ROSEBORO — A night for the record books unfolded Wednesday at the Charles E. Perry gymnasium when Lakewood hosted its first-ever home wrestling match. The competing schools included Neuse Charter, Spring Creek, and Rosewood.
Lakewood started off the historic match with three straight forfeits from Neuse Charter. The first match of the night for the Leopards would be the 126-pound weight class.
A quick takedown from Neuse Charter would land their grappler with two points against Lakewood’s Parker Pope-Hester just moments into the match, as the two wrestlers locked into a fierce battle. Less than a minute into the match, the Cougar had the 7-1 advantage after multiple takedowns. Just a few moments later, he would get the pin to win their first match of the night.
In the 190-pound class, Edwin Torres got his turn to wrestle a Cougar. The Neuse Charter wrestler made quick work and pinned him just 20 seconds into the match.
For the 215-pounders, three quick points would come for the Cougars’ big man under a half a minute into the match, and he would add four more via back points. He would double that number up before ultimately pinning Josh Owens 1:11 into their match up.
Next up for the Leopards was Caleb Neal in the heavyweight class, who took early control of his opponent. A quick takedown and back points netted him three points, but a clasping penalty gave the Cougar one back. Working from the top in the referee position coming out of the break, the Cougar hit a reversal and put him on his back. Not to be outdone, he would reverse it himself and get the pin with 30 seconds remaining in the first period to give the Leopards their first match win of the night.
In a tough matchup that came next, Isis Salmon squared off with another Neuse Charter wrestler, which ended in another pin.
Next up for the Leopards were the Eagles of Rosewood, a fierce team who took down the Spring Creek Gators in its first team match.
Lakewood started off forfeiting the first two matches to the Eagles before Pope-Hester got the first match of the night between the two schools. A quick takedown from the Eagle and an escape from Hester would make it a 3-1 match in favor of Rosewood, but a takedown and back points for Hester quickly put him ahead at 4-3.
Rosewood would tie it at 4-4, but the score quickly moved to 10-6 with Rosewood still winning. Hester fought his way back to get a takedown, making it 10-8 before the first period ended.
A Rosewood takedown and back points would net seven more for the Eagle wrestler, making it a 17-8 score less than a minute into the second period. Hester would grab another point on an escape after four more Rosewood back points, moving the score to 21-9. Three more points for the Rosewood grappler would give him the 24-9 tech fall win.
Next up would be Joseph Duncan in the 138-pound weight class — a match that started off with both wrestlers looking to score points early. The two grapplers fought back-and-forth, trying to gain control of the other, but 47 seconds into the match, Rosewood took the win via a pin.
In the next match, Armoni Parker fell to an early 11-0 deficit before the wrestlers moved out of bounds. After the reset, the Eagles got another quick pin, north of a minute left in the first period of the match.
The Eagles would take three straight matches via pin, along with four forfeits.
In the next match, Torres squared off in the 190-pound weight class. Rosewood got the quick take down, not even 10 seconds in, giving their wrestler the 3-0 lead early. The Eagle moved to a 7-0 lead before pinning Torres just 49 seconds into their match.
Salmon would be next, facing off against a Lady Eagle wrestler in the 215-pound weight class. A quick takedown from Rosewood resulted in one of the fastest pins of the night, taking place just 17 seconds into the match.
Lakewood would take a forfeit to open their match with Spring Creek. It would be Hester that would wrestle a Gator for the opening match between the two schools.
The Gator would get out to a 3-0 lead after a takedown, and the lead for the Spring Creek wrestler would move to 6-2 after another takedown and two escapes by the Leopard. That would be the score at the beginning of the second period, with Hester starting on top of the referee position.
The Leopard quickly got the Gator on his stomach, and multiple half-Nelson attempts were unsuccessful trying to flip his opponent on his back. The two welterweights locked into a stalemate, with each struggling from their perspective positions on the mat. The Gator would attempt to escape multiple times, but Hester would provide no opportunity, and the score stayed the same.
Hester would start on bottom to start the third and final period, the longest of the night so far for Lakewood. A quick reversal from this position gave him two more points to make it 6-4, still in Spring Creek’s favor, just south of 1:30 to go. He would add another via a back point, but the Gator would match on an escape, as the clock moved under a minute.
Desperation set in for Hester, as he needed just two points to tie it late in the match, and a last-second take down would give him three points for the 8-7 thrilling victory.
With Lakewood’s win over Neuse Charter, the Leopards locked in second place in the Carolina 1A behind Rosewood. With that, they earned a playoff berth, travelling to Uwharrie Charter today for the first round.
Reach Brandt Young at (910) 247-9036, at byoung@clintonnc.com, or on the Sampson Independent Facebook page.