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CHARLOTTE — May we please have a drumroll and spotlight for East Rowan’s Hunter Land and Davie County’s Patrick Lowery.
Each shouldered his way into the VIP room by winning state wrestling championships Saturday night at Cricket Arena.
Land (36-3), a state runner-up last winter, wrestled the match of his life and beat Statesville’s Jonathan
Geisler, 13-3, in 3A 171-pound final. And Lowery (38-0), frustrated with back-to-back third-place showings, used three pins and a major decision to clear the room at 215 and win a 4A medal, capping an unblemished season.
“It’s the best I’ve ever felt,” Land beamed after dominating Geisler (39-5) — a defending state champ — then leapfrogging into the arms of East coach Barry Justus. “My life’s highlight. What could be better?”
Land’s good fortune began when he earned a 10-9 double overtime semifinal win over Anson’s Patrick Clark. “That gave me the (final-round) matchup I wanted,” he said. “I had something to prove to
(Geisler) and to myself.”
Geisler had posted two victories in three previous bouts with Land, including a no-doubt-about-it pin in last weekend’s Midwest regional. But last night Land forced the action low — away from Geisler’s strength — and grabbed a 4-1 first-period lead. He expanded it to 8-2 after two and used a third-period takedown and near fall to seal the deal.
“I wrestled my game,” he said while accepting congratulations from a swarm of people. “I refused to go up top. I wasn’t gonna let him toss me.”
Even Justus, the mild-mannered cheerleader in Land’s corner, was impressed.
“Hunter is a very strong boy,” he said. “He thinks nobody can muscle him on the mat. Sometimes he gets overconfident and it costs him. He learned that lesson last year. But tonight, he stayed down for six minutes and wrestled a perfect match.”
Land was quick to thank Justus, East assistants Steve Kittrell and Greg Fox, Jr. and his parents, Jeff and Mitzi. “Without all of them, I couldn’t have done this,” he said.
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Lowery, a two-time all-state linebacker headed to N.C. State this fall, needed only 1:27 to stop Northern Durham’s Mario Paylor in the championship match.
“I wrestled him two other times and he still hasn’t made it out of the first period,” Lowery said. “I actually felt more relaxed for the bigger matchers.”
Lowery used his anatomy-class build to steamroll through the weight class, first pinning Pine Forest’s Robert Sanders (3:46), then nailing Garner’s Cameron Stancil (1:38) in the quarterfinals. He went the distance with Derek Brunson of Hoggard in the semis and surfaced with a 20-7 win.
“He was just loose,” said Buddy Lowery, Davie’s longtime coach and Patrick’s dad. “He had a certain confidence. He thought he should have won it last year, but just decided to get over that and come get this monkey off his back.”
Lowery wrestled like he had a bus to catch against Paylor (26-6). He scored with a first-minute takedown before catching him with another familiar move.
“I shot a good shot, a double leg, which is sort of like a football tackle,” Lowery said. “He went right down with that. I had that move in my head. I was gonna try that first and go from there.”
Lowery finished his storied Davie career with a 140-16 record — and finally, a state title. “This was the last thing I was gonna do as a high school athlete,” he said. “Couldn’t think of a better way to end it.”
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Salisbury’s Joseph Walker finished third in the 2A 189-pound weight class. The beefy senior opened the tournament with a pin and an overtime decision before dropping a 12-1 decision to Daren Burns of Bandy’s in the semifinals. “That guy was just a lot stronger than me,” he said.
But Walker entered the consolation brackets and wrestled back to beat Croatan’s Ryan
Onofrio, 5-0, in the consolation final, becoming a first-time place winner. “My main focus was to keep him on the mat, attacking him and not letting him attack me.
“It’s a great feeling,” he added. “But I also have a bitter taste in my mouth because I came here to finish first.”
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Davie senior Josh Stanley (40-6) earned a third-place medal at 135 when he stopped Cary’s Robby Fryer, 12-5, in the 4A consolation finals.
“I was fourth last year and really expected to be in the finals,” he said with just a hint of disappointment. “But I had a rough match in the semis and never got there.”
Stanley suffered a controversial 1-0 semifinal loss to Sanford’s Jacob Paul — the point was awarded for stalling. He had no such problem against Fryer (50-7).
“I knew he liked to lock up so I just kept shooting,” he explained. “I wanted takedowns. It was probably the best I’ve wrestled since I got here. I was really on.”
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Salisbury’s Jaron Cathcart (30-10 at 125), James Hobson (34-3 at 130) and Bobby Rhodes (21-3 at 160) each won three of five matches and advanced to the consolation semifinals before maxing out.
North Rowan freshman David Coward (103) pinned two opponents in 39 seconds before bowing out in the third round of consolations, finishing with a 6-5 overtime loss to East Davidson’s Tyler Wilson. He completed the season with a 30-4 record.
Teammate Aaron Rimer (25-4 at 152), a state finalist last winter, suffered a first-round pin on Friday. He won a pair of consolation-round matches yesterday but finished 2-2 and out of the money.
East’s Trenton Freeman (160), a first-time qualifier and runner-up in last weekend’s Midwest regional, was pinned by Hickory’s Corey Masters in the first round. He lost again in consolations and ended his season with a 28-10 record.
West Rowan senior Brandon McCarty (23-14 at 140) suffered a similar fate, falling 7-5 in the first round to Southern Nash’s Channing Perry and again in consolations.
Four Davie wrestlers were eliminated in the consolation rounds: Jordan Kahrs (35-9 at 140), Jacob Garner (35-11 at 145), Adam Sain (37-10 at 152) and Tyler Black (40-9 at 171).
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Davie totaled 53 points and placed fifth in the 4A team standings. Salisbury (33) was 14th in 2A and East (24) finished 23rd in 3A.
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