Swamp Fox wrestlers take down Summerville | Sports | Summerville Journal Scene

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Swamp Fox wrestlers take down Summerville

Published Thursday, January 13, 2011 5:18 PM

By Roger Lee
Summerville Journal Scene ®

photo by Roger Lee

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } From left, Summerville’s Andrew Hayes and Ashley Ridge’s Xavier Sierra battle in the 152-pound match.

photo by Roger Lee

Ashley Ridge’s Drew Gump (bottom) and Summerville’s MatthewStoll fight for leverage.

The Ashley Ridge grapplers knocked off wrestling powerhouse Summerville in their first attempt.

The Swamp Foxes and the Green Wave met on the mat for the first time Wednesday and Ashley Ridge earned a 36-29 victory at home. Summerville, which has numerous state championships under its belt, entered the match ranked seventh in the latest coaches poll. Ashley Ridge, which is in its third year of existence and just joining the 4-A class this school year, entered as the division’s 11th ranked team.

“This win is big for Ashley Ridge and our kids,” Swamp Fox coach Stacey Woods said. “But to be honest, I’m more pumped up about our guys being in good condition entering this match. Our guys were all prepared to go the full six minutes. They have worked extremely hard and when you do that you get lucky here and there. Things just worked out for us tonight, but I think the world of Tuck (coach Darryl Tucker) and those guys over there.”

The match was extremely tight. Three weight classes (171, 135 and 140) weren’t settled until the final 10 seconds of regulation and the night’s final contest (160) went into overtime. In both the 215-pound class and the 103-pound division, the Ashley Ridge wrestler fell behind by several points before pinning his opponent for a win. The Swamp Foxes also won by pin fall at 285, 112 and 152. Summerville got bonus points with pins at 119 and 189.

Wrestling started in the 171-pound class with Michael Porter earning an 8-5 win for Summerville. Marcus Ambrose pinned his opponent at 189 for a 9-0 Wave lead. Then Ashley Ridge won the next four matches.

Ashley Ridge Sophomore Drew Gump, a first-year wrestler, fell behind 9-1 at 215 after nearly being pinned in the first round. However, he caught his opponent off guard in the second period and pinned him.

At 103, freshman Demitre McNeal trailed 8-3 when he put his opponent on his back.

Summerville won five straight matches beginning at 119, with Gavin Perkins earning a major decision at 125 and Aaron Hansen doing the same at 130. The five wins gave the Wave a 29-24 lead with only three matches remaining. However, the Foxes won a decision at 145 and picked up 6 points with a pin at 152 to set up a dramatic finish.

Xavier Sierra’s pin at 152 gave Ashley Ridge a 33-29 lead that left Summerville needing a pin or major decision at 160.

Stephen Windham battled Andre Hill through regulation and into overtime, but Hill secured the victory for his team by gaining a 3-2 advantage in the third overtime period.

Ashley Ridge improved its record to 13-1, but Woods says his team still has a lot of work to do.

“Those guys at Summerville are tough so we are happy with the win,” he said. “I know Tuck is going to have them ready for the playoffs. Right now, we are still concentrating on making the transition to 4-A. I think this shows we are making strides and our coaches and wrestlers are working hard. However, we still aren’t well balanced and I would like to see us get mentally tougher.”

ASHLEY RIDGE 36, SUMMERVILLE 29

103: McNeal (AR) p. Facko. 112: Graham (AR) p. Pearson; 119: Wigger (S) p. Cuntino. 125: Perkins (S) majd. Waechter 15-2. 130: Hansen (S) majd. Uc-Tun 15-4. 135: Wood (S) d. Robson 4-2. 140: Hunter (S) d. Turner 5-4. 145: Wigant (AR) d. Cranford 4-1. 152: Sierra (AR) p. Hayes. 160: Hill (AR) d. Windham 3-2 (3 OT). 171: Porter (S) d. Clark 8-5. 189: Ambrose (S) p. Baker. 215: Gump (AR) p. Stoll. HWT: Smith (AR) p. Hines.

Contact Roger Lee @ 873-9424 ext. 213 or rlee@journalscene.com.

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