One of seven Cary state qualifiers, Ben Creed will defend his 103-pound state championship next weekend in Winston-Salem.
Feb 15, 2009
CHAPEL HILL — After pinning his final opponent at the NCHSAA 4-A Mideast Regional wrestling championships Saturday, Chapel Hill senior Corey Mock walked back out to the center of the mat he’s owned for the last four years and smacked the oversized, growling tiger logo painted on the wrestling surface square on the nose.
Perhaps if the tiger had sprung to life, it would have given Mock a match.
The three-time reigning state champ had little trouble at regionals, where he pinned all three of his opponents on his way to the 135-pound title. As a result, he punched his ticket to Winston-Salem, where next weekend he’ll try to become the seventh four-time state champion in NCHSAA history.
“It sends the message that I’m here to win,” Mock said of his regional performance, “and nobody’s going to stand in my way.”
Mock’s march through the regional was hardly a surprise, and neither was the team that emerged as the tournament champion.
On the strength of four regional champs and three more placewinners, Cary won the title after piling up 176.50 points. Riverside finished second with 111 points, and the Pirates were followed by New Bern (107), Sanderson (102) and Leesville Road (97.50).
Cary’s seven state qualifiers were most in the Mideast, while Sanderson had six, and Riverside and Leesville Road had five apiece. The top four finishers in each weight class advanced to next weekend’s individual state tournament at Lawrence Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem.
The Imps’ four champions flexed their considerable strength throughout the two-day regional tournament.
Ben Creed, the reigning 103-pound state champion, pinned his first three opponents in just more than two minutes, then earned an 18-3 technical fall in the 103-pound final. Gabe Brotzman had two pins and a major decision before winning the 152-pound final by a 6-2 decision. Matt Colvard pinned all four of his opponents at 160, and heavyweight Eloheim Palma pinned his opponents in 46 seconds, 36 seconds, 1:06 and 1:10.
Brotzman had the chance to avenge the only blemish on his senior season. In the final, he met Greenvile Rose’s Branden Lietz, who earned a one-point decision over Brotzman earlier this year. Brotzman chose his spots to attack and took Lietz down for the first time with one second remaining in the first period. In the second, Brotzman went up 4-0 on a reverse. He took Lietz down one last time in midway through the third period and rode him out for the 6-2 win.
“Last time I wrestled him, I didn’t have it all together mentally. I didn’t know what my strategy was,” Brotzman said. “My goal going into the match [Saturday], after the second period, I wanted the scored to be 6-1. When I looked up and I saw that, I was really happy with that.”
Cordale Risk (second, 130), Ronnie Winterton (third, 135) and Kevin Puente (fourth, 215) also qualified for states. With just seven state qualifiers, Cary coach Jerry Winterton could not recall the last time Cary’s state tournament wrestling contingent was so small, but that won’t deter the Imps from trying to win the state championship for the fifth year in a row.
“We’re down in numbers, but any time you’ve got some firepower like we do, you can put some points up,” Winterton said. “We’re not necessarily going to be the favorite, but we’re sitting pretty, and we’ll be in the mix.”
Runner-up Riverside had two champions — Tyrone Eatmon at 125 pounds and Scott McGee at 171 — and three more state qualifers — Andrew Tyndall (fourth, 119), Matthew Conway (fourth, 135) and Shaquawn Grant (third, 160).
McGee waltzed to the final on the strength of two major decisions and a pin in his first three bouts, but he needed overtime in order to defeat Northern Durham’s Andrew Tackla in the final. McGee scored the winning points when he reversed Tackla with one second remaining in the second 30-second overtime period.
Eatmon, on the other hand, bullied his way to and through the final. He pinned his first three opponents before pinning Sanderson’s Brett Kostern in 67 seconds in the final.
“I feel like I wrestled very, very well,” said Eatmon, who last year was the 119-pound 4-A state champ. “I feel real good. The way I’ve been working, I feel like nobody can touch me. I’ve just been working hard.”
Fourth-place Sanderson had the second most state qualifiers in the Mideast — David Tran (second, 112), Adam Tassitino (third, 119), Kostern (second, 125), Jason Alexander (third, 130), Justin McElreath (second, 135) and Mikhael Sylvia (fourth, 285).
