PARKLAND ROLLS TO CHAMPIONSHIP IN NCHSAA 4-A STATE WRESTLING TOURNAMENT; JAY ROBINSON, CROATAN, WEST WILKES ALSO EARN CROWNS

GREENSBORO — Winston-Salem Parkland put together a strong performance and rolled to a convincing victory in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 4-A wrestling championships at the Greensboro Coliseum on Friday night.

Parkland won its fourth consecutive tournament crown but first since moving up to the 4-A level after three 3-A titles. Parkland also snapped a string of tournament triumphs by Cary, which had won the 4-A title five consecutive times and six of the last seven years. Two weeks ago Parkland beat Cary for the NCHSAA dual-team championship.

Parkland rolled up 183.5 points to 82 for runner-up Cary, followed by Southern Alamance with 70, Panther Creek with 64 and Lake Norman with 62.5 points . A total of 67 schools scored points in the 4-A tournament.

With only one wrestler in a championship match, Cary couldn’t overcome the big lead by Parkland, which placed four individuals in the tournament finals. The Parkland individual champions included Adonis Wright at 125 pounds, Marcus Cain at 140 and Marciano Ali at 160.

Durham Riverside’s Tyrone Eatmon, the 130-pound champion, was the Most Outstanding Wrestler in the 4-A event.

Concord Jay Robinson and Orange battled throughout the two-day event with Robinson eventually prevailing as it had in the dual team tournament. Robinson won it with 129 points, followed by Orange (114), Havelock (92), Enka (78) and Cameron Union Pines (64). There were 63 3-A schools in the scoring column.

Newport Croatan, which also captured the dual team title two weeks ago, added the tournament title by tallying 148 points to 104 for second-place Trinity, with Salisbury in third with 99. Black Mountain C.D. Owen paced fourth with 77.5 and Newton-Conover fifth at 73.5. A total of 55 schools scored points in the 2-A event.

Salisbury’s Tre Jackson, the 2-A champ at 145 pounds, was the classification’s Most Outstanding Wrestler.

West Wilkes rolled to a convincing decision in the first separate 1-A tournament championship. West scored 90 points to 60 for runner-up South Davidson. East Surry was third with 50 points, followed by Kernersville Bishop McGuinness (48) and Alleghany (47.5).

J.J. LaPlante at 119 and Devin Nichols at 130 were among the individual champions for West Wilkes, which also captured the dual team championship earlier. Murphy’s Jesse Beaver at 152 pounds was the Most Outstanding Wrestler in the 1-A event.

Wendy’s is the presenting sponsor for the NCHSAA sports program. The host city sponsors for the wrestling championships included the Greensboro Sports Commission, the Greensboro Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Greensboro Sports Council and CSG Carolinas.