Southern Wayne heavyweight Bryce Sanders waits for the restart during second-period action against Corinth-Holders’ Clifton Allen. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Southern Wayne’s Jordan Valentine emerged victorious against South Johnston’s Julio Gonzalez during their 150-pound bout in the USAF Eagle Invitational on Saturday. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Southern Wayne’s Nathan Carlton lost to University of Mount Olive signee Ashton Shields-Adams from Southwest Onslow in the 144-pound weight division. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Southern Wayne’s Zach Sauls (top) works to score nearfall points against Southwest Onslow’s Leighton Houser during their second-round, 138-pound match Saturday. Sauls defeated Houser. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Southern Wayne junior Omar Soler-Sanchez (top) keeps control of South Johnston’s Saleem Jones during round two in the 113-pound weight class Saturday. Sanchez finished third overall in his division. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
GOLDSBORO — The results don’t indicate Southern Wayne’s efforts on the wrestling mat Saturday.
Just one grappler reached the medal podium.
The remaining Saints ran into stellar competition in their respective weight classes during the 29th annual USAF Eagle Invitational contested at Rosewood High School.
“Overall, it was a long, tough day of wrestling,” SW head coach Tori King said. “We actually wrestled well, to be honest. We got some hardware [but] we’ve got to get back to the lab.”
Junior Omar Soler-Sanchez filed a 3-1 worksheet.
The returning state qualifier knocked off South Johnston’s Saleem Jones in their quarterfinal-round match. He fell to Panther Creek’s Jesse Farnsworth in the semifinals, but bounced back to oust Albert Couch of SW Onslow and knock off Corinth-Holders’ Guy Wavra in the third-place match.
Farnsworth finished runner-up.
“Omar wrestled well … had some tough matches,” King said. “He has been more locked in lately and I’m expecting him to turn the corner. The room and atmosphere is way better now that we made some [recent] changes.”
Seven Saints combined to file an 8-12 worksheet against wrestlers from 13 different schools.
Jordan Valentine ended the day 2-2.
The sophomore 150-pounder scored a 12-6 major decision over South Johnston’s Julio Gonzalez in round two. He dropped his quarterfinal-round match and edged Rosewood’s Landon Lowery (9-8) in consolation-bracket action.
Valentine’s day ended with a loss to Panther Creek’s Ilia Anokhin, who recorded a top-four effort.
“Jordan wrestled very well,” King said.
Isaiah Smith (103 pounds), Zach Sauls (138) and Nathan Carlton (144) each ended the day 1-2. Tyler Speight (175) and heavyweight Bryce Sanders each went 0-2.
“Zach had a tough day and really showed his youth,” King said. “There were some bright moments where kids would be wrestling well and then would make a small mistake. At that level, you just can’t afford to make those mistakes because teams will capitalize on them.
“Tyler had a tough day but he has missed so many days of practice it will take him a while to get into ‘wrestling shape.’. He lost a couple matches to guys he should’ve beat but fatigue got the best of him.
“Isaiah wrestled the best he’s wrestled all season, but he also came up short. I’m pleased with the way he has wrestled and his improvement.”
Southern Wayne scored 34 points — good enough for 18th overall in the 23-team field.
A total of 19 teams had at least one medalist on the day.
Raleigh Millbrook claimed its third Invitational team crown and first since 2011 with 180 points. North East Carolina Prep claimed second with 159 points, followed by Corinth-Holders (144), Rosewood (127) and South Johnston (122).
NECP had five medalists, including three individual champions – Holton Quincy (113), Colton Lewis (126) and Ryan Mann (144). Mann tallied 28.5 points and earned Most Outstanding Wrestler accolades.
A two-time, USAF Invitational champion, Lewis has signed to wrestle next season at Emory & Henry University.
“This was a good bump in competition and we have a whole week to practice with no matches until the weekend of because of [first-semester] exams,” King said. “It’s the tough part of the season and I feel like going through this now will only make us better after the Christmas break.”
Southern Wayne returns to action Dec. 21 for the Pilkington Memorial Duals at county rival Charles B. Aycock. Seven days later, the Saints return to Pikeville for the day-long Falcon Invitational.
You may reach sports writer Rudy Coggins at prepswriter2@gmail.com or call/text 919-709-9257.
29th USAF Eagle Invitational
(at Rosewood High School)
Team Scores
Millbrook (M), 180; North East Carolina Prep (NCEP), 159; Corinth-Holders (CH), 144; Rosewood (RHS), 127; South Johnston (SOJO), 126; Panther Creek (PC), 119; Southwest Onslow (SWO), 102; South Central (SC), 79; West Craven (WC), 79; Garner Magnet (GM), 69; North Pitt (NP), 68; Fuquay-Varina (FV), 64.5; Pasquotank (PAS), 62; Wilson Fike (WF), 58; Clayton (CLAY), 55.5; Raleigh Ravenscroft (RR), 54; Goldsboro High (GHS), 34.5; Southern Wayne (SW), 34; Tarboro (T), 33.5; Wilson Hunt (WH), 27; East Carteret (EC), 22.5; North Johnston (NJ), 21.5; North Lenoir (NL), 6.
Championship Finals
106: Sander Tran (SC) TF Eliel Lopez (RHS), 17-0 (2:17); 113: Holton Quincy (NECP) MD Jesse Farnsworth (PC), 8-0; 120: Ethan Brownlee (SOJO) WBF Kolton Hunter (RHS), 4:12; 126: Colton Lewis (NECP) MD Carson Corl (SOJO), 12-0; 132: Haydn Driver (M) WBF Caleb Samples (CLAY), 1:31; 138: Stephen Ribustello (T) WBF Jackson Young (PC), 1:40; 144: Ryan Mann (NECP) WBF Mikey Leaf (RR), 2:51; 150: Gerald Johnson (WC) dec. Campbell Tuffs (M), 4-3; 157: Aidan Gore (GM) TF Jamari Hill (WF), 15-0 (2:00); 165: Fabian Sabillon (RHS) MD Alejandro Ovalles (PC), 15-2; 175: Brendan Stevens (CH) WBF Matthew Dobo (M), 3:16; 190: Clark Kellar (P) WBF Rhett Stevens (CH), 5:04; 215: Jamarion Ward (SOJO) by FF over Wisdom Mason (NP); 285: Nicholas Rodgers (WF) WBF Daniel Silver (NECP), 1:31.
Third-Place Results
106: Alan Tebalan (NECP) WBF Esteban Placencia (SWO), 0:19; 113: Omar Soler-Sanchez (SW) WBF Guy Wavra (CH), 1:41; 120: Connor Elliott (M) MF over Kemon Downing (NECP); 126: Nehemiah Ortega (FV) MD Wyatt Watkins (M), 13-4; 132: Damon Gainey (CH) WBF Brayden Waneroik (NECP), 0:58; 138: Chayton Oxendine (SC) TF Leandro Resendes (CH), 17-0 (3:19); 144: Ashton Shields-Adams (SWO) WBF Gabriel Mumma (PC), 3:49; 150: Ilia Anokhin (PC) dec. Jacob Lawhorn (CH), 11-6; 157: William Murray (M) WBF Matthew Rodriguez (SOJO), 2:19; 165: Ephrem Rodts (M) WBF Jessi Davidson (NP), 4:04; 175: Desmond Mitchell (SWO) TF Marcos Jimenez (RHS), 20-5 (3:49); 190: Christopher Huerta (WC) WBF Jordan Barefoot (SOJO), 2:18; 215: Nick Wade (RHS) WBF Carson Freeman (CH), 1:14; 285: Jaden McClary (GHS) dec. Jayden Williams (CLAY), 7-2.
