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By Brian Pitts
Enterprise Record

Davie’s wrestling team is 15-2 and has the pieces to repeat as state champion next month. But things are not all hunky-dory for the War Eagles. There are concerns.
Stephen Jacobs was lost for the year with a broken wrist. Aidan Szewczyk has been out since Dec. 14 with a knee injury.
A match against Mt. Airy was a train wreck. Not only was Davie missing Jacobs, a sophomore who was 20-4 at 113, it didn’t have a replacement ready at 113, the starter at 106 was out and another guy missed weight. The Granite Bears took advantage, beating Davie 45-31 as part of a tri-meet at West Forsyth on Jan. 16.
Two months after Northwest Guilford stopped Davie’s 18-match winning streak, Mt. Airy put an end to Davie’s 10-match winning streak. Nothing went as planned from 157-215, resulting in a 29-0 deficit.
“It was pretty much over before we got our first win,” Stanley said. “We gave up six points in seven weight classes in a row. We would’ve had to pin out to tie, but we would’ve lost on criteria, so we never even got the match started.”
Davie’s winners were Cayden Glass (pin), Tiaj Thao (tech fall), Andy Davis (tech fall) and Ryder Strickland (decision). Davie’s other two wins were forfeits.
Later in the evening, Davie stayed perfect in the CPC, but the route to the 40-31 win over West Forsyth wasn’t easy.
The War Eagles, who destroyed West 70-3 last year, had pummeled four league rivals by an average score of 67-10, but they found themselves behind 31-17 with only four weight classes remaining.
Davie had to have a monstrous finish to pull out the win, and Glass (pin), Thao (pin), Foster (tech fall) and Davis (pin) made sure that happened, the 23-0 run lifting the War Eagles to 5-0 in the CPC.
Earlier, Jamarius Pelote pinned, Maddox Creason won by tech fall and Davis Jones and Strickland won decisions.
At the moment, the War Eagles are not primed for a repeat showing in the state duals. But if everything falls into place in the next couple of weeks, they could surge to the sport’s mountaintop again. Stanley is crossing his fingers, counting on Jack Bost to pick up the slack at 113 and hoping Szewczyk returns for the stretch drive. Bost is 21-8 while competing at 120 and 126. Szewczyk has been sitting on a 15-0 record for over a month.
“I’m not really sure when (Jacobs) broke it,” he said. “He’s had a little bit of an issue with it the last week or so, and he went and got it checked out. He’s out 4-6 weeks, which pretty much puts him out for the season.
“Jack was too heavy for his weight certification to allow him to go down that early, but he will be the replacement there. Jack is only allowed to lose a pound or so a week. His last weigh-in he was 117, so the earliest he could make 113 is (this) Thursday at Parkland.
“The big question mark is can Aidan get back? I don’t know where he’s at or how far out he is. It’s just week by week with his knee. If we get Aidan back and we get Bost down …”
Davie 1st Place
The War Eagles traveled to Wilkes Central on Saturday and walked away with first place in the Eagle Invitational.
Davie had five champions and 190 points, followed by West Wilkes 171, Wilkes Central 117.5, North Davidson 116, Hibriten 115.5, Starmount 82 and Bishop McGuinness 7.
Davie’s first-place performers were Glass (2-0 at 126), Thao (3-0 with three pins at 132), Foster (2-0 at 138), Davis (2-0 at 144) and Strickland (2-0 at 285).
Turning in 3-1 efforts were Jones at 157, Max McCall at 175 and Creason at 190. Dominic Ishuin (106), Ronan Dailey (150) and Pelote (165) all went 1-1. It was the varsity debut for sophomore Dailey. Leighton Reavis went 1-2 at 120.