GREENSBORO — Déjà vu left a sweet taste for the Hawks this time around.
Seaforth came away with three individual state champions and its second straight 2A individual team title Monday night at the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state wrestling tournament at First Horizon Coliseum.
For the second year in a row, the Hawks recovered from a dual team loss and redeemed itself in the wrestling season’s finale, winning with a team score of 149.
Seaforth senior Layne Armstrong won his second straight individual title, taking the crown for the 132-pound weight class this time.
Armstrong, the No. 1 2A wrestler in the state for his weight class according to RankWrestlers, overcame an early takedown and pinned Mount Pleasant’s Cameron Gue (2A’s No. 2 wrestler for the weight class) in the first period after holding him down on the mat with his back and gaining control for the finishing move.
“I put him to his back, and he wouldn’t move,” Armstrong, who finished the season with a 42-3 record said. “I thought he was pinned for a couple of seconds and then, I heard his last breath go out, and I was like, ‘I got it.’ I was excited after that. A great way to finish my senior season off.”
After the win, he ran over to his dad, Seaforth coach Ryan Armstrong, who hugged his son in the air the same way he did when Armstrong won the 126-pound title last year. The pair didn’t know if they would be back on this stage together after Armstrong injured his right meniscus in July.
“When I finally got back, Gabe helped me train a lot,” Armstrong said. “I was going to physical therapy two times a week, I was trying to build my knee back, and eventually, I got back.”
Said Ryan Armstrong, “I’m excited for him. This is all that work. All that off season stuff.”
Seaforth junior Jordan Miller, the No. 1 2A wrestler in the 113-pound weight class, won by a 17-1 technical fall over Morehead’s Tyler Kendrick in the second period to clinch his first state title. After not placing at all in the state last year, Miller came back and won by technical fall all the way through, giving up just two points the whole tournament.
“Last year, I didn’t really cut any weight, but this year, I cut down a lot,” Miller, who finished the season with a 36-2 record, said. “Last year, I wasn’t working as hard. This year, I feel like I came back, and I was more experienced.”
Seaforth junior Gabe Rogers, the state’s No. 1 2A wrestler for the 120-pound division, followed Miller with a state title win of his own in a much wilder finish.
After leading West Caldwell’s Fernando Teniente (2A’s No. 2 wrestler for the weight class) 7-2 near the end of the third period, Teniente got Rogers on his back and scored five points at the buzzer to send the match into overtime.
Rogers, stressed after the sudden change of events, settled down quickly, though, and scored the first three points of the period for the sudden-victory win.
“I hit a single leg switch off to a double, hooked his ankle and then took him down,” Rogers said, who finished the season with a 45-4 record said.
Rogers also got to share the moment with his father, Pete, who is an assistant coach for the Hawks.
“It’s unbelievable to see all the hard work, all the early mornings and things like that turn out right,” Pete Rogers said. “I knew how much it mattered to him, and to see it happen, it just doesn’t get any better than that.”
Seaforth and the rest of Chatham County had some solid finishes in the state tournament.
Seaforth senior Ethan Kuball, the No. 2 2A wrestler in his weight class, finished as the state runner up for the 215-pound division, after falling to Randleman’s Braxton Walker (the No. 3 215-pounder in 2A) by a 14-2 major decision.
Here’s how the rest of the county finished in the tournament:
1A
Carson Williams (Chatham Central, 150 pounds, fifth place); Stephen Silhan III (Chatham Central, 190, fifth place)
2A
Harrison Compton (Seaforth, 190, third place); Judge Lloyd (Seaforth, 175, fifth place); Chance Cody (Seaforth, 138, loss in consolation third round); Alex Hinchman (Seaforth, 165, loss in consolation third round); Benjamin Johnson (Seaforth, 144, loss in consolation second round); Jakari Blue (Jordan-Matthews, 190, loss in consolation second round); Nermiah Page (Jordan-Matthews, 120, loss in consolation first round); Elijah Farrow (Northwood, 165, loss in consolation first round)
