Cary High School Wrestling

Sat, Feb 20 - Continuing their champion’s bounce, our beloved Imps took to the mats of Lee County with conviction and resolve, walking away with the 4A Mideast Regional team championship, three individual regional champs, and 11 qualifying for State.  Ben Creed (125), Roger Terry (145), and Matt Colvard (152) took Regional Champ honors, while Justin Leroux (103) and the amazing Chris Hare (189) took home second place finishes.  Jacob Brotzman (119), Cordale Risk (135), Kevin Puente (215), and Juan Macias (285) brought home thirds, with Jake Brinkley-Mitchell (140) and Josh Boozer (171) rounding out our State qualifiers with fourth place finishes.

The Imps came close to qualifying all 14 for State.  Harrison Rosenbaum (130) in the particularly stacked 130 bracket, came within a match of qualifying, as did Adam Elliman (112, and fully fueled for next year…) and David Alecio (160)…

Link to Regional pics: http://creed777.smugmug.com/Wrestling/Cary-09-10/4A-Mideast-Regional/11305388_bmNj5#793519078_94e2g

…and some more from friend Ted Branoff, who I humbly submit has bested me by a long shot in both quantity and quality:  http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/11291737 … 1942_8FZgo

Taking a loss is hard in life.  Everyone does, sooner or later, and no one likes it when it happens.  Yet it happens to the very best, and champions fall.  But if they are true champions, they rise again, give a nod to what toppled them, and steel themselves to rise again.  They dig in a little deeper, work a little harder, look inside themselves to find the little extra they needed before, and the true champions find it, even if it takes a thousand tries.  They never fail to get up one more time than they get knocked down, and in the long run, the forces that oppose them will never stand a chance…

Yes, the Imps lost a wrestling match to Parkland, credit the Mustangs this time, but I don’t think the Imps lost a true championship at all.  You see, Imps bounce back…they’re bouncing even now…

Teddy Roosevelt said “It is not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deed could have done them better.  the credit goes to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust, and sweat, and blood; who strives valiently; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming; but who does strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms,the great devotions, who spends himself in a worth cause; who at the best knows the triumph of high achivement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall not be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

I suspect Teddy was an Imp at heart…

Link to State Finals pics: http://creed777.smugmug.com/Wrestling/Cary-09-10/State-Dual-Finals-21410/11260612_wx5aN#789925657_FetT3

Following wins against Green Hope and New Bern Tuesday, and wins against South View and Panther Creek last night, the Cary varsity hits the road to take on the Parkland Mustangs in a much-anticipated meeting of undefeateds.  The Imps will take to the Parkland home mat in front of what will almost certainly be a packed house, with the express intent of taking the dual team crown in mighty spite of many predicting Parkland’s supremacy.  Not content with the underdog role, the team is leaving the predicting to others, and will have their own say on the mat tomorrow night, with actions, not words…

Link to article: http://www.highschoolot.com/content/story/7020931/

More right here, along with pictures of the event, as the world turns….

Links to first 4 rounds of state duals here, courtesy of your truly, and Bob Mulligan.  Thanks, Bob…

Rounds 1&2: http://creed777.smugmug.com/Wrestling/Cary-09-10/State-Duals-Rds-1-4/11231848_dTKHS#787675483_6SvmJ

Rounds 3&4: http://jajuma.smugmug.com/Sports/Cary-Wrestling-State-Dual-QF/11217379_ww7Na#786692067_kfuzX

Sat 2/6 - On the strength of 8 in the championship finals and 3 in the consolation finals the varsity 14 hung tough in maintaining a less than comfortable margin over a persistent Panther Creek to win the Tri-9 Conference individual tournament.  Earning conference championships were Justin Leroux (103), Adam Elliman (112), Ben Creed (125), Roger Terry (145), Matt Colvard (160), and Juan Macias (El Grande Hombre).  Jacob Brotzman (119), and Kevin Puente (215) took champion runner-up honors, while C.J. Bean (135), Josh Boozer (171), and Chris Hare (189) brought home third.  Harrison Rosenbaum, in the particularly stacked 130 pound class, Jake Brinkley (140), and David Alecio (152) also contributed wins to the cause.  It turned out to be critical that all weights contributed, as evidenced by the final wrapup of team scores:

