Monday, Jan. 18, 2010

Bulldogs rally past Garner

Southeast Raleigh wrestling coach Jeff Smith, with a sly grin on his face, urged his team to give 150 percent in its match with conference rival Garner last Wednesday night. Little did Smith and company know, it would take every bit of that effort to squeak out an all-important conference win.

The Bulldogs secured pins in the final two matches to come back and overtake an equally determined Trojans squad 42-36.

After back-to-back forfeits at the 103 and 112 weight classes -- one for each team -- Garner (1-4 in conference) held a 36-30 advantage.

Southeast Raleigh's Artie Johnson then came through with a huge second-period pin of Garner's Damian Harrell at 119. With a chance to complete the comeback, the Bulldogs' Mike Baker (125) relished the role of closer and bulldozed his way to a first-period pin over Ricky Weyant to move the hard-working Bulldogs to 4-1 in conference for the first time in almost a decade.

"We work hard, and, as I'm trying to teach them, hard work does pay off," Smith said of his team. "Whatever the score is, I want to be impressed by their effort. These guys have proven to me time and time again that they're giving me effort. I can't ask for more as a coach. You can't teach heart."

Tyler Maher (29-2) took out Ryan Harris at 285 to lead the charge for the Trojans. Garner also received wins from Anthony Chiles, Steven Lombana, Christian Townsend, Drawman Fouty and Timothy Jones in coming up just short.

"It's always close against those guys," Garner coach Wilton Bunn said of the rival Bulldogs."It's always a close match that goes down to the wire. It's just the way it goes."

Southeast Raleigh's senior leader, Elijah Adams, spearheaded the Bulldogs comeback, which also included victories from Kyle McCarthy, LeVincent Clark, Darrius Herring, Chris Thomas, Johnson and Baker.