24 local athletes headed to state wrestling championships

GREENSBORO — Twenty-four area athletes have qualified for this weekend’s N.C. High School Athletic Association state individual wrestling championships.

Wrestlers from Ashbrook, East Gaston, Hunter Huss, North Gaston, South Point, East Lincoln, Lincolnton, North Lincoln and West Lincoln will compete at the Greensboro Coliseum in what the NCHSAA calls one of the largest single high school sporting events in the Southeast. The two-day meet will bring together more than 600 wrestlers. Almost 1,300 individual matches will be contested over the course of the event en route to crowning 56 different individual champions. There is one winner in each of the NCHSAA’s 14 weight divisions and four different classifications.

For the first time, the 1A classification will have its own individual weight class champions as the sport has continued to grow. This will also be the first time the wrestling championships have been in Greensboro since 1994. For the past seven years they have been hosted by Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem.

Wrestling will start at 9 a.m. Friday and will run until Saturday evening with the consolation and championship finals starting at 6 p.m.

Local qualifiers:

Class 2A

Chad Stamey, West Lincoln (103-pound weight class)

Ty Conant, West Lincoln (112)

Nate Smith, North Lincoln (119)

David Sailors, West Lincoln (125)

Emory Greer, Lincolnton (130)

Jake Nelson, North Lincoln (130)

Jordan Handy, East Lincoln (140)

Taylor Barber, West Lincoln (145)

Gene Goodson, Lincolnton (160)

Glen Self, West Lincoln (171)

John Navey, West Lincoln (189)

Class 3A

Josh Smith, Ashbrook (103)

Hunter Dunn, South Point (103)

Brandon Cagle, South Point (119)

Ash Davis, South Point (125)

Darius Stocks, Hunter Huss (125)

Ali Charles, Ashbrook (135)

Cody Hendren, Hunter Huss (160)

Chase Warren, Ashbrook (189)

Inigo Hughes, North Gaston (189)

Mikey Dotterer, Ashbrook (215)

Class 4A

John Grigg, East Gaston (119)

Jesse Grigg, East Gaston (135)

Drake Fortner, East Gaston (145)