Championships in four classifications will be decided Saturday in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s 26th annual dual team wrestling championships.
The championships are held on high school campuses, alternating years between Eastern and Western sites for the finals. All of the teams advancing to the Saturday championship matches earned victories on Thursday night to gain a shot at the state title.
Two of the championship matches, the 1-A and the 3-A, are actually rematches of last year’s finals.
Mitchell (27-4) will host Chatham Central (24-6) in a 5 p.m. match for the 1-A championship. Mitchell defeated Chatham Central 36-30 a year ago for the title and was the runner-up in the very first dual team championship in 1990, while Chatham Central was the 1-A/2-A champion in 2005.
Mitchell downed Mount Airy 45-34 in the West regional final while Chatham Central moved into the state championship with a 34-31 victory over Rosewood.
Eden Morehead (30-2) and Fred T. Foard (39-1) of Catawba County will battle for the third consecutive year for the 3-A crown, this year at Foard with a 2 p.m. start. Foard captured the state title in 2013 with a 41-27 decision, while last year Morehead beat the Tigers 38-28 in the final.
Morehead eliminated Swansboro 30-25 on Thursday night in the East regional title match while Foard was rolling past East Rowan 57-10 in the West.
Perennial power Newport Croatan (28-6) will wrestle in front of its home crowd against West Lincoln (34-5), with a 5 p.m. start in the 2-A championship.
Croatan is in the finals for the fifth time in the last six years, with state titles in 2010 and ’11 and runner-up finishes in ’12 and ’13. West’s only dual team title was a 1A/2A crown in 2000.
Croatan advanced to the state final with a 43-30 victory over Dixon, last year’s 2-A state runner-up, in the East championship match. West Lincoln nipped two-time defending state champion Newton-Conover 33-29 to earn its shot at the state crown.
One thing is certain in the 4-A classification—there will be a new dual team state champion as Winston-Salem Parkland, which had won the last eight titles in succession, did not qualify. Fayetteville Jack Britt (24-2), runner-up to Parkland the last two years, will host unbeaten Southeast Guilford (25-0) with a 6 p.m. start.
Britt qualified for the championship match with a 40-31 victory over Durham Riverside, which had ousted unbeaten Holly Springs in the previous round. Southeast got past Kannapolis Brown 40-31 in its regional final.
NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
2015 DUAL TEAM WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS—26th ANNUAL
Saturday, February 7, 2015
CLASS 4-A CHAMPIONSHIP: Southeast Guilford (25-0) at Fayetteville Jack Britt (24-2), weigh-ins at 5 pm, match at 6 pm
CLASS 3-A CHAMPIONSHIP: Eden Morehead (30-2) at Newton Fred T. Foard (39-1) weigh-ins at 1 p.m., match at 2 p.m.
CLASS 2-A CHAMPIONSHIP: West Lincoln (34-5) at Newport Croatan (28-6), weigh-ins at 4 pm, match at 5 pm.
CLASS 1-A CHAMPIONSHIP: Chatham Central (24-6) at Mitchell (27-4), weigh-ins at 4 pm, match at 5 pm
