By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Three wrestlers from Alamance County were individual runners-up in the 29-team Jim King Invitational on Saturday in Hillsborough.
Southern Alamance’s Jace Rich (165 pounds) and Luke White (285) and Eastern Alamance’s Elijah Watson (126) all placed second.
Raleigh Millbrook claimed the title with 161½ points to edge Cardinal Gibbons (154) and Pine Forest (148). Southern was seventh with 89 points, host Orange was ninth with 84 and Eastern was 11th with 77.
Rich lost 13-1 to Cardinal Gibbons’ Ryan Thompson after notching a third-period pin of second-seeded Denys Tsap of Cary in the semifinal. Rich’s first two matches ended in first-period victories.
The outcome in the title bout marked the first loss in 10 matches this season for Rich, who had a late start to the season because he played linebacker for Southern’s football team. Rich won his weight class in the Wildcat Invitational at South Davidson on November 29 with three victories.
White, seeded 19th, recorded three first-period pins and a decision to advance to the championship round, where he faced Wyatt Johnson of Cardinal Gibbons. White led 3-2 in the third period, when he began on the bottom and was turned by Johnson for a pin in 5:29.
Watson cruised until falling via a 61-second pin to reigning state champion Ayden Sumners of Wheatmore in the final. Watson had a bye, two pins and a technical fall to reach the final, where he suffered his first defeat of the season.
Eastern teammates Alfonzo Gonzales (third, 285) and Christopher Schild (fourth, 215) also placed. After winning his opening match, Gonzalez lost by 8-5 to Johnson in the quarterfinals before claiming three consecutive decisions and then pinning Asheboro’s Jonah Lester in 3:13 of the third-place match.
Schild had three pins and a forfeit, with his quarterfinal loss and third-place consolation setback both coming to Dakota Rodriguez of Cape Fear.
Southeast’s Judah Robinson (113) was third, posting a 3-1 record and winning the third-place bout with a second-period pin of Orange’s Brady McAdams.
Western Alamance’s Omar Rushing (138) finished fourth after a 3-2 loss to Raleigh Millbrook’s Kyle Stainback.
Southern’s Dawson Pittard (126), Southeast’s Troy Crain (150) and Western’s Christian Payton (190) all went 3-2 and didn’t place.
Girls’ tournament
In the girls’ version of the Jim King Invitational, Southeast had the top area finishers.
Southeast’s Samari Acevedo was the 145 runner-up, suffering a second-period pin to Chapel Hill’s Olyve Havens in the final. Acevedo won twice earlier with pins, including a 13-second fall.
At 132, Southeast’s Katie Lloyd won by a 12-3 decision against Western Alamance’s Toriana Murphy in the third-place bout. Lloyd won a quarterfinal bout against Murphy by pin, while she also posted another pin and a technical fall. Aside from facing Lloyd, Murphy was 4-0 with three pins.
Abi Sanchez Torres (185) of Southeast placed third. Southeast teammates Layorah Jamison (120) and Janiyah Quidachay (165) were fourth.
Southern’s Gabby Canup placed fourth at 152, recording a 4-2 record with four pins.
Elyse Wilscam of Orange was the runner-up at 100.
