By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Judah Robinson of Southeast Alamance had the longest stay of any Alamance County wrestler in the high school wrestling state tournament, and he did it the hard way in securing a sixth-place finish.
Robinson, a junior competing in Class 2-A as a 106-pounder, won three matches on the consolation side of the bracket before he was upended twice Monday at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro.
But he deemed it a valuable opportunity as he became Southeast’s first wrestling place finisher.
“It was amazing,” Robinson said. “The experience, seeing everything. The crowd was nice. Something new.”
The three-day tournament for Robinson began when he dropped an 8-5 decision to West Stanly’s Dax Osborne, giving himself a chance with a late takedown.
Robinson received a forfeit in Saturday’s first consolation round before Sunday’s 12-3 decision against Randleman’s Alex Raymundo, who had been the Mideast Region champion. So Robinson, who was third in that regional, said it was surprising to face Raymundo on that side of the bracket.
“I took care of it,” Robinson said.
On Monday, Robinson guaranteed a place finish with a 14-6 decision against West Wilkes’ Joshua Orellana. Then Robinson led North Wilkes’ Hunter Dancy 6-0 in the third period before twice going to his back and suffering an 8-6 loss.
In the fifth-place bout, Robinson nearly wiped out an 11-2 deficit with three third-period takedowns, but endured a 14-13 loss to North Pitt’s Tyler Mundell.
Robinson ended the season with a 26-20 record.
Southeast’s Jack Jennings (33-17) went 0-2 in the 285 division. He was pinned by Goldsboro’s Jaden McClary, the eventual champion, and by Mt. Pleasant’s Jacob McCoy.
Class 3-A
Southern Alamance junior 157-pounder Jace Rich was the only Alamance County entrant with a first-round victory when the rescheduled tournament started Saturday.
Rich began with a technical fall in 3:16 against North Brunswick’s Sebastian Velez on Saturday. Rich rang up a 15-2 lead in the first period.
Then it went awry for Rich in a matter of a couple of hours Sunday.
Rich led Smoky Mountain’s Kavan Wilson 1-0 with a second-period escape in the quarterfinals. But Wilson scored a reversal about 25 seconds into the third period and the 2-1 score stuck.
That put Rich in a consolation round, where he was eliminated by West Carteret’s Braden Reynolds. Following a scoreless first period, Reynolds worked for an escape and then a takedown, leading to a pin with seven seconds left in the second period.
Rich’s season ended with a 39-8 record.
Eastern Alamance 126-pounder Elijah Watson (26-10) lost by pins to North Lincoln’s Kaden Helms and to Havelock’s Tyson Croce.
Esaiah Slade (24-7), a 215-pounder for Western Alamance, was a second-period pin victim against West Rowan’s Dakota Athey and then was ousted in the first consolation when he couldn’t hold a 1-0 third-period lead against South Johnston’s Jamarion Ward in a 6-3 loss.
