Young Team Off to Promising Start

Freshman Tyler Spurling wins both matches Tuesday night.

     2005 was the last time the Warriors beat West Lincoln, but Tuesday night our young team pounded the Rebels' young team 62-18 losing only 3 matches.
     The toughest test of the night came in the first match against defending 1A Dual State Champions West Wilkes. It was a see-saw battle and EG fell behind 30-13 before we came into the strength of our line up (113-152). East got pins from Jack Reep, Eric Harvey and Jacob Grigg. With freshman Tyler Spurling getting a major decision and Mark Bedard adding a decision the match came down to three key match ups. Jared Bassett's 1-0 win over state runner-up Jake St. Germain. Alex Leford's 7-3 victory over two time state placer Dustin Huffman and D'Andre Hunter-Cathy's close 2-4 loss to two time state champion Jorge Lima.
     In the last dual match of the night, Tyler Spurling started the roll against West Lincoln with a second period pin, followed by pins from freshman Chris Peterson 220 lbs, Eric Harvey 113 lbs, Michael Bedard 120 lbs, Jared Bassett 126 lbs, Jacob Grigg 132 lbs, Alex Ledford 145 lbs, and Jack Reep 152 lbs. D'Andre Hunter-Cathy picked up a 5 point tech fall with an 18-3 win.
     After the come behind win Saturday against Ashbrook, and Tuesday night against West Wilkes the team seems to be coming together as a dual team. There is still a lot of work to do in order to compete with the top teams, but if the Warriors can get some experience where we are young and cut out some of the pins we are giving away we could have a solid dual team by February.
     The last time East Gaston started out 9-0 was 2004. That was a pretty good year for the team. A State Tournament title and four consecutive state champions Jared Grigg 103 lbs, Rob Tate 112 lbs, Justin Sparrow 119 lbs, and Dusty McKinney's fourth state title at 125 lbs. Who knows how this season will shake out, but it should be exciting to watch unfold with multiple state champion possibilities.