State 2A wrestling tourney, day 1: Emory falls in second round

Polk County sophomore Chase Emory dropped Friday night into the consolation round of the state 2A wrestling tournament, falling 8-2 in his 138-pound quarterfinal match.

Emory fell to West Wilkes’ Brandon Reynolds, the state’s second-ranked wrestler, in a match at Greensboro Coliseum. That sent Emory to face Trinity’s Austin Minish in a consolation-round elimination match. Originally planned for Friday night, that match is now slated for Saturday morning.

Reynolds, the state champion last year at 120 pounds, brought a 46-2 record into his match with Emory.

Earlier in the day, Emory rallied for a 6-5 win over Jacksonville Northside’s Douglas Bulla in a first-round match.

Bulla, a senior who entered with a 43-5 record, took a 2-0 lead midway through the first period with a takedown, but Emory cut the margin to 2-1 late in the first with an escape. Bulla began the second period with an early escape to up the lead back to 3-1, then scored a takedown seconds later to build his margin to 5-1.

But Emory rallied in the final seconds of the second period, escaping Bulla, picking up a penalty point and then recording a takedown to even the score at 5-5 entering the final period.

Emory began the third period as the bottom wrestler, then executed an escape with 1:06 left in the third period, a move that proved to be the winning point.

Emory is assured of finishing in the top 12 in the state.

FIRST ROUND RESULTS

Bernie Briley (Bunker Hill) 37-2 won by fall over Zach Jones (Currituck) 15-12 (Fall 4:59)
Khyree Colson (Thomasville) 48-3 won by decision over Joseph Royster (Franklinton) 24-6 (Dec 5-3)
Ernest Sutton (Northeastern) 28-0 won by decision over Montana Rose (West Caldwell) 42-13 (Dec 8-3)
Malik Smith (Monroe) 46-6 won in tie breaker – 1 over Austin Minish (Trinity) 36-16 (TB-1 2-1)
Brandon Reynolds (West Wilkes) 45-2 won by tech fall over Keegan Cordell (Carrboro) 36-14 (TF-1.5 4:41 (15-0))
Chase Emory (Polk County) 39-8 won by decision over Douglas Bulla (Northside (Jacksonville)) 43-6 (Dec 6-5)
Alphonso Martin (TW Andrews) 35-1 won by tech fall over Sakeem Mcintosh (Lexington) 39-7 (TF-1.5 4:20 (16-1))
Austin Meaney (Croatan) 42-13 won by decision over Tony Hernandez (Maiden) 28-11 (Dec 11-5)