Southern Wayne’s Edith Arteaga, a first-year wrestler, lost by technical fall to Fike’s Caleb Winstead at 120 pounds in the Sass-Holmes Memorial Duals on Saturday. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Southern Wayne’s wrestling team logged a 1-4 worksheet during the Sass-Holmes Memorial Duals contested at Rosewood High School on Saturday. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Southern Wayne assistant wrestling coach Don DeGarmo talks with the team before it takes the mat against Quad County 3A foe Fike during the Sass-Holmes Memorial Duals on Saturday. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Southern Wayne senior 175-pounder Gabe Carmack pins North Raleigh Christian’s Greyson Warner during the Sass-Holmes Memorial Duals on Saturday. Carmack ended the day 4-1. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Southern Wayne’s Zach Sauls (back) works against Fike’s Zach Greene during their 132-pound match at the Sass-Holmes Memorial Duals on Saturday. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Depleted by injuries and illness, and loaded with youth, Southern Wayne’s wrestling team continued to experience growing pains Wednesday.
The Saints logged a 1-4 worksheet in the annual Sass-Holmes Memorial Duals at Rosewood High School. They knocked off North Raleigh Christian 51-24, but endured defeats against Fike (24-53), South Central (24-60), Athens Drive (6-78) and Apex Friendship (12-69).
“We wrestled hard and I felt like no one quit,” SW head coach Tori King said. “We are at the point now where we will wrestle good for a portion of a match and we make one critical mistake that takes us straight to our back [on the mat]. That is hard to overcome as a young wrestler.
“In wrestling, the more you wrestle the easier it becomes because your muscles get used to doing certain things, bad positions become noticeable and you tend not to get in bad positions.”
Senior Gabe Carmack posted a 4-1 record at 175 pounds.
The multi-sport athlete recorded pins against Athens Drive’s Liam Craig (3 minutes, 34 seconds), South Central’s Nick McMichael (0:56) and North Raleigh Christian’s Greyson Warner (1:03). He received a forfeit against Fike and fell to Apex Friendship’s Alexander Laughlin.
Carmack improved to 8-4 this season.
“Gabe continues to impress,” King said.
Antonio Solice, a senior 165-pounder, recorded the team’s fastest pin of the day and season. He stuck NCR’s Quinn Brokaw in nine seconds, one second quicker than Carmack, who logged a 10-second fall during the Saint Takedown Kings Invitational on Nov. 18.
Solice ended the day 2-3.
Junior Dary Perez-Lucas and sophomore Olivia Ruiz each finished 3-2. Yusef Ceballos and Chris Melvin notched two wins apiece. Edith Arteaga, Oswaldo Quiroz, Brandon Lark and Isaiah Smith each collected one win.
Arteaga, a 120-pound senior, endured an injury against South Central. She returned to mat against Apex Friendship in her final match of the day.
“She took a knee to her quad [muscle] and it was sore, but she is okay,” King said. “Edith wrestled very tough matches all day,” King said.
Southern Wayne dropped to 3-5 overall this season.
“I stressed to them the importance of showing up every day and not missing days of practice,” King said. “The relevance of making the most of practice is working hard and getting as many reps as possible when we are drilling moves. We are a young team and will get better as the year goes on.
“We just have to keep showing up, putting in the work and we will continue to do that.”
The Saints travel to Goldsboro Tuesday for a non-conference tri-meet with the Cougars and Quad County 3A foe Smithfield-Selma. Match time is 6 p.m. inside Norvell T. Lee Gym.
