Bears wrestling rolls to pair of dominant wins

Dec. 19—Pisgah wrestling is staying hot as the season rolls on, sweeping Owen and Robbinsville in Tuesday's three-team meet.

The Bears faced Owen first, rolling to a 69-11 win. Pisgah jumped out to a 24-0 advantage with an Owen forfeit followed by three Pisgah pins from Levi Curtis (120 pounds), Christian Gibson (126) and Kail Burnette (132).

Pisgah continued to dominate, picking up wins down the card, winning the final six matches between the two schools.

One of those was a dominant performance for Landon Pope at 215 pounds. The senior seemed to be fully in control throughout the match, tossing his opponent around the mat before finally closing it out with a pin in 1:24.

"It's pretty awesome. He's working hard to get back in wrestling shape, so that he can be where he wants to be at the end of the year," Pisgah Coach Ryan Gibson said.

Pope is still somewhat getting back into wrestling shape after the long football season. The difference between football shape and wrestling shape is pretty stark, according to Gibson.

"You're only going for short bursts (in football). You're not having to make your body go six minutes or longer, if necessary," Gibson said.

That work to get back into wrestling shape is something a handful of the wrestlers are still dealing with — and something Gibson dealt with when he wrestled, as well.

"They'll tell you it's awful," Gibson said. "I would agree. When I was in school, I played football, and then we wrestled. I dreaded football season ending and trying to get in shape for wrestling season."

After Pope finished his match, Diesel Chambers stepped in at heavyweight and put on another spectacle of a match.

Typically, a heavyweight match resembles two elks locking horns, but Chambers brought something else. He brought speed and a certain slipperiness that kept his opponent from really being able to get much offense going.

Chambers got the pin in 1:12.

"We've said it for years, when you're able to move at heavyweight, the entire game changes," Gibson said. "A lot of times, it's a very slow-paced match, not a lot of action. Being able to move like that at heavyweight is a game-changer. It makes all the difference in the world."

The match-up with Robbinsville was just as dominant for Pisgah, as the Bears won 66-11.

Early on, things were neck and neck. Both teams had claimed a pair of wins, and Pisgah led by just a single point, 12-11.

The 144-pound match featured Pisgah's Jacob Cruz-Reyes taking on Robbinsville's Devin Hall.

Heading into the third period, Cruz-Reyes trailed by a couple of points. The visiting Knights had a chance to grab the lead, and potentially the momentum, in the match.

Cruz-Reyes wasn't going to go down without a fight, claiming a couple of takedowns in the final two minutes to claim an 11-5 decision win. The win fired up the Pisgah side of the mat, and the Bears didn't lose another match the rest of the night.

"I think that was big for him to be able to do that because it's tough when you're down, and you're battling," Gibson said. "At the time, we didn't know it, but he had pulled his hamstring, and to see him grit out that performance and come back and find a way to win and to not have any excuse about it, that's awesome."

Cruz-Reyes also had a little more reason to celebrate. His win earlier in the night against Owen had marked the 100th of his career. Pope also hit the 150-win landmark with his win against Robbinsville.

"When you have kids that are able to hit those milestones, it just kind of shows you how important they've been to your program and how successful they've been," Gibson said.