Northwestern wrestling downs region foe Nation Ford. Will it be enough for a playoff berth?
Northwestern took a key Region 3-5A wrestling match over Nation Ford on Tuesday, likely setting the Trojans up for a playoff berth come February.
Northwestern won the contest, 36-25. It was its first region match of the season. The Falcons, conversely, fell to 0-3 in the region.
The Trojans still have matches against Fort Mill in a head-to-head dual, and then Clover and Rock Hill in a tri-match next week. Nation Ford still needs to face Fort Mill to finish off its region schedule.
However, for the Trojans, the win against Nation Ford could go a long way.
“It really only takes one win in this region to qualify for the playoffs,” Northwestern head coach Dwight Sterling said after the match. “We are young. We only have one senior on the team. Just to have the opportunity to go to the playoffs is big for us. It is a rebuilding year for us, but a win is a win.”
The 5A state playoffs have only three guaranteed spots from Region 3, according to the South Carolina High School League. However, there is one at-large spot that could come out of the region if the high school league allows it.
On the outside looking in is Nation Ford. The Falcons have one shot left to get a region win, and that comes against its rival, Fort Mill, on Jan. 28. Fort Mill (2-0 region) is undefeated in region play: The Yellow Jackets took down Rock Hill (1-1 region) earlier this month in an electric, close match — and they defeated Clover (1-1 region) on Tuesday, 33-32.
“We got to be able to bring it this time of year,” Nation Ford head coach Tony Forte said. “Our lineup is young, and we are dealing with sickness and injuries. We practically gave up four weight classes against Northwestern.”
Nation Ford versus Northwestern
In the dual between the two teams, Northwestern led from the first match and never looked back. The draw started the match at 170-pounds and saw the Trojans’ Noah Lee get a 10-6 win over Nation Ford’s Clayton Rygol to give Northwestern a 3-0 lead. Each team didn’t field a wrestler at 182-pounds, resulting in a double forfeit, but the Trojans picked up forfeit wins at 195 and 220-pounds to take a 15-0 lead.
Nation Ford got a win at heavyweight by Sean Grennan by forfeit and then another double forfeit at 106-pounds put the score at 15-6 for the Trojans. The Falcons made a match out of it in the early going as Solomon Moore got a pin fall at 113-pounds to make it 15-12, but Northwestern, from there, would win the next four matches to pull away.
Irving Cabrera (120), Jamey Nelson (126), Javon Pacheco (132) and Drennon Faile (138) picked up the four consecutive wins for Northwestern. Nation Ford won the three remaining matches as Steven Johnson (145), Caden Brandenburg (152) and Isaac Nieves (160) all picked up wins for the Falcons — but at that point, they were already mathematically out of the running for the win.
There is one more week left in the regular season for most wrestling teams. The Region 3-5A individual tournament will be held Jan. 31 at Fort Mill High School.
Mac Banks: mbanks@comporium.net, @MacBanksFM