Depth helps Mustang wrestlers take title at Bearcat Invitational

Smoky Mountain wrestlers celebrate with the championship trophy after winning the Bearcat Invitational held Saturday at Hendersonville.

The Mustangs compiled 120.5 points to Swain's 104 in the 16-team field. Completing the top five were Roberson (101) followed by Asheville (87) and Statesville (85.5).

"We won although we didn't have any individuals win," Coach Ian Roper said. "We had eight people place so that gave us the total points to win it."

Finishing second were Cory McElprang at 112 pounds, Andy Matheson at 135, Nathan Novgrod at 145 and Chris Hilton at 189.

Matheson, a transfer from Illinois wrestling with the Mustangs for the first time, had to work his way up from a bottom seed. He reached the finals with a pin of North Buncombe's George Collins, a 20-9 decision over Reynolds' Ben Green and a pin of Rosman's Matt Owen. He was pinned in the finals by Statesville's Andy Madison, a two-time defending state champion.

Novgrod opened with a bye before pinning Polk's Chris Salerno and Rosman's Ronnie Leonard. He led in the third period of the finals before losing a 9-4 decision to Mitchell's Adam Keith.

Hilton started with a bye and advanced to the finals with a pin of Statesville's Jason Moore and a 14-4 decision over Garren Eddington of Reynolds. Roberson's Jason Tolbert claimed a 9-1 decision in the finals.

Placing third were Brandon Woodard at 130 pounds and Chris McFalls at 171.

Woodard received a bye and pinned Chris Barrett of Reynolds. He was sent to the consolation round after being pinned by Ryan Tabor of North Buncombe. He bounced back by pinning Rance Shuler of Robbinsville and Barrett in a rematch.

McFalls had a bye and took an 11-6 decision from East Henderson's Indelacio Urbina. He dropped a 4-2 overtime decision to Roberson's Josh Slagle. In the consolation bracket, he decisioned Hendersonville's Nick Rectenwald 7-5 and again got the best of Urbina 9-1.

Coming in fourth were Jake Scott at 119 pounds and Kevin Price at 160.

Scott gained a bye and took a 4-3 decision from Chad Messick of Statesville. He was pinned by Swain's Adam Lambert but came back with a pin of Hendersonville's William Wierman. He lost a 9-4 decision in the consolation finals to Reid Tabor of North Buncombe.

Price received a bye before being pinned by Swain's Steven Howell. He pinned Martin Chavez of Mitchell and picked up a forfeit from Hendersonville's Tim Parris. In a rematch with Howell, he was decisioned 11-4.

"It's a real good tournament that we've placed in the top five before but never won," Roper said. "There were some quality teams there. It was tough competition for us, but we came through with a solid team effort."

Back to Sports: 01/11/01.