By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Chazz May of Western Alamance had lots to consider after his championship weekend in the Eagle Invitational wrestling tournament.
“It was awesome,” May said. “There was a lot of really good parts about it – getting up after I pinned the guy in the last bout and everyone in the whole room was going wild.”
May, a junior, secured his first individual tournament title on the varsity level.
He was the lone champion from an Alamance County school in the Eagle Invitational, a 17-team competition held Friday and Saturday at the Mebane Arts and Community Center.
May claimed the 182-pound title, pinning Greensboro Grimsley’s Matthew Richter 59 seconds into the championship match. May had also defeated top-seeded Davonta Warren of Bartlett Yancey by 13-5 in the semifinals.
May’s record improved 20-4 this season, already eclipsing his win total from last season.
“I just want to keep rolling the numbers up,” said May, who’s also a linebacker for Western’s football team. “I’m blown away by the way I performed. It gives me hope about the future for this season.”
May’s path to the title also included first-period pins of Orange’s Durvin Lopez-Abarca and Southern Alamance’s Payton Neal. So after the quick work in early rounds, the task heightened.
“When I got to wrestle the No. 1 seed from BY, I was fighting for every point,” he said.
With Troy Williamson becoming a Western coach, it has provided a new perspective, May said.
“He is training us at a college level,” May said. “I have become a so much better conditioned wrestler.”
Along with his brother, 170-pounder Zeke May, Chazz May said his primary training partners are Cameron Pettigrew, who was second at 220 pounds, and Mason Hogsed, who was third at 160.
There were several area runners-up, including two from host school Eastern Alamance.
Eastern’s Elijah Watson was the 106 runner-up after a first-period pin from Northwest Guilford’s David Garner in the final. At 138, Bartlett Yancey’s Dallas Wall pinned Eastern’s Jahzion Patterson in 58 seconds of the final.
At 120 pounds, Graham’s Oscar Tello was the runner-up after a 13-2 loss to Greensboro Grimsley’s Zach Swearingin.
Southern Alamance’s Jace Rich was second at 145 with a 9-4 loss to Orange’s Dillon Hefferman.
In the 195 final, Orange’s Acoya Isley pinned Jeremiah Lumpkin of Williams in 56 seconds. The 220 title went to Orange’s Elijah Acosta with a pin of Pettigrew in 3:22.
Orange was the team champion with 242½ points, followed by Northern Guilford, Greensboro Grimsley, Northwest Guilford, Bartlett Yancey and Western Alamance.
