Falcons pick up pair of wins then falter at Beefs

The Nation Ford High Falcons wrestling team improved to 4-3 on the season with dual wins over Blythewood and AC Flora early in the week, struggled at the Beef O’ Brady’s Holiday Classic at Fort Mill High.

Nation Ford beat AC Flora 66-15 and Blythewood 48-27 in a three-way meet before heading across town to the Beef O’ Brady’s tournament over the weekend. Nation Ford finished 14th out of 15 teams from across the region and had just one individual place.

“It’s a solid tournament,” said Falcons’ head coach Dan Snell. “It’s solid competition. It is a wake-up call for a lot of guys. It’s a measuring stick for a lot of guys.”

Earlier in the week, Nation Ford got on a roll against AC Flora and never looked back. Despite being down 3-0 early, they managed to win three straight to jump into the lead. Austin Schumfert won at 220 by forfeit, followed by pins from Aronde Smith (285) and Dax Stegall (106). After a forfeit loss, Nation Ford was up 24-9 and won seven consecutive matches with wins coming from Raymond Gonzalez (120), Jeremy Kishbaugh (126), Cole Williamson (160) and Dylan Curtsinger (152) by forfeit, while Joshua Paxtor (132) and TJ Giarratana (138) got pin falls.

Jake Gravely also got a forfeit win at 182 pounds against AC Flora.

While it was a little closer against Blythewood, the results were the same with Nation Ford getting the win. Winning for the Falcons were Schumfert, Stegall, Gonzalez, Kishbaugh, Paxtor, Giarratana, Curtsinger, Williamson and Gravely.

At the Beef O’ Brady’s tournament, only Gravely placed for the Falcons, finishing third at 182.

This week the Falcons head to Dorman to face the Cavaliers in a dual meet before hosting their first home meet Thursday against Boiling Springs and Weddington.

This story was originally published December 12, 2016 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Falcons pick up pair of wins then falter at Beefs."