Jack Britt wrestling wins conference title
By Chris Koonce
Correspondent
Jack Britt's wrestling team wrapped up first place in the Mid-South Conference with a 63-18 win against Terry Sanford. The Buccaneers improved to 6-0 in the league standings and have a 26-5overall record. Calvin Hinton, Jason Materne, Tyler Manship, Jared Bartram, Bryce Carter, Dalton Stewart and John Bryant pinned their opponents as Britt won 10 of the 12 matches contested.
Jack Britt returns to the state playoffs for the eighth time in nine seasons after failing to qualify last year. The Buccaneers will face the No. 2 seed from the Cap-7 Conference in the opening round of the state team tournament. Leesville Road (18-10) meets Wake Forest-Rolesville (14-7) tonight in a match that will likely determine the Cap 7's second playoff berth.
South View shuffled its lineup as the Tigers defeated Seventy-First, 39-30, to finish in second place in the conference standings with a 5-1 record. Sophomores Xavier Martinez and Juan Rodriguez and freshman Austin Simoneau picked up wins with first-period pins for the Tigers.
Martinez recorded his quickest pin of the season as he won in just 33 seconds. The sophomore competed in the 119-pound class for his first 22 matches of the season, but has recently been able to qualify at 112-pounds to give the Tigers more versatility in their lineup.
Rodriguez has competed in three different weight classes this season and won his match at 130 pounds in 1:48.
Simoneau had wrestled in only three matches this season, all at 171 pounds. He moved up to the 189-pound class and pinned his opponent in just 58 seconds.
Senior Timmy McCall moved up in weight class from 189 to 215 and defeated Falcon standout Jackie Green, 3-2. Green is the No. 2 wrestler in the state 4-A listings at 215 pounds and has a 39-4 record this season. McCall is ranked No. 1 at 189 pounds and improved to 31-1 with the one-point win.
Two other underclassmen provided key points for the Tigers as sophomore Gabriel Harper won 14-13, in the match at 152 pounds and freshman Deshawn Ford picked up a 6-1 decision in the 160-pound match.
South View (13-6) qualified for the state playoffs for the 10th consecutive season and will face the No. 2 seed from the Greater Neuse Conference in the opening round of the team tournament. West Johnston, Southeast Raleigh and East Wake are in the running for the playoff berths to be decided by the result of matches scheduled tonight.
Gray's Creek (4-15-1, 1-4 Cape Fear Valley) picked up its first conference victory of the season as the Bears defeated Westover, 54-24. Steven Porter, Roman Gutierrez and Brandon Blevins won their matches by pinfall. Only five of a possible 14 matches took place because of multiple forfeits from both squads.
The teams will take a break from team competition this weekend to compete in conference tournaments. Wrestlers will look to capture individual conference titles in their respective weight classes.
Upcoming schedule
Today
Basketball - Jack Britt at South View
Wrestling - Overhills at Gray's Creek
Friday
Basketball - Jack Britt at E.E. Smith, South View at Pine Forest, Western Harnett at Gray's Creek
Saturday
Wrestling - Mid-South Conference Tournament at Jack Britt, Gray's Creek in Cape Fear Valley Conference Tournament