By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Southern Alamance junior Jace Rich didn’t appreciate what he saw from individual state wrestling rankings through much of the season.
He wants to do something about that after winning the Class 3-A Mideast Regional on Saturday in dominating fashion.
“Now I have something to prove at states,” said Rich, a 157-pounder. “Now it’s time to prove those rankings don’t matter.”
Rich will be one of five Alamance County wrestlers in the three-day state tournament, which runs Saturday through Monday at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro. The dates were altered from Thursday through Saturday because of the wintry weather across the state.
Rich (38-6) won four matches in the two-day regional at Cedar Ridge. He handled Cape Fear’s Frederick Edwards in the final, not allowing a point on the way to a technical fall in 3:49.
Rich opened with a first-period technical fall against Harnett Central’s Logan Hernandez before a second-period technical fall against Southern Lee’s Michael Tate-Blanks. Then came an 11-3 decision against Greensboro Dudley’s Deion Marshall in the semifinals.
“Really just focused on my technique the last few weeks,” Rich said. “It’s coming down to technique and styles. I kind of put in my head that I expected to win.”
Rich, who wrestled in the 175- and 165-pound divisions earlier in the season, outscored his four regional opponents by a cumulative score of 65-5. The 65 points were the third-most in any weight class in the regional. He had the regional’s most technical falls in the least amount of time, with three recorded in a total of 8:20.
He said he’s intent on improving from last year’s 1-2 record in the state tournament.
“Definitely place this year if not win it,” he said.
The top four finishers in each weight class in the regionals advance to states.
Other Class 3-A state qualifiers are Western Alamance’s Esaiah Slade (215 pounds) and Eastern Alamance’s Elijah Watson (126).
Slade (24-5) was the regional runner-up, losing by a pin in 1:33 of the title bout to undefeated Xavier Wilson of Eastern Guilford. Slade’s victories came by technical fall against Greensboro Dudley’s Cayson Woods, by 11-3 against Scotland County’s Amari Singletary, and by 4-3 against Union Pines’ Dantrell Williams.
Watson (26-8) placed fourth, going 3-2 with the triumphs coming with a pair of pins and a major decision. He lost via a 52-second pin to Eastern Guilford’s Tremayne McNeely in the third-place bout.
In Class 2-A, Southeast Alamance had two state qualifiers from the Mideast Regional at Eden Morehead. Judah Robinson (23-17) placed third at 106 and Jack Jennings (33-15) was fourth 285.
There were a relatively low number of regional qualifiers from Alamance County schools. Fourteen of the 40 regional qualifiers were from Southeast, while Eastern and Cummings each had seven. There were five from Western, three apiece from Southern and Williams and one from Graham. Southern heavyweight Luke White withdrew because of illness.
A week earlier, the girls’ regionals were contested. No area entrants advanced to states.
