By Tom MurrayThe Sun NewsSteve Riner (top) of Huntington, W.Va., struggles to flip Cheraw's Dante Isaac during the 112-pound championship match on Saturday at North Myrtle Beach.
NORTH MYRTLE BEACH |
Last season, Ian Barker didn't even place in the North Myrtle Beach
Pizza Hut Invitational's 103-pound division.
But on Saturday, the North Myrtle Beach sophomore won the wrestling
tournament's title with ease.
"This just feels great," Barker said after pinning Loris' Rocky Phillips
in the final at the Chiefs' gym. "It's like one of the best feelings I
ever felt."
Especially considering the title match only lasted one minute and 23
seconds.
Leading 5-2, Barker put Phillips into a half nelson to end the contest.
The win not only improved the sophomore to 7-0 on the season, but all
of Barker's victories came on pins.
"He is real quick," said Phillips, whose individual record fell to
13-1 on the season.
"I'm going to have to try to get stronger and quicker."
Carolina Forest's Theo Menyanus felt the same way.
That's because the junior had a tough time finishing off moves against
Lake City's Watch Brockington in the 135-pound final.
As a result, Brockington, the tournament's Most Valuable Wrestler,
coasted to a 10-2 victory.
"He is strong as a damn horse," Menyanus (6-1) said of the Class AAA
state championship runner-up (12-0). "You can only get so deep with big
guys and you have to finish quick. Apparently, I wasn't quick enough."
But at least the Panther lasted the entire match.
The same can't be said about Myrtle Beach's David Schupp and Loris'
Rico Lewis.
Chris Reyes of Berkeley pinned Schupp in 1:23 during the heavyweight
final.
Meanwhile the 160-pound final, Jason Mays of Huntington (W.Va.) recorded
a technical-fall victory over Lewis.
And Mays wasn't the only Huntington wrestler to shine.
Huntington captured four individual crowns en route to earning its
fourth consecutive team title with a score of 227 points.
Hilton Head finished second with 192 points. Beckley (W.Va.) scored
163 to nab third place, followed by Irmo (152), Lake City (150), NMB (128),
Cheraw (111) and Rural Retreat (107).
Meanwhile, Stratford (107) and Berkeley (107) finished tied for ninth
in the 24-team tourney.
The other top area teams were Myrtle Beach (88) in 11th and Loris (84)
in 13th.
The Chiefs' Danny Cotton and the Seahawks' Trey Capp recorded third-place
individual finishes.
Cotton outlasted Brian McFadden of Lake City 5-0 in the 130-pound consolation
championship.
Capp nipped Josh Caulder of Carolina Forest 5-3 in the 112-pound third-place match.
Lake City's Quinton Robinson recorded the tourney's most exciting victory.
He pinned Irmo's Matt Hill at the 4:53 mark to win the 215-pound final.
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