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Titans tough in tourneys

Jon Franklin

Special to The News

Published: December 31, 2008

In what is becoming a season marked by solid individual performances, the McDowell Titans wrestling team traveled to Waynesville Dec. 13 and participated in the 39th Annual NEO Mountaineer Classic along with some of the best teams in western North Carolina.
The Titans' Caleb Null spearheaded the team's charge into the top 10 with his first-place finish at 125 pounds. McDowell scored 63 points en route to a seventh-place finish. Enka won the tournament, totaling an astounding 258 points.
Null began his road to the gold medal in dominating fashion as he pinned his first three opponents in the first period. He pinned Luke Bauknecht of Smoky Mountain with 1:34 remaining. Polk County's Cade Underwood only lasted 33 seconds into the bout. Campbell Aspray of Brevard was next as Null pinned him with 1:24 remaining.
Cody Sprowles of Enka managed to get out of the first period, but ultimately fell to the Titans' captain by minor decision. Null delivered the exclamation point to his performance by dismantling Jaron Ayres of Robbinsville in the finals by technical fall.
Jacob Hensley (152), who has been on a tear since returning to his normal weight class, captured second place. Hensley began the tournament with a victory over Franklin's Evan Spence by default. The junior then picked up a pair of pins, first over Nicholas Tousey of Polk County in the first followed by a second-period victory over Tylor O'Dell of Virginia.
Hensley placed himself in the finals with a minor decision triumph over Enka's Zach Creasman, but Hensley lost a heartbreaker in the finals to Brevard's Ed Lyda by minor decision.
McDowell's Nathan Marsh (171) was the other Titans grappler to place in the top five. Marsh went 3-2 on the tournament as he acquired pins over Chad Rothaug of Polk County and Caleb Smith of Swain County followed by a minor decision over Smoky Mountain's Chad Harper.
One week later, McDowell traveled to Rutherfordton to compete in the Hilltopper Holiday Havoc at R-S Central.
The Titans placed four wrestlers on the victory podium and totaled 151.5 points, placing fifth in the 11-team tournament.
Bunker Hill won the team championship, totaling 193 points.
Null once again climbed the mountain as he captured the championship in the 125-pound tournament. Null's second gold run in as many weeks began as he pinned Shelby's Brandon Allison in the second period. Null won a minor decision over Bunker Hill's Brandon Hicks in the semis and then pinned James Glenn of Crest in the finals.
Hensley shook off defeat in the finals at Tuscola as he seized the top prize in the 152-pound meet.
Hensley dominated the field in the first three rounds as the junior knocked off R-S Central's Joel Lowery by major decision, East Rutherford's William Gondar by pin, and then won by major decision over Jacob Tipton of West Henderson.
In the finals, Hensley was only able to win by a close margin, finishing off Ian Rogers of Shelby by minor decision.
Freshman Tyrell Burel (130) fell short in the finals, capturing an impressive second place.
Burel won his first two matches as he pinned Coy Tschudy of Mountain Heritage 44 seconds into the bout and overcame Jake Kennedy of Crest by minor decision. Kameron Painter of Polk County claimed the gold medal, pinning Burel at the halfway point in the championship bout.
McDowell's 103-pounder, Patrick Lee, also put on an impressive run, claiming third-place honors.
Lee pinned East Rutherford's Jesse Jones and Tyler Padgett of Chase in the first rounds before being knocked out of title contention by Sam Sacheo of Bunker Hill.
Lee picked up two more pins for the bronze as he overcame Jones a second time and Jaime Boone of Mountain Heritage.
Six other Titans placed in the tourney. Aaron Patrick (140) and Nathan Marsh (171) each earned fourth place. Skylar Ledbetter (112) and Tyler Radford (189) both placed fifth while Jaime Mills (145) and Josh Kelly (Hwt.) each finished sixth.