Eighth-ranked Bruins make their coach sweat

Published 11:14 pm Tuesday, January 9, 2007

Northwest Whitfield coach Allen Tucker wasn’t quite ready to embrace his team’s relaxed confidence heading into Tuesday night’s dual with Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe.

With a 34-24 victory over the visiting Warriors in Tunnel Hill, the Bruins gave Tucker a performance that ultimately eased any lingering worries.

“They seemed confident, but I’ll tell you what, I was shaking,” said Tucker, whose team is ranked No. 8 in the latest GaSports.com coaches’ poll. The Warriors are No. 7.

“I’ve worried about this for two or three weeks. I knew this was going to be a close match and one match could swing it either way … I knew there were going to be toss-ups. We’re about as even as you can get.”

The Bruins (23-5) trailed 18-7 after six matches, but got a momentum-stealing pin from heavyweight Trey Selby, took the lead two matches later when 112-pounder Merle Bolton did the same and clinched the team victory with two matches remaining as 130-pound senior Rafael Romero held off an early challenge from Justin Owenby to earn an 8-3 decision.

Romero quickly took down Owenby only to have the LFO freshman score a reversal, then spent most of the first period fighting off his opponent’s attempt to turn him. But Romero scored an escape with seconds left in the period to take the lead and took charge of the match from that point forward.

“I was like, ‘I’m not getting pinned tonight,’” Romero said.

The victory capped a 7-0 run for the Bruins through Area 7-4A, sewed up a No. 1 seed at Saturday’s area duals at Rome High School and gave them a more simplified route to their preseason goal of a first-ever appearance at state.

In a season with plenty of nice moments already, this was the best so far for the Bruins.

“This is probably the biggest match that we’ve had here since I’ve been the head coach,” Tucker said.

For Romero, it was an especially satisfying senior night. Along with 171-pounder Drew Ahmed, he is all that remains of a class that began with 21 freshmen but shrank over time.

The commitment has paid off for Ahmed and Romero, who has accepted the increased responsibility of being a veteran.

“They look at us like we’re better,” Romero said of his teammates. “They look forward to us winning and it gets them pumped up to wrestle.”

One key to the Bruins’ confidence against LFO might have been their diligence in the practice room during the recent holiday break, when they worked out twice a day several times.

“We were ready to go. We weren’t going to lose,” Romero said. “It was our practices … we were all griping about it, but it was for the best.”

Selby’s tide-turning win — the Bruins won six of seven individual matches afterwards — came soon after a moment of controversy.

LFO’s Derek Laney turned Kyle Burnette in the 189-pound match and nearly pinned him, but the buzzer went off a split-second before the referee slapped the mat. Warriors coaches protested the call at the scorer’s table, but it stood as a major decision victory for Laney.

Other winners for the Bruins were Steven Walkey (160), who scored a major decision, and Russell Royal (103), Matt McCamy (119), D.J. Bennett (125), Kenny Michael (140) and Jermaine Hester (152), all winners by decision.

Bolton’s pin of LFO’s Chase Hale in the 112-pound match was the night’s quickest, coming in just 24 seconds.

In junior varsity matches between Murray County and Northwest, the Indians’ Heath Lents (130), Derrick Carnes (135), Josh Granger (140), Jake Carnes (140), Brian McMillan (152), Dale Manis (152), Cody Dana (160), Zach Dills (171) and Angel Langley (171) all won by pin. Kolby Youell (135), Andrew Baldwin (145) and David Thornbury (160) all won by decision.

Dalton (11-6, 5-3 Area 7-4A) split a pair of duals in Ringgold, beating Rome 36-30, but falling to the host Tigers 38-33.

Jordan White (103), Eduardo Gutierrez (112), Henry Torres (119), Luis Barajas (130), Spencer Ruble (135), Tyler Maney (145) and Taylor Duckworth (160) all went 2-0 on the night.