West’s kind of Storm

BENSON -- Storm Stevens finished off his big day Saturday the way he’s been getting it done all season.

The West Johnston heavyweight, the Greater Neuse River 4A wrestler of the year during the regular season, pinned Smithfield-Selma’s Isaiah Davis in 2:10 in the final match of the conference tournament.

And that put on the capper, helping him to a share of the event’s most outstanding wrestler honors as the Wildcats racked up 191 ½ points to 140 for second-place Clayton.

“The match was real tough,” said the senior Stevens, a 245-pound offensive tackle, who said he is being recruited by Methodist and N.C. Wesleyan. “I was giving up about 40 pounds, but I was able to do a cross-face lift in the second period and get the pin.”

Stevens (44-4 with 14 pins and No. 2 in the state in his class) shared the tournament honors with Southeast Raleigh’s 160-pounder LeVincent Clark (26-4 with 13 pins and ranked No. 6), who nipped East Wake’s seventh-ranked Cullen Casper 9-7 in overtime in the closest match of the day also had the fastest pin, needing just 18 seconds to oust Garner’s Brian Wright in the quarterfinals.

“I feel really blessed to have been in that (final) match,” said Clark, a junior. “During the course of the match I started to doubt myself, but I prayed on it and kept fighting.”

It was the Wildcats’ third straight conference tournament title under and fifth in seven seasons under David Prendergast, whose team also went 7-0 in league action to win the duals title for the fifth straight year.

Smithfield-Selma was third in the team scoring at 130, followed by Knightdale at 116, East at 97, Garner at 84 1/2, Southeast at 82 and Harnett Central at 46.

West won four matches in the finale, one fewer than the runner-up Comets. Jimenez pinned East’s Cody Staples in 3:26 at 106, Thomas pinned Knightdale’s Luis Nunez in 3:09 at 120 and Zack Lychalk nipped Knightdale’s Lamar Dulin 7-6.

“We did very well,” said Prendergast, whose team is 45-3 all-time in GRNC conference dual meets. “We’re really young. We had two champions that were sophomores (Jimenez and Thomas) and we had a couple of freshmen in the lineup. These young kids have done a great job.”

In the lighter classes Clayton’s Dylan Wheeler pinned West’s Raheem Simmons in 2:46 at 126 and Luke Ludke blasted Smithfield-Selma’s Brandon Johnson 16-1 at 132.

“I just felt real focused and prepared for that match,” said the senior Ludke, who plans to wrestle for George Mason next season. “I knew what I wanted to do and I got it done. Now I just want to qualify for states and take it one match at a time.”

The Comets’ Jarel Orr topped Knightdale’s Bradley Skinner 19-10 at 145.

“I wrestled (Skinner) a couple of times before,” said Orr, a senior who plans to attend Campbell. “I knew he was more stable on bottom, so I went into the match thinking I wanted to take him down and let him up until he gets too tired.”

The Comets’ JacQuan Etheridge ripped Southeast’s Kadir St. Phard 15-0 in the first round at 152.

“It’s hard to score that many points that quick,” said the senior Etheridge, who has enlisted in the Navy for after graduation. “But he’s tough to pin. We’ve done pretty good in this meet today.”

And Clayton’s Russell Thrasher got past West’s Keith Neal 6-4 at 170.

“This is the fourth time I’ve wrestled against him this season and I won all four,” the senior Thrasher said. “They’ve all been pretty close. I just have to keep a cool head and a positive attitude.”

SSS won at 220 with Zach Rhodes’ 6-4 victory over East Wake’s Austin Smith.

Southeast got another victory at 113 with James Baker pinning East’s Morgan Wilder in 5:41.

Knightdale’s sole title was Brandon Skinner’s 55-second pin of Clayton’s Jhavonte Moon at 138, while Garner’s lone championship was Brandon Russell’s 16-1 romp over East’s Sterling Wilder at 195.