Falcons defeat 3 teams at Seahawk Duals

The Nation Ford Falcons wrestling team finished sixth in the Seahawk Duals after beating three of the four teams it faced.

The Falcons beat West Ashley 57-17 and Beaufort, last year’s 3A state runners-up, 35-28 on day one of the tournament. On the second day, Nation Ford fell 51-21 to Alcoa from Tennessee and before beating Battery Creek 43-27.

“Even with that loss we had our chances,” said Nation Ford head coach Leon Boulware. “I feel good with us leaving the tournament and going into the Region (III schedule) this week. “

Nation Ford was led by juniors Jeremy Kishbaugh (113) and Dylan Curtsinger (145), who both went 4-0 during the tournament.

Against Alcoa, Nation Ford went up 3-0 early with a 9-4 win from Curtsinger, but then dropped seven matches to go 39-3. The Falcons had forfeit wins to Kishbaugh and freshman Dylan Tindall (106) and a pin fall victory by sophomore Joshua Paxtor at 120.

From there, Nation Ford needed pins in the remaining three matches to tie Alcoa, but lost all three matches, including two decisions.

The Falcons performed better against Battery Creek, going up 10-0 early with freshman Wesley Johnson (152) and junior Jacob Gravely (170) getting wins. Battery Creek then rattled off four straight wins to make it 24-10.

Tindall then got a win by forfeit and Kishbaugh got a pin fall victory in the first period which led to the Battery Creek wrestler refusing to shake Kishbaugh’s hand after the match and then aggressively brushed by him with his shoulder. Kishbaugh kept his composure and the referee quickly made sure tensions didn’t escalate.

Battery Creek was penalized three team points, giving Nation Ford a 22-21 lead. The Falcons built on that with a 2-0 decision from Paxtor and a forfeit win to junior TJ Giarratana (126). Sophomore Christian Trimble put things out of reach for Battery Creek with a first period pin for the Falcons at 132 and Curtsinger got a third period pin at 145 to end the dual.

Nation Ford starts its Region III schedule against Gaffney and Rock Hill at home in a three-way match.

This story was originally published January 4, 2016 at 10:22 AM with the headline "Falcons defeat 3 teams at Seahawk Duals."