McCall denied state title repeat by Pine Forest's Radford
By Chris Koonce
Correspondent
The individual wrestling state championships held last weekend in Greensboro closed out the winter sports season for our area athletes.
South View senior Timmy McCall, the defending state champion, posted the best result of our local wrestlers as he finished in second place in the 189-pound division. McCall won three matches to advance to the final where he faced Kevin Radford of Pine Forest in a rematch of the 2009 state final. McCall was unable to win his second consecutive state title as he was outscored, 5-2.
McCall had won the previous three encounters with Radford.
Radford's upper-body maneuver broke a 1-1 deadlock with about a minute remaining, putting McCall briefly on his back and scoring four points. McCall's escape at the 16-second mark wasn't enough to overcome Radford's lead.
"I wasn't wrestling smart," McCall said. "I lost it myself. . It's the states. You expect the best out of everybody. Me (not) being at my best is my own problem. I was wrestling well this tournament, and I slipped up."
Despite coming up short in the final match, McCall had an outstanding season as he pinned 25 opponents and compiled a record of 43-2.
Three other wrestlers, Kamal Leak of South View, Darius Delgado and Jared Bartram of Jack Britt, followed similar paths in earning fifth-place finishes in their weight classes. All three won their first two matches before suffering losses in the semifinals. They each bounced back to record a win in the final match of the consolation bracket and posted 3-2 records in the event.
Leak finished the season with a 44-11 record, while Delgado compiled a 45-8 mark and Bartram won 43 of 50 matches.
Boys' basketball
Jack Britt was the lone area team to survive the first round of the state playoffs as the Buccaneers knocked off Pinecrest, 62-60. Jack Britt stopped the Patriots' 14-game winning streak and was the only No. 4 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed in the 4-A East bracket.
The Buccaneers were unable to pull off another upset as their season came to an end in a second-round loss at Knightdale. Jack Britt scored its fewest points of the season in a 39-31 defeat to finish with a record of 14-15.
Senior Raheem Jolliffe was the squad's leading scorer and averaged 13 points per game.
Correspondent Bob Sutton contributed to this report.
Upcoming schedule
Today
Baseball - Westover at South View, Jack Britt at Hoke County
Softball - New Hanover at South View, Jack Britt at Hoke County
Girls' soccer - South View at Richmond County, Gray's Creek at Jack Britt
Boys' tennis - Douglas Byrd at Gray's Creek
Thursday
Girls' soccer - Gray's Creek at Pine Forest, Scotland County at South View
Boys' tennis - Cape Fear at South View
Friday
Baseball - Gray's Creek at Pine Forest, South View at West Bladen
Softball - Gray's Creek at Pine Forest, Richmond County at Jack Britt
Girls' soccer - Pinecrest at Jack Britt
Saturday
Girls' soccer - Union Pines at Jack Britt