Southern Wayne’s Matt Whitley, top, works against Eastern Wayne’s Novella Henry during their 157-pound, consolation-round match in the Saint Takedown Kings Invitational Saturday. Whitley pinned Henry in 89 seconds. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
DUDLEY — Room for improvement.Southern Wayne head wrestling coach Tori King offered that assessment upon conclusion of the second annual Saint Takedown Kings Invitational held Saturday.
Nine of 11 grapplers picked up at least one win during the individual tournament, but just advanced to the medal round. Yusef Ceballos picked up the Saints’ lone medal – a bronze at 215 pounds.
“We showed some good things, but in wrestling if you make a mistake it will cost you severely,” King said. “We definitely looked our age wrestling-wise, but the kids were very positive and [are] starting to love the sport more and more each day.
“It’s a grueling process, but we are still growing and that’s always a good thing. [We] definitely didn’t perform as well as last year, but I feel good about the future of the program.”
One of five returning starters, Ceballos (5-2 overall) opened the tournament with a loss against Charles B. Aycock’s Tucker Tedder. Ceballos pinned Eastern Wayne’s Jaydin Chapman and eased past Washington’s Cooper Johnson, 7-3, in the consolation semifinals.
Ceballos secured the medal with a 3-0 decision over Tedder.
“Yusef has improved a lot since last year and he listens well,” King said. “He lost to the kid from Aycock earlier in the day, made adjustments and got the win in the finals.”
Antonio Solice (4-3) placed fourth at 175 pounds. After dropping a quarterfinal-round match, he recorded back-to-back falls over Charles B. Aycock’s Urias Chandler and Washington’s TraQuan Haywood. He fell to D.H. Conley’s Thomas Brann in the third-place match.
“Antonio is very aggressive and at times that can work in his favor,” King said. “He will learn more and get more technical as the year goes on, and hopefully makes a run toward the regionals.”
Isaiah Smith (106 pounds), Oswaldo Quiroz (138), Amari Thomas (150), Matt Whitley (157), Dary Perez-Lucas (165) and senior Gabe Carmack (190) each claimed one win. Carmack (4-2) recorded the day’s fastest fall – a 10-second pin over Tarboro’s Zaire Parker in the quarterfinals.
Edith Arteaga and Izaya Daniels competed at 120 and 126 pounds, respectively.
Wilmington Ashley and Conley shared the team title with 175 points. Each team had four individual champions and combined to place 21 wrestlers among the top four in the 11-team field. Conley recorded a tournament-high 22 team pins.
Despite having eight medalists, defending champ Washington took third with 173.5 points. C.B. Aycock (104) and Southwest Onslow (87.5) rounded out the top five.
2023 Saint Takedown Kings Invitational
(at Southern Wayne HS, Dudley)
Team Scores
Wilmington Ashley (A) 175, D.H. Conley (DHC) 175, Washington (W), 173.5, Charles B. Aycock (CBA) 104, SW Onslow (SWO) 87.5, Rosewood (R) 73, Tarboro (T) 54, Goldsboro (G) 46.5, Southern Wayne (SW) 43, North Lenoir (NL) 29.5, Eastern Wayne (EW) 9.
Championship Finals
106 — Lucas Angstadt (A) pin Sam Boltes (W), 1:57; 113 — Bryce Perry (W) pin Levi Jennings (G), 0:22; 120 — Colton McClung (DHC) dec. Mason Winchell (A), 8-1; 126 — Noah Piper (A) pin Christian Price (W), 5:16; 132 — Chris Bonner (DHC) dec. Cooper Heppner (A), 6-0; 138 — Jarrett Quinlan (A) maj. dec. David B-Meza (W), 9-1; 144 — Chris Heppner (A) dec. Ashton Shields-Adam (SWO), 5-2; 150 — Stephen Ribustello (T) dec. Gabe Foreman (W), 14-12 (SV); 157 — Landon Browning (T) pin Evan Makepeace (W), 1:02; 165 — Bryant Smith (W) pin Samad Wooten (CBA), 3:13; 175 — Ryan Deloatch (R) dec. Everett Rouse (NL), 7-0; 190 — Ty’Sean McCullough (DHC) dec. Marcos Jimenez (R), 6-5; 215 — Caleb Bess (DHC) pin Nick Wade, 2:12; HWT — Dallas Bailey (CBA) dec. Jaden McClary (G), 3-2.
Consolation Finals
106 — Noah Berner (CBA) pin Cameron Taylor (R), 2:21; 113 — Carvin McMahon (CBA) pin Noah Bowker (A), 0:33; 120 — Aeden Larkins (SWO) pin Tucker Massey (W), 2:36; 126 — Andrew Bullard (DHC) tech fall Kurtis Tate (G), 17-2 (4:14); 132 — Brenn Warren (W) dec. Roberto Garcia (T), 11-8; 138 — Jensen Miller (SWO) maj. dec. Cameron Bullard (DHC), 10-0; 144 — Jeremy Johnson (CBA) dec. Jesus Ruiz (DHC), 6-5; 150 — Alex Fragos (A) pin Nicholas Snedeker (SWO), 4:42; 157 — Joe Botterio (A) pin Elijah Morris (DHC), 0:52; 165 — Andrew Botterio (A) dec. Yuchan Jo (DHC), 7-0; 175 — Thomas Brann (DHC) pin Antonio Solice (SW), 1:52; 190 — Grayson Fountain (SWO) pin Trenton Baldree (W), 0:29; 215 — Yusef Ceballos (SW) dec. Tucker Tedder (CBA), 3-0; HWT — Jamie Jinks (DHC) dec. Kane Moore (NL), 6-4.
