Monday, Mar. 01, 2010

Ludke, Adams earn second place finishes

Greater Neuse River 4-A Conference standouts Luke Ludke and Elijah Adams both brought home runner-up finishes from Saturday's NCHSAA 4-A state individual wrestling championships.

Ludke, a Clayton sophomore, was second in the 4-A 112-pound class, and Southeast's Adams placed the same in the 4-A 171-pound class. Ludke lost to Davie County's Michael Waters, 9-1, but the runner-up showing was the best in school history. The Comets had never had a wrestler place higher than third.

"He was very tough, and I knew he was going to come out with all he had. Last year he beat me at states too," Ludke said. "Still, I wanted a state championship."

He won by tech fall in his first bout, 13-4 in his second and 7-5 in the semifinal.

"As a sophomore, it did feel good to go to the finals," Ludke said. "Hopefully I'll make it to the finals next year -- that's my goal."

Ludke will have two more years to reach his goal. He ended the year with a 53-7 record. Clayton's Oran Rose also finished fifth in the 152-pound division.

"With Luke, there's no off-season," Clayton coach Scott Hadding said. "He goes 11-12 months a year. He didn't quit till the very end and we're very proud of him."

Adams has only been wrestling three years, so for this Bulldog to lose just 8-5 in the state championship and end his senior year at 41-2 was something special for him.

"The initial reaction is to be shocked, but I can only be happy with myself," Adams said. "I'm proud of what I've accomplished with my team. It's been a great experience to be a wrestler. I've just had a lot of coaches, I love to be around them and they love to be around me."

The state champ at 171 was Greenville Rose's Branden Lietz, who ended the year with a 50-0 record. Adams won 17-3 and 7-2 in his first two rounds before facing Fayetteville Pine Forest's Kevin Radford -- who he had lost to the week before in regionals. Adams defeated Radford, 7-6, on Saturday. Adams hopes to continue wrestling into college, and is getting a look from UNC-Greensboro.