By By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
WINTERVILLE — Five Washington Pam Pack wrestlers earned the right to wrestle at the state tournament.
A senior, two sophomores and two freshmen finished in the top four at Saturday’s Class 3-A regional meet, held at South Central High School, which qualified them for this weekend’s state meet in Winston-Salem.
It’s the most wrestlers the Pack has qualified for the state tournament in over a decade.
Meanwhile, first-year coach Danny Riggs guided the Pack to a sixth-place finish in the team standings.
Heading to the state meet are senior Rodney Putney, sophomores Gabriel Gardner, Jonnie Smallwood, freshman Justin Moore and Dan Garcia.
Putney and Moore advanced to the championship round, where they both finished as runner-up.
Gardner, Smallwood and Garcia wrestled in the consolation round and they all placed fourth.
Putney dropped a 14-6 major decision to Bryant Lancaster of Charles B. Aycock in the 145-pound championship match. Putney was seeded second in the bracket. Lancaster, also a senior, was the top seed. The Pam Pack senior is now 29-5 on the season.
Moore lost a 10-4 decision to Havelock’s Henry Steinman in the 152-pound championship match. Moore entered the tournament tied for a top seed, while Steinman, a senior, was seeded fifth. The Pack freshman is now 37-6 this season.
Garcia was pinned by SouthWest Edgecombe’s Landon Lucas in 50 seconds in the third-place match at 103 pounds. Garcia entered the tournament as the 11th seed, while Lucas, a sophomore, was the fourth seed.
Smallwood dropped a 9-1 major decision to Aaron Parsons of West Carteret in the third-place match at 189 pounds. Smallwood was a 12th seed. Parsons, a senior, was the top seed.
Gardner lost a 5-0 decision to Jacksonville’s Gaivanni Resto in the third-place match at 119 pounds. Gardner was the fourth seed and Resto, a junior, was seeded fifth.
Gardner will be making his second trip to the state tournament. He had a tough draw as a freshman last year, falling in the opening round to Jacob Creed of Ragsdale in the 103-pound division. Creed went on to win the state championship.
Washington finished in sixth place in the team standings. Havelock won the regional meet with 157 points, followed by Charles B. Aycock (154), Southern Wayne (112.5), Eastern Wayne (96.5), Jacksonville (87), Washington (84), Southern Nash (83.5), South Central (79), Currituck (50), D.H. Conley (49), White Oak (47), West Carteret (45.5), West Brunswick (33.5), Rocky Mount (32), West Craven (28), SouthWest Edgecombe (19) and Nash Central (12).
The state meet will be held Friday and Saturday at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem.
Action begins Friday at 9 a.m. with the preliminaries, followed by the first round of consolations. The quarterfinals will start at 6 p.m. Friday. Action will resume Saturday at 8:30 a.m. and the finals are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.
Admission is $7 for the championship session. A two-day all session pass is $18 and a one-day pass is $12.