Fifth-place Leesville Road had five state qualifiers. Trevor Kamens roughed up the 119-pound field on his way to the title, winning his first three matches by technical fall (17-2), pin and major decision (9-0) before pinning Chapel Hill’s Joshua Craig in the final. Kevin Boggs (fourth, 130), Brian Tray (fourth, 145), Jacob Myers (third, 189) and Kirk Lincoln (second, 285) will join Kamens in Winston-Salem.
Panther Creek had two champions — 130-pounder Joe Morrison and 189-pounder Sheridan Rucker. Morrison, the 4-A class’s top ranked 130-pounder, beat Cary’s Risk 6-3 in the final, while Rucker pinned Green Hope’s Nate Reynolds 28 seconds into the third period in the final.
Elsewhere, Green Hope’s Joey Baird won the 140-pound draw, defeating Athens Drive’s Clifton Griffin 7-5 in the final, and Wakefield’s Gray Gerald won at 145 pounds after scoring a 6-3 decision over New Bern’s Kevin Dixon in the final.
1. Cary, 176.50
2. Riverside, 111
3. New Bern, 107
4. Sanderson, 102
5. Leesville Road, 97.50
6. Panther Creek, 97
7. Green Hope, 81
8. Chapel Hill, 70
9. Athens Drive, 64.50
10. Millbrook 59.50
10. Person, 59.50
12. Rose, 59
13. Northern Durham, 52.50
14. Jordan, 42.50
15. Wakefield, 41
16. Southern Durham
17. Wake Forest-Rolesville, 33
18. Fuquay-Varina, 27
19. Apex, 16
20. Middle Creek, 14
21. East Chapel Hill, 10
22. Lee County, 8
23. Enloe, 3
24. Broughton, 1
25. Hillside, 0
Athens Drive (weight class, regional finish)
Clifton Griffin (140, second)
Bryan Houston (215, second)
Cary
Ben Creed (103, first)
Cordale Risk (130, second)
Ronnie Winterton (135, third)
Gabe Brotzman (152, first)
Matt Colvard (160, first)
Kevin Puente (215, fourth)
Eloheim Palma (285, first)
Chapel Hill
Devin Solow (112, third)
Joshua Craig (119, second)
Corey Mock (135, first)
Green Hope
John Sparks (103, fourth)
Kenny Buchanan (125, fourth)
Joey Baird (140, first)
Nate Reynolds (189, second)
Fuquay-Varina
Soren Ferrell (171, third)
Leesville Road
Trevor Kamens (119, first)
Kevin Boggs (130, fourth)
Brian Tray (145, fourth)
Jacob Myers (189, third)
Kirk Lincoln (285, second)
Jordan
Jordan Fearrington (152, fourth)
Millbrook
Keegan Sykes (103)
Carl Bauknight (215)
New Bern
Zach Jaramillio (112, second)
Jeremy Althizer (125, third)
Kelvin Dixon (145, second)
Anthony Grist (215, first)
Northern
Winston Church (103, second)
Andrew Tackla (171, second)
Panther Creek
Joe Morrison (130, first)
Alex Branoff (140, fourth)
Sheridan Rucker (189, first)
Person
Jonathan Newton (152, third)
C.J. Younger (160, fourth)
Colin Campbell (285, third)
Riverside
Andrew Tyndall (119, fourth)
Tyrone Eatmon (125, first)
Matthew Conway (135, fourth)
Shaquawn Grant (160, third)
Scott McGee (171, first)
Rose
Patrick Waivers (112, fourth)
Frazier Hill (140, third)
Branden Lietz (152, second)
Sanderson
David Tran (112, second)
Adam Tassitino (119, third)
Brett Kostern (125, second)
Jason Alexander (130, third)
Justin McElreath (135, second)
Mikhael Sylvia (285, fourth)
Southern
Traivon Gregory (145, third)
Wakefield
Gray Gerald (145, first)
Caleb Killion (189, fourth)
Wake Forest-Rolesville
Mason Goldbach (160, second)
Joel Caudle (171, fourth)
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