Inspired North Central wrestling squad falls short in state championship match
North Central’s wrestling team used inspiration from a fallen teammate to make another state championship appearance.
But the Knights came up short in completing the task Saturday as Liberty used a flurry of pins to win, 65-12, and capture the Class 2A championship at Dreher High School.
It was the Red Devils’ first wrestling team championship in school history.
“I’m just so proud of my kids and the way they came together and rallied around our lost teammate,” North Central coach Jason Brazell said. “They battled all year through adversity and never let it stop them.”
North Central was making its third championship appearance since 2019 and is still in search of its first wrestling title. The Knights played the season in memory of Justice Rutherford, who died in a shooting in Elgin back in July. Rutherford would have been a senior for the Knights.
Rutherford was on the minds of his teammates as many of them wore green-and-gold T-shirts bearing Justice’s name and big heart symbol on the back.
“I loved that kid and all of his teammates loved him, too,” Brazell said.
North Central got off to a rough start Saturday and never recovered. The Knights had a few wrestlers who almost didn’t make weight and had to shuffle their lineup.
Mekhi Whaley gave the Knights some momentum with a pin, 54 seconds into his heavyweight match, to get the Knights within 12-6.
But Liberty won the next four matches by pins from Jonah Pierce, Brian Reed, Trent Burdette and Blake Chandler to lead 36-6.
“It means a lot,” Liberty coach Dale Burrell said. “We have come so many times and fallen short. This time, we weren’t going to fall short. That wasn’t going to happen. We came here for business and took care of business.”
Other match winners from Liberty were Jason Reed, Trinity Ogelsby, Isaac Reese, Landon Teague, Dalton Shelton, Ian Vallecillo, JT Spence and Sam Bates.
North Central’s other match win came from Ashton Brazell.
The Knights will return a majority of the roster next year in hopes to win that elusive state championship.
“We ain’t done yet. We are going to be back here for years to come,” Brazell said.
This story was originally published February 11, 2023 at 2:52 PM.
