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By Brian Pitts
Enterprise Record

With the state dual team playoffs approaching, the Davie wrestling team is staring at history.
Can lightning strike twice? The defending 4-A champs are ready to find out. They’ve won the state duals three times (1994, 2006, 2024), but never in back-to-back years. Things seem to be coming together at the right time. Jack Bost has cut weight and moved down from 120 to 113. Undefeated Aidan Szewczyk is about to return after being sidelined for over a month by injury.
“Aidan is moving around again,” coach Josh Stanley said. “We should be primed to make a run.”
The War Eagles didn’t have a 113- or 132-pounder in the 24th-annual Phillip Reed Rumble at Glenn on Jan. 20, but they still captured first place out of 23 teams with 189.5 points. The rest of the scoring: Eastern Guilford 180.5, Grimsley 172.5, West Forsyth 99, Trinity 93, Mt. Pleasant 92, Glenn 88.5, Southwest Guilford 88, Rock Hill (S.C.) 77.5, Atkins 53, Reagan 45.5, Reynolds 38, Cannon School 36.5, North Stanly 32, Page 31, Ledford 21, Forsyth Country Day 11, East Forsyth 6.5, Parkland 4.
Davie turned in three weight-class champions. Senior Cayden Glass was lights out, pinning all three opponents at 126 to run his record to 35-3.
Andy Davis went 4-0 at 144. He pinned one guy and had two tech falls before earning a monumental victory in the finals. A statement was sent when the junior decisioned Donovan Edwards of Southwest Guilford to push his record to 16-2.
“Andy wrestled the No. 1 guy in the state in the finals,” Stanley said. “(Edwards) beat Andy earlier in the season, but Andy had only had like five matches at that time. That was a big-time match for Andy for knowing that he belongs there.”
Senior Ryder Strickland’s pin in the finals – to cap a 3-0 day and move his remarkable record to 35-1 – put an exclamation point on Davie’s first-place showing.
“Ryder had a big win in the finals against a tough kid,” Stanley said. “We were in a tight race with Maurice Atwood’s team (Eastern Guilford).When Ryder got that pin, it sealed the deal for us.”
Senior Brett Foster and junior Jamarius Pelote had second places. Foster had two pins and a tech before facing a brick wall in the finals and settling for a 3-1 day at 138. Grimsley’s Jacob McCord pinned Foster in the finals.
“Brett is leveling up every week,” Stanley said. “He came in late, but he is getting his gas tank and believing in himself. He is still struggling to believe in himself against the top guys in the state, and that guy (McCord) is one of the top guys in the state for sure. We’ve got to do some mental work to get him prepared for this final push.”
Pelote went 2-1 with a tech fall and a pin at 165.
“Jay has improved a lot and he has taken a leadership role on the team,” Stanley said.
Junior Elliott Gould crushed three guys and lost to a buzzsaw during his 3-1 run to third place. He was decisioned by West Forsyth’s Josh Spontak.
“One of the top schools in the country is McCort (Pennsylvania), and (Spontak) moved from McCort to West Forsyth,” Stanley said.
The War Eagle with the most wins at Glenn was junior Maddox Creason, who went 5-1 at 190 for third place. He racked up four pins.
“Maddox is a hard-working kid,” Stanley said. “When he fully gets that dog in him, he’s going to be hard to beat. He’s an athlete.”
Finishing fourth for Davie were Bost (4-2 at 120) and Max McCall (3-2 at 175). Carter Hoots went 3-2 at 138, while Dominic Ishuin (106) and Walker Matthews (215) both went 2-2.
Notes: Davie didn’t have Tiaj Thao, who is 27-4, at 132. “T tweaked his knee a little bit,” Stanley said. “It’s nothing serious but it wasn’t worth it to send him.” … The War Eagles climbed to 16-2 overall and 6-0 in the CPC with an 84-0 road win over hapless Parkland on Jan. 23. Glass, Pelote, Creason, Matthews and Strickland had pins. The Mustangs forfeited the other nine weight classes.