Leesville Road wrestling
Holden O'Neal (left) scored an upset victory in Leesville Road's win over Enloe Dec. 9.
Pride wrestlers outlast Enloe
in Cap-7 opener
Two Leesville Road wrestlers earned their respective 100th career victories in Wednesday's Cap-7 Conference opener against Enloe, but the Pride's most compelling win of the night wasn't either of them.
Squared up against last year's league runner-up, Clay Trotter, Leesville's Holden O'Neal battled ahead early, shrugged off a late pin attempt, and sealed an 8-6 upset victory. The Pride wrestler never trailed in the bout.
"Holden has been in and out of the line up, but (he's) worked hard and gave us the points to pull it out," said Pride head coach Jason Wyss.
While O'Neal didn't known his opponent's credentials, he explained simply, "I did the best I could and tried to keep my hips up like my coach has taught me.”
In addition to O’Neal’s upset win, Leesville recorded seven victories by pin, and Dylan Edwards got the Pride rolling, scoring a fall in his 215-pound match.
Heavyweight Kirk Lincoln grappled with his opponent until 16.9 seconds remained in the second period, notching the pin and getting his 100th career victory.
Enloe battled back taking the next few matches, but Leesville's 135-pounder Bobby Griffin got the Pride back on track with a pin.
Two matches later, Matt Brown scored his own pin at 145 pounds, and not to be out done, the Pride's Kody Briggs scored a pin in his match's first period.
At 171, James Burchette also tallied his 100th career victory with a late pin in the third round. Andrew Washeck then closed out the night with a pin in the 189-pound division.
With the victory Leesville Road improves 1-0 in the conference standings heading into the weekend’s Bull City Classic at Durham Jordan High School.
Leesville Road senior Dylan Edwards goes airborne for a moment in his win Dec. 10.