1..Cary                               221
2..Panther Creek             203
3..Holly Springs              145
4..Athens Drive               114
5..Green Hope                 88.5
6..Fuquay-Varina            66
7..Apex                              62
8..Lee County                  23.5
9..Middle Creek               4
Here are a couple of links to pics from the tourney, courtesy of yours truly, as well as Panther Creek dad and fine photographer Ted Branoff (Ted took pics of all teams, so you’ll need to sort a bit, but his quality of worth it…)

http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/11164358_idKFA#783809876_LVys2

http://creed777.smugmug.com/Wrestling/Cary-09-10/Tri-9-Conference-Tourney-2610/11165017_dG5rE#782564261_4RPRu

Next up:  State Duals Rd #1!! Home vs. Green Hope and then whoever shows up across the mat!  Link to tourney bracket: http://www.nchsaa.org/championships.php?mode=viewchampPDF&champID=482

 

A late addition and bonus, wrestling fans…Ted Branoff, dad of former PC wrestler Alex, was kind enough to share the pictures he took at the Imp-PC dual.  He’s a better photographer than me, and he did a great job of staying objective in his shots, getting all wrestlers in whatever situation they were in, good or bad, regardless of whether our guy or their guy was winning.  Plus, his turned out better than mine this time, as usual I might add….thanks for sharing, Ted…Here’s his ink:  http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/11147358_e5aLQ#781221165_3woKZ

Thurs 2/4 - This just in, Imp fans!  The varsity 14 squared off this evening against the Catamounts of Panther Creek in a battle of undefeateds, capturing the Tri-9 Conference title with an emotional 38-21 win on the Panther Creek mat.  Justin Leroux (103) and Adam Elliman (112) started the night off right with a pair of solid decisions, putting the Imps up 6-0.  Panther Creek 119 Ben Elliott put the Catamounts on the board with a major decision, but Cary 125 Ben Creed brought the Imp faithful to their feet with a particularly aggressive pin.  Team score: 12-4.  Imp 130 Harrison Rosenbaum then squared off with Panther Creek ace Joe Morrisson, dropping a major decision, but denying the Catamounts additional bonus points they were counting on.  CJ Bean kept it close at 135, giving up a decision, and Jake Brinkley stepped in at 140, keeping additional bonus points off the board for the Catamounts as he fought the distance in giving up a major rather than a pin.  With 3 wins in a row, and momentum shifting their way, Panther Creek claimed the lead, and promptly relinquished it to Imp Roger Terry’s tech fall at 145.  David Alecio showed up to wrestle, lighting a fire in the Imp faithful with a quick pin at 152.  Matt Colvard did likewise, with another quick pin at 160.  Josh Boozer kept the momentum for the Imps with a solid win at 171, and perennial step-up guy Chris Hare made Panther Creek ace Jamie Drennan work for every point, keeping it close in the loss, and clinching the title in the bargain.  Josh Stewart showed heart and promise for next year, bumping up to 215 in facing the final Panther Creek ace, Sheridan Rucker, who tallied the final points for the Catamounts.  Juan Macias collected the final 6 team points at 285 for Cary with his electrifying forfeit win…

Link to pics from the dual.  They’re a little dark this time: http://creed777.smugmug.com/Wrestling/Cary-09-10/Cary-vs-Panther-Creek-for-Tri/11147454_B4VRi#781230293_ax4Tt

Next up:  Tri-9 Conference individual tournament on Saturday, and State Duals next week…

Jan 23rd - The honorees of Senior Day led the way Saturday as our Incredible Imps prevailed in each of their 5 duals on the home mats.  No less than 16 members of the Class of 2010 were honored and recognized for a Cary Wrestling career in which none of them experienced a team loss in their 4 years on the team…

Link to Pics from the Cary Duals and Senior Day, a day of great wins, Cary Pride, and probably too much to eat…: http://creed777.smugmug.com/Wrestling/Cary-09-10/Cary-Duals-and-Senior-Day12310/11040286_DCyPw#772404402_xGpYM

Jan 16 - The Varsity 14 continued their winning ways at the Firebird Duals, winning each of the 5 duals of the day.  included in the victories was a solid team win over 3A power Havelock high School…

Pics from the Firebird at the following link: http://creed777.smugmug.com/Wrestling/Cary-09-10/Firebird-Duals11610/11032280_8QePS#771690740_mEDix

Please note that some of these pictures are of kids from the other teams, who the photographer knows.  These pictures were taken as a favor to the kids and their parents, who I know and like, and do not reflect any lack of allegiance to dear old Cary High…

 

