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By Brian Pitts
Enterprise Record

This whole season makes the North Davie wrestling team think about what might have been.
The Wildcats are 2-8, but they could be 8-2 or better if they had a full team.
“They should have won,” Ellis coach Brian Murphy said after a narrow 54-53 win over the visiting Wildcats, who had to forfeit at 150, 157, 165, 175 and 250 because they just don’t have kids to occupy those weight classes.
North 72, SE 24
Despite having limited bodies, North still manhandled Southeast on the road on Dec. 2. Coach Jamey Holt got pins from Hailey Thao (76), Connor Gannon (113), Skyler Nunley (126), Wesley Stanley (132), Peyton Jordan (195) and Mason Sheppard (215).
The Patriots are shorthanded themselves, as they gave North six forfeits.
CG 55, North 46
The Wildcats have shown tremendous improvement. After losing to China Grove by 44 in early November, they went toe to toe with the Red Devils in their second match of the night at Southeast.
Pins by Bentley Grooms (106), Gannon (113), Sawyer Hall (144), Jordan (175) and Sheppard (215) and a major decision by Thao kept North in it. China Grove won by nine on a day it received 24 points’ worth of forfeits.
Ellis 78, Burke 28
Ellis pounded out eight pins and throttled Selma Burke on the road on Dec. 2.
Greyson Daughtry (90), Austin Eggers (98), Ayden Davis (106), Riley McAndrew (144), Connor McNeil (157), Vincent Clements (165), Henry Butler (215) and Brodie Newman (250) stuck their opponents. Ellis’ other five wins were forfeits.
Ellis 54, North 53
Murphy was unimpressed by his team’s escape on Dec. 5. North Davie won eight of 12 weight classes in which there were two opponents on the mat, and the visitors outpinned Ellis 7-3.
“They beat us to death in the lower weights, but had too many forfeits,” Murphy said.
North built a 47-18 lead by getting pins from Thao, Brennen Mason, Chris Gonzalez, Gannon, Paxton Broadus, Nunley and Stanley and a tech fall from Hall.
Ellis’ wins during the stretch between 76 and 144 came from Jaxon Gay, Davis and Jaleel Collins. All three were pins.
“(Gay’s) strong, he’s quick and he’s starting to get super aggressive,” Murphy said. “He’s turning into a real solid wrestler. (Davis is) really aggressive, too. He’s run into a couple of buzzsaws, but he’s very solid and very consistent. He gets in trouble sometimes, but he’s able to weasel his way out of it a lot of times. He’s an excellent one to have in my pocket at 106. (Collins) started out the year about two weight classes higher than he is now. He’s pretty strong for a 138-pounder. Now that he’s learned a few more moves, he’s getting a whole lot better.”
Holt said: “I thought we could win at 90 and 98, but didn’t think we’d pin. Brennan and Chris really wrestled well. (Stanley’s pin at 132) might’ve been a little upset. I didn’t know much about them in the middle, but Wesley got down and then fought back and found a way to pin. He’s working hard and improving every day.”
Ellis got four straight forfeits to close the gap from 47-18 to 47-42. When Ellis forfeited at 190, North had a 53-42 lead with two weight classes to go. Butler pinned at 215 for the Jaguars, and they had their only lead of the day when North forfeited the last match at heavyweight.
Ellis’ saving grace was actually one of their losses. Riley McAndrew had to face the unstoppable Hall at 144. He saved Ellis a point with the tech fall loss. That was ultimately the difference because North would have won the tiebreaker had it ended 54-all.
“It would have gone to the most pins,” Murphy said after Ellis (6-3) stopped an eight-match losing streak in the series, including a 66-36 loss last year. “I said: ‘Don’t get pinned.’”
Moor 78, South 25
Visiting South Davie was no match for high-flying Mooresville on Dec. 2. The Red Imps, who improved to 9-0 in the conference, shrugged off pins by South’s Brayden Davis, Alex Rueda and Rico Evans and a major decision by Jason Voss.
South’s other victory came from Kaden Howell. The 83-pound match was a circus; Howell outlasted his man 20-19, avenging a pin loss in their earlier matchup.
“It was wild,” coach Russell Hilton said. “It went takedown, reversal, near-fall, takedown, reversal, reversal, reversal, near-fall, reversal, near-fall, escape, takedown, reversal, takedown, near-fall, takedown, reversal. It was just wild, back and forth. Those little guys can wiggle out, bridge up and flip each other over.”
Burke 54, South 53
Earlier in the season, the Tigers pulled out a pair of white-knucklers (55-54 over Ellis, 54-51 over North Davie). But they ended up on the wrong side of the emotional see-saw against visiting Selma Burke on Dec. 5.
The Tigers held leads of 24-6 and 29-12. The Bears’ 18-0 run gave them a 30-29 lead. South ripped off 24 unanswered points to regain a 53-30 lead. But then Burke closed with 24 straight points behind three pins and a disqualification to extend South’s losing streak to three.
Cole Williams, AJ McCall, Colten Beck and Evans pinned their opponents and South received five forfeits. But the match slipped through its clutches after hammering Burke 63-34 on Nov. 14.
“We lost a team point,” Hilton said after South fell to 5-6. “A lot of bad stuff happened.”