How 'heart of the lineup' helped Avery County wrestling stage epic rematch with Uwharrie Charter
NEWLAND — Robbinsville wrestling held a 13-point lead over Avery County with five weight classes to go in the NCHSAA 1A West Regional final Thursday.
But Avery County coach Matthew Dunn wasn’t worried. He had the heart of his lineup coming up: Ben Jordan at 126 pounds, Grant Reece at 132, Kenneth Pritz at 138 and Mason Bentley at 144.
“You’re talking about Ben Jordan all the way up to Mason Bentley, that’s the heart of the lineup where we score points,” Dunn said.
Jordan, Reece, Pritz, and Bentley all won their matches, giving Avery County a five-point lead with the 150 class to go.
Avery County’s Johnathon Gragg avoided a critical pin against Robbinsville’s Juan Rios, winning by a 3-2 decision that secured the 36-28 win to send Avery County back to the 1A state championship meet.
“I knew (Johnathon) Gragg was gonna pull it off,” sophomore Cael Dunn said. “I never lost faith in that. I knew it was gonna be close. And him winning that was huge for us as a team and huge for him on an individual level to boost his confidence.”
The victory sets up a rematch Saturday in Greensboro with Uwharrie Charter, which beat Avery County for the state championship last season. The Vikings’ loss ended their three-year run as the undisputed top 1A team.
The heart of Avery County’s lineup has been sensational for the Vikings, with the quartet going a combined 193-12.
“They’re really good at pinning,” Matthew Dunn said. “They’re good on top.”
Dunn credits Jordan and Reece’s leadership. They are both seniors and have done a great job helping the roster develop.
“It’s the guys that we count on,” Cael Dunn said. “And the guys that we know we can always put our money on. If it’s ever tight, we know we got those guys coming up, we start to sit back a little bit, we know we’re gonna be alright.”
POLL: Citizen Times and Times-News boys wrestler of the year
Another key to Avery County’s victory over Robbinsville was the team's refusal to panic despite trailing for most of the match.
“It’s not everybody’s job to go out there and pin or even win the match, but some people have to not get pinned or not get teched (technical fall) or just win the match by points or pin,” Reece said. “As long as everybody did their job, we knew we’d come out on top."
This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: How 'the heart of the lineup' helped Avery County wrestling win regional