Sat, Jan 9th - The Imp varsity 14, still hampered by injuries in a couple of spots, took to the mats of Jack Britt High School in Fayetteville Friday against a particularly strong field of 18 teams in the Jack Britt Boneyard Bash.  With the team lead moving back and forth between Cary and a particularly strong Havelock team, our Imps found themselves down by 3 points going into the semi-finals.  Havelock kept up the pressure by putting 5 of 8wrestlers into the finals, while our guys advanced 4 of 6.  Our 6 guys in the wrestle-backs came up big with 5 of 6 advancing to the consolation finals just as all 3 Havelock wrestlers faltered and lost on the consolation side.  Going into the championship finals, Cary had the team lead for good, even stretching it a bit as all Havelock finalists lost and the Imps’ Ben Creed at 125 and Matt Colvard at 160 both wrestled their way to championships over ranked 4A opponents.  Justin Leroux at 103 and Kevin Puente at 215 earned 2nd place honors, while Adam Elliman (112), Cordale Risk (135), Roger Terry (145), Josh Boozer (171), and Juan Macias (285) all stood up to tough brackets and finished 3rd.  Chris Hare at 189 won his placing match as well, and contributed a 5th place finish.  The Imps tallied 219.5 team points, widening the gap at the end over runner-up Havelock with 168.5.

Imp JVs made their mark in the JV tourney as well, winning with a team score of 214.0 over host Jack Britt HS at 190.  

Link to pictures of all varsity and some JV (sorry i couldn’t get more…) in action at the Boneyard:   http://creed777.smugmug.com/Wrestling/Cary-09-10/Boneyard-Bash/10910528_VC47V#761850374_Jj2bU

 

Dec 13 - A still-starter-depleted Imp squad tallied another conference win on the Green Hope mats last Wednesday, prevailing 53-9.  Box score at the following NWCA link: http://www.nwcaonline.com/nwcaonline/results/Scorebook/CompetitionResult.aspx?SchoolYear=2010&ID=581647&ID2=78503&ResultID=-1

Link to Green Hope pics:  http://creed777.smugmug.com/Wrestling/Cary-09-10/Cary-vs-Gren-Hope-12909/10612302_GnTwQ#738046560_rNYyD

The ailing Imps then traveled to Western Harnett HS Saturday.  Considering their battered state, the team faced a couple of formidable challenges, notably first with the defending South Carolina State Champion Chesterfield team.  Facing Chesterfield short 5 starters, the Imps hung tough through a series of bump-up wins, keep-it-close bump-up losses, and come-back heroics to prevail 36-22.  Following additional wins against conference foe Lee County (72-6), Triton (80-0), and host Western Harnett (74-6), the Imps squared off in the championship finale against up-and-coming 3A program Union Pines, just off a decisive win over Chesterfield themselves. Particularly tough at full strength and with a bone in their teeth to knock off Cary, UP had people predicting upsets.  The Imps again pulled through, starting with a bloody win by CJ Bean at 135 and not clinched until Ben Creed took the mat in the next to last match at 125 to major a tough Danny Deardorff of Union Pines.  Matt Colvard received the higher weight Most Outstanding Wrestler award for his series of techs and pins on the day.  Ben Creed recieved the Most Outstanding Wrestler award for the lower weights for a gritty, come-from-behind bump-up win against a rather large Chesterfield 130 pounder and for his decisive and controlled clincher against Union Pines

Link to Western Harnett pics here: http://creed777.smugmug.com/Wrestling/Cary-09-10/Western-Hartnett-Duals-121109/10628091_RkxtC#739267952_zcWbR

 

12/5 - Still at less than 100%, with several starters out, our favorite wrestling team hung tough to prevail over a determined and capable home crowd Orange team at the Jim King Orange Invitational last weekend.  Orange led early, and kept it close until the fourth round of consolation, when the Imps took the team lead for good and pulled away going into the championship semis.  The Imps placed 6 in the finals, with Adam Elliman (112) and Chris Villari (119) earning championships.  Ben Creed (125), Matt Colvard (160), Chris Hare (189), and Kevin Puente (215) made their way to the championship finals as well, only to each fall short in close finals matches.  Creed, Colvard, and Puente each took their matches into overtime, as the gym quivered and rocked with excitement and controversy.  Placing third were Justin Leroux (103), Harrison Rosenbaum (130), CJ Bean (135), and Roger Terry (145).  Jake Brinkley (140) placed fourth, as did Juan Macias (285).  Sam Finn (152) and Ben Beazlie (171) stepped into the lineup and each contributed a pair of key pins to the team cause as well.

Link to pictures from the JKO at the following link:

http://creed777.smugmug.com/Wrestling/Cary-09-10/Jim-King-Orange-12409/10571575_2DkUJ#734555959_Sc9aB