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By Brian Pitts
Enterprise Record

The talent level in the West Rowan gym on Nov. 20 was immense. Union Pines, which is ranked No. 1 in 3-A, West, which is No. 2 in 3-A, and 4-A defending champion Davie convened for a big-time collision.
The matches lived up to the hype. Most importantly, Davie survived brutal tests in both of its matches, winning 40-34 over Union Pines and 37-33 over West. Union Pines edged West 45-36.
“The fight was amazing,” coach Josh Stanley said.
Against Union Pines, Elliott Gould (150) got Davie started with a 5-2 decision, but the Vikings took the next five weight classes to put Davie in a 29-3 hole.
“We knew what we were getting into,” Stanley said. “Maddox Creason (190) was out sick and their upper weights are the best that I’ve seen. I mean, I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a group of upper weights that tough. It’s ranked guy after ranked guy; No. 1 guy, No. 2 guy … They were a bunch of buzzsaws from 157 up.”
Ryder Strickland pinned at heavyweight, but then Union Pines got a tech fall to take a 34-9 lead after the eighth of 14 weights.
But from 113 on, Davie exploded for 31 unanswered points to bounce back from the 40-36 loss to Northwest Guilford that stopped its winning streak at 18.
Stephens Jacobs pinned at 113. After Jack Bost received a forfeit at 120, Aidan Szewczyk majored at 126 in his sophomore debut after missing the first five matches. Then a couple of veteran gamers, Cayden Glass (17-2 tech at 132) and Tiaj Thao (11-1 major at 138), tied things at 34 with one match left.
“Stephen scares us a lot because he’s a slow starter, especially now with the new three-point takedowns,” Stanley said. “He’s been scaring the crap out of us, but then he turns it around later in matches when cardio comes to play. He gets that dog in him and he takes over.”
The pressure was on Carter Hoots at 144, not that it was very noticeable. He won by injury default to seal the deal. My gosh, what a talent. We’re talking about a ferocious freshman.
“The (Union Pines) kid was real frustrated because Carter is a physical kid,” Stanley said. “He’s sweet and he’s a great kid, but he’s very much like (Hunter) Testa when he gets on the mat. He is taking ground. He is wanting to dominate the space, and that’s the way you want them. So the kid was getting frustrated the whole time.
“Carter stepped up huge in both matches. He has an absolutely crazy mindset for a freshman. He just walks out in the middle of that pressure – five matches into his freshman year, on a defending state championship team – and just eats it up. I’m telling you, he’s different.”
Davie 37, W. Rowan 33
Davie added to its mojo and avenged its only loss from last year. “West was tough,” Stanley said. “They gave us as hard a time as Union Pines did.”
Jamarius Pelote decisioned at 165, but the Falcons had a 15-3 lead after four weight classes. Strickland pinned, but West responded with a tech to make it 20-9 in West’s favor.
But again Davie began to rev its engine when Jacobs came up at 113. Jacobs, Bost and Szewczyk rattled off consecutive pins. Glass majored at 132 and Hoots gave Davie an insurmountable 37-24 lead with a pin in the third-to-last match.
The War Eagles ran their record to 6-1 despite not having a sick Creason, who is 3-0 with three pins. It sure was nice having Szewczyk in the lineup for the first time.
“Aidan attacked the pin really hard (against Union Pines), and sometimes when doing that you are not scoring the points that you should be scoring,” Stanley said. “He probably could’ve run that score up a little better and got us bonus (points). He battled back in the first match. In the second match, he settled in and did his thing.
“Bost is one who is going to be big for us along the way. He’s kind of the Swiss Army knife.”
Although freshman Graylan Anderson lost twice by tech fall, Stanley raved about his never-give-up spirit.
“We were cheering for him as he’s coming off because he was going to let the (Union Pines) kid take his arm home with him,” Stanley said. “He was not going to get pinned. He fought tooth and nail in both matches. I turned around to the team and said: ‘That is fighting off your back; that is what wins dual state titles.’”
Notes: Jacobs, Glass, Hoots and Strickland are all 7-0. Gould is 6-1. “Ryder’s got (assistant coach Caleb) Spurlin breathing down his neck all the time,” Stanley said. “Coach Spurlin is on him every day. They go at it and he is beating on Ryder. So Ryder does not get any breaks in the room right now. He is definitely better than I’ve ever seen him.” … Davie’s lineup could look different every week, which is not a bad thing. “The competition in the room is crazy,” he said. “Week to week, we don’t really know who’s going to take the spot.”