18. Ishuin, Chris Gonzalez (90), Bentley Grooms (106), Broadus, Wesley Stanley (132) and Hall got pins in the 52-33 victory. Gannon had a major decision.
At this point, North coach Jamey Holt had three undefeated wrestlers. Thao (4-0) appears to be an unstoppable force as a sixth grader at 76.
“Hailey is a machine,” Holt said. “Her technique is great, she’s fearless and our team, especially the other sixth graders, look at her work ethic in the room and it’s become infectious.”
Hall was 5-0 at 144/150 and Jordan was 4-0 at 175. Both are eighth graders.
“Sawyer missed all of last year, but it’s been like riding a bike for him,” Holt said. “He’s constantly working hard and wanting to learn and get better.
“Peyton is a grinder. He doesn’t have the prettiest matches at times, but he battles and wrestles hard at all times.”
South 54, North 51
While South prevailed in a stiff test at North on Nov. 21, it was a halting victory because North gave the Tigers 30 points with forfeits.
South has won two county battles, including a one-point win over Ellis, “but we’ve got to be realistic,” South coach Russell Hilton said. “We didn’t wrestle very good. North Davie gave us 30 points. The team that wrestled the best did not win. North Davie won nine actual matches, we won four. So I wasn’t pleased at all.”
It was a rollercoaster. Pins by Broadus (120) and Skyler Nunley (126) gave North a quick 12-0 lead. South’s KJ McClelland pinned at 132, and South got forfeits at 138, 150, 157 and 165 to build a 30-18 lead. North’s only win during the 132-165 stretch was Hall’s pin at 144.
From 175-215, North’s Jordan, Karson Nunn and Sheppard pounded out pins to lift North in front 36-30. After North forfeited at 250, Thao pinned for the hosts at 76 and Kaden Howell got a pin for South at 83, resulting in a tie at 42 with four weight classes remaining.
“(Thao) weighed in at 64, so she’s giving up 12 pounds to everybody,” said Hilton, who offered high praise to the young North star. “But she’s fast, she’s aggressive and she’s relentless. She’s really good at her bars on top. I mean, she’s just a hammer on top. She’s constantly working those bars and turning you and turning you and turning you. She just never stops.
“Kaden is doing really well for a sixth grader. He’s tough.”
Brennen Mason pinned at 90 to give North a 48-42 advantage, but South’s Rico Evans answered with a second-period pin at 98 to force the sixth tie at 48. Evans was trailing 8-2 before storming back.
“Rico will get behind sometimes, but he’s only lost one in two years, and that was in the finals of the conference tournament last year,” Hilton said. “Rico got a reversal and pinned him. Rico is funky; he can get out of stuff that most people can’t get out of. Rico is really tough on top with halves. If he pins ‘em, it’s with a half.”
South’s Colten Beck settled the issue with a pin at 106. Although the lead was only 54-48, South would have won on criteria had North tied it in the final match at 113.
“Colten is usually at 90 pounds,” Hilton said. “He’s starting to hit a little growth spurt. He hasn’t made 90 in the past two weeks. He weighed in at 94, so I had to bump Rico or Colten up. It’s a big jump, but Colten pinned him pretty quick.”
Gannon took a decision at 113 to cut the final margin to three.
Both teams won nine weight classes. North held an 8-4 edge in pins, but it couldn’t overcome five forfeits. Considering North captured nine of 13 real matchups, who could have asked for more from the Wildcats?
“I was very pleased,” Holt said. “We wrestled well, and even in a few of the ones we lost, Timmy (Allen) and I felt like we were right there in the match until we got caught on our backs.”
The Tigers, who lost to North 65-39 and 63-42 last year, ended a three-match losing streak in the series. While South improved to 5-3, North fell to 1-5.
Moor 55, Ellis 42
After winning the previous two matches by a combined 161-36, Ellis succumbed to visiting Mooresville on Nov. 18.
Getting pins were Jaxon Gay (83), Greyson Daughtry (90), Vincent Clements (165), Colby Mason (175), Henry Butler (215) and Brodie Newman (250). Connor Cornatzer (113) and Mason Barnes (120) won decisions.
At this point, five eighth graders were still carrying spotless records. Gay, Mason, Butler and Clements were 5-0, while Newman was 3-0.
“Jaxon is an athlete,” coach Brian Murphy said. “He’s a long and strong eighth grader in a lower weight class who’s still learning.
“Colby is a rookie to the sport, but he has long arms and really strong hands and is super coachable. He asks questions and works hard.
“Butler is a very technical wrestler and maybe the hardest worker in the room. He understands leverage and how to use his hips to turn kids.
“Brodie is an animal. He’s big, tall, strong as a ox and uses it to his advantage. And he’s turning into a more vocal leader in the practice room.
“Vincent is strong, quick and uses his hips well to keep himself out of bad positions.”
West 59, Ellis 46
Three days later, the Jaguars lost at home to West Rowan and fell to 3-3 on the year.
The Ellis winners were Gay (pin), Cornatzer (pin), Clements (pin), Butler (pin), Newman (pin) and Ayden Davis (tech fall). West gave Ellis two forfeits.
“We were missing three starters and we got pinned in two matches we should’ve won,” Murphy said.