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| Chris Ange gets a routine pin during a winning streak that has reached 35. Davie finished second in the CPC and is ranked No. 8 in the state. - Photos by Jim Barringer |
Davie’s growth as a team was evident again the next day with 157 points in the CPC Tournament at Davie, just 5.5 behind champion West Forsyth. Mount Tabor was third at 142, followed by East Rowan at 138, South Rowan at 131, Reynolds at 103 and North Davidson at 29.
The stomping of East was an emphatic demonstration of why Davie (23-10, 5-1 CPC) is ranked No. 8 in 4-A despite the most losses since the late 1970s. The 39-point win gave the War Eagles second place over East. How many saw that margin coming? East (25-7, 4-2) was fresh off an impressive win over fourth-ranked Mount Tabor.
“They listened,” coach Buddy Lowery said. “Some days they can tune in. They were excited because we beat a good team. If we lose I don’t know if we would have gotten in the dual-team (state playoffs). I don’t know if we would have gotten a wild card with a 23-10 record.”
East scored the first nine points, but from 119 through 189, it was works of art by the War Eagles, who scored 54 unanswered points. Travis Goforth, David Oakley, Chris Ange, Matt Garretson, Joel Barnett and Justin Miller cranked out pins. Ethan Curtis and Michael Maready romped 7-0 and 6-1, respectively. Rusty O’Connor entered overtime at 7-7, then blasted his opponent. Floyd Collins rallied in the 11th hour 9-8.
Goforth raised eyebrows with a second-period pin over Aaron Plyler, who is ranked at 121.
“Goforth’s a tough-nosed kid,” Lowery said. “If he just learns to control his weight a little bit and not have to run. He has to lose a pound and a half or two pounds to make weight. He wrestled smart. He’s sound and he’s strong for his size.”
In overtime, O’Connor tore up his 145 foe with five machine-gun points.
“I said: ‘Quarter,’ ” Lowery said. “Dang, he throws the quarter in and almost pins him. If they listen, we’ve got a halfway decent chance. I said: ‘Take his leg right now and get this thing over with.’ He got the leg, got it up and took the guy straight to his back. I said: ‘You listen to us, good things happen, sometimes.’ ”
Collins trailed 8-7 at 160 with just 13 ticks left. Then he hit a monster cradle ... subscribe to the Davie County Enterprise Record, P.O. Box 99, Mocksville, N.C. 27028.