23rd Annual NCHSAA Dual Team Wrestling Championships Set

Championships in four classifications will be decided Saturday in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s 23rd annual dual team wrestling championships.

The championships are held on high school campuses, alternating years between Eastern and Western sites. All of the teams advancing to the Saturday championship matches in 2-A, 3-A and 4-A earned a pair of victories on Thursday night to gain a shot at the state title, while the 1-A schools wrestled only the regional round with fewer schools in the tournament.


Winston-Salem Parkland (49-0) seeks its sixth consecutive dual team title, with three at the 3-A level and then the last two 4-A crowns, as the Mustangs will host Southern Pines Pinecrest (32-1) for the 4-A title. Pinecrest beat defending Eastern champion New Bern and then Fayetteville Jack Britt on Thursday night to advance.

Parkland has an incredible 46-8 record all-time in dual team wrestling playoff matches, in 16 appearances in the tournament.

The 3-A final sends Southwestern Randolph (36-2) to Hillsborough to take on unbeaten Orange (22-0), the defending 3-A champions who are in the finals for the fifth consecutive year spanning two different classifications.

The matchup in 2-A is getting to be a habit, as Newport Croatan (17-2) will go to Monroe to wrestle undefeated Piedmont (37-0). This is the third consecutive year these two have met in the finals, with Croatan scoring a 36-18 victory in 2010 and then a 41-30 triumph last year.

In the 1-A championship, West Wilkes (21-1) goes to Ayden-Grifton (39-4). West Wilkes is the two-time defending 1-A champ and is in the finals for the fourth straight season.


NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
2012 DUAL TEAM WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS—23rd ANNUAL
Saturday, February 11, 2012

CLASS 4-A CHAMPIONSHIP: Southern Pines Pinecrest (32-1) at Winston-Salem Parkland (49-0); weigh-ins at 4 p.m., match at 5 p.m.

CLASS 3-A CHAMPIONSHIP: Southwestern Randolph (36-2) at Orange (22-0); weigh-ins at 5 p.m., match at 6 p.m.

CLASS 2-A CHAMPIONSHIP: Newport Croatan (17-2) at Monroe Piedmont (37-0), weigh-ins at 5 p.m., match at 6 p.m.

CLASS 1-A CHAMPIONSHIP: West Wilkes (21-1) at Ayden-Grifton (39-4); weigh-ins at noon, match at 1 p.m.