QUARTERFINALS COMPLETE IN NCHSAA WRESTLING TOURNAMENT; PARKLAND LEADS WAY IN 4-A TEAM RACE

GREENSBORO — Winston-Salem Parkland rolled up a substantial lead in the 4-A team standings after quarterfinal action in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state wrestling championships at the Greensboro Coliseum on Friday night.

Parkland, with seven wrestlers still competing in the championship brackets, has 78.5 points to 39 for second-place Cary. Cary has won the team tournament championship at the 4-A level five consecutive times and six of the last seven years, while Parkland has won the last three 3-A crowns but has moved up to 4-A in the new realignment.

Two weeks ago Parkland beat Cary for the NCHSAA dual-team championship.

Lake Norman is third among 4-A teams with 33 points, followed by Southern Alamance (31) and Panther Creek (30). A total of 67 teams have scored in the event.

The 3-A features a tight team race as Concord Jay Robinson, winner of the dual team title earlier this month, has 47 points to 42 for Orange, which was the dual team runner-up. They are followed by Enka (39), Havelock (36.5) and Cameron Union Pines (30). Hickory St. Stephens and Southwestern Randolph are knotted in sixth with 28 points, and 62 teams have tallied points.

Robinson has eight wrestlers still competing, including four in the championship bracket, while Orange has nine grapplers remaining, four of those in the championship bracket. Orange won the team title the last two years in the 1-A/2-A tournament. but has moved up to 3-A.

Newport Croatan, this year’s 2-A dual team champ, leads that classification’s standings by eight points. Croatan, with a whopping 11 wrestlers still competing and five in the championship bracket, has 60 points to 52 for Trinity, followed by Salisbury (41), Newton-Conover (40.5) and West Stanly (31). In all, there are 14 teams with 20 or more points and 54 schools have broken into the scoring column.

Trinity is in good position, though, with wrestlers still in 10 weight classes, six in the consolation bracket and four in the championship hunt.

The 1-A classification, with a separate tournament for the first time, held only its quarterfinal round since the brackets for that class contain only eight wrestlers each. West Wilkes leads with 17.5 points, with Dixon in second with 11. Kernersville Bishop McGuinness, East Surry and North Wilkes are tied for third with nine points apiece.

West Wilkes also won its classification dual team title earlier this month and has seven wrestlers still alive, five in the hunt for state titles, while Dixon has four of its five wrestlers remaining in the championship bracket.

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

COMPLETE AGATE RESULTS CAN BE FOUND ELSEWHERE ON THE WEB SITE UNDER CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS–WRESTLING, AND THEN 2010 WRESTLING