Wednesday, Feb. 01, 2012

Garner tops Southeast on mat

Bulldogs fall on senior night

Wednesday night's wrestling match between host Southeast Raleigh and visiting Garner was loaded with revelry.

Amid the 51-23 Garner victory was a Senior Night for two Bulldogs, a homecoming for Trojan coach Wilton Bunn and a night of firsts for a pair of wrestlers.

Garner claimed six of the 11 wrestled bouts - five by pinfall - and was aided by three Bulldog forfeits. Southeast earned a pair of pins to go along with a technical fall among its five wins.

"I thought all the boys did pretty good. It's always tough when we come here. You never know what's going to happen," said Bunn, who was Southeast's first wrestling coach when the program began in the mid-1990s.

For the Bulldogs, seniors Roddell Grandberry and Kadal St. Phard were honored before the match and both went out as victors in their final home match. Grandberry's win was especially significant because it came in his first varsity wrestling action, and the 132-pounder won with a first-period pin.

"I put him out tonight because it's his Senior Night," Southeast coach Jeff Smith said. "He's been wanting it so bad. His first varsity match and he gets a pin so that's a good way for him to go out."

Another wrestler, Garner's Brandon Grindstaff, also had a first milestone. The 138-pound junior notched his first career pin when he stuck Southeast's DeShawn Miles in the second period.

"The best match was Grindstaff," Bunn said. "That was a real good win. He did things that we worked on in practice and that's all I ask."

"Practice paid off," Grindstaff said. "Takedowns, getting the wrist and putting the half on. Basically it just came down to hard work."

Other pins for the Trojans came by Emon Kizer at 145 pounds, William Hall at 170, Francisco Cedra-Rodriguez at 182 and Jacob Ennis at 195.

It was Brandon Russell however who had perhaps the most exciting win of the night for Garner. Russell, who weighed in at 195 pounds but wrestled at 220, trailed Southeast's William Reese 7-6 late in the third period. With both wrestlers on their feet, Russell scored a takedown with 20 seconds left on the clock to score an 8-7 victory.

In addition to Grandberry, the Bulldogs also received a pin from Josh Mack at heavyweight while James Baker and St. Phard each claimed 5-0 decisions at 113 and 152 pounds respectively. At 160 pounds, Southeast's LeVincent Clark scored a first-period tech fall victory over David Croston.