LAURINBURG — The Fighting Scots wrestling team held their first home meet of the season on Wednesday evening against Purnell Swett. The match with the Rams also kicked off the Scots conference schedule.
It was a tough first Southeastern conference outing for the Fighting Scots as they lost the match to Purnell Swett, 60-19 in record time. The match from start to finish took less than an hour to complete.
The quickness of the match began right out of the gate as the Scots Ethan Tone took the mat against Purnell Swett’s William Deese in the 132 pound weight class. The two middle weights were only on the mat 27 seconds before Deese managed to pin Tone to give the Rams their first six points of the match.
The 138 and 145 pound weight classes saw similar finishes as the Scots wrestlers were all pinned in under a minute and 30 seconds. Le’Shawn Tyson represented the Scots in the 138 pound weight class as he took on Purnell Swett’s Hart Locklear. Tyson tried his best to wiggle and squirm out of Locklear’s grasp but was pinned in 24 seconds.
Tryon Sheppard faced a similar end in his 145 pound bout with the Rams’ Jonathan Locklear who managed to pin Sheppard in 1:13 into the first period.
The Scots then moved to one of their strongest weight classes, 145 pounds, as Dakota McLean took the mat against Purnell Swett’s Rommie McNeil. Down 18-0 the Scots needed a win from McLean to have any chance of staying alive in the match.
McLean was the first of the Scots wrestlers to make it out of the first period, he had a slim 3-2 lead after struggling to get off the bottom most of the period. McNeil managed to take the lead after scoring four points with a half and a take down to lead McLean 6-4 heading into the final period. The two wrestlers continued to trade points back and forth and with 27 seconds left in the match McLean was down 6-9 but got into position for the pin, but ran out of time.
Purnell Swett increased their overall lead to 39-0 after three pins in a row in the 160, 170 and 182 pound bouts. In his 160 pound match, the Scots Ethan Locklear was pinned in 54 seconds by Purnell Swett’s Seneka Locklear. Scots Jeremiah McCrimmon dropped his 170 pound match to Ronald McNeil in 33 seconds before teammate Le’Quawn Tyson lost his 182 pound bout to the Rams’ Luke Blue in 54 seconds.
The Fighting Scots finally got on the board as one of their two returning wrestlers Nick Pruitte took the mat in his 195 pound weight class match up against Purnell’s T. Locklear. Pruitte was quick on his feet on the mat and wasted no time in taking Locklear down. With enthusiastic cheers from his teammates, Pruitte pinned Locklear at the 1:24 mark.
The Scots picked up their second win in a row with a forfeit victory in the 220 pound weight class. Deonta Harrington walked to the center of the mat, the official raised his arm and he walked off victorious. The Scots still trailed Purnell, 39-12 but were gaining ground.
In the heavyweight bout, the Scots sent out James Pruitte, who was at least 50 pounds lighter than Purnell’s heavyweight R. Baker. At a serious weight disadvantage, Pruitte did his best to stay on his feet and not let Baker wrap him up, but it didn’t take long for the big man to put Pruitte on the mat and get the pin.
Purnell took the 106 pound weight class by forfeit, but the Scots did pick up a point as the Rams wrestler took his singlet off before he was completely off the mat. Down 51-13 the Scots still had three bouts remaining, but a victory was out of their reach.
The 113 pound bout saw the Scots Seth English take on Purnell’s C. Dial. It was the most intense match of the night as English started out a little slow but managed to tied the match 4-4 at the end of the first period. English rode out the second period, but nearly got pinned before the buzzer sounded.
English took control in the third period and looked to have his man pinned, but his arm was propping his opponents head up, which made a pin impossible. The Rams wrestlers snuck in a near fall in the final seconds of the match to pick up the two-point decision victory, 12-10.
The Scots picked up another forfeit victory at the 120 pound weight class with David McLaughlin. The final match of the night was the 126 pound bout between the Scots’ Quazay Pearson and Purnell’s Jastan Simmons. Pearson started out strong with a 3-2 lead at the end of the first period, but got caught in a pin 1:24 into the second period to finish the match.
The Scots are back in action Saturday at South View High School. Matches begin at 8 a.m.
Amber Hatten can be reached at 910-506-3170.
