JONES, FORTE & FORBES COMPETE AT SUPER 32
October 31, 2011
Greensboro, NC – Sophomore Jawan Jones and Juniors Whitney Forte and Terrell Forbes competed this weekend at the prestigious Super 32 Wrestling Tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center (http://super32.com/).
Jones, competing at 113 pounds, simply was unable to get into a groove from the outset of the competition. He lost his first-round match to nationally-ranked State Champion, Darian Cruz from Bethlehem Catholic High School (PA) by score of 1-10. This was Jawan's second shot at Cruz. He faced Cruz back in December at the Christmas City Classic and lost that match by fall. Then, in the wrestle backs, Jawan faced yet another familiar foe in 2011 Prep National placewinner Michael Still from Archbishop Spalding High School (MD). Still pinned Jawan at the National Prep tournament in February, and the result was the same this time around, as well, with Still securing the fall right at the end of the first period in 1:59.
Whitney Forte made the early season cut to 132 pounds and went 4-2 on the day. Whitney got off to a slow start Saturday morning. His first bout was against District champion, Jake Keller from Curwensville, PA. The match was knotted at 0-0 when, with :01 remaining on the clock, Keller slipped Whitney's grasp for a one-point escape and the victory. Whitney seemed to use that first-round near-miss as motivation moving forward. In his first wrestle-back bout he pinned Bennett Dodson from St. Thomas High School in Texas. Whitney then met Seton Hall Prep rival, and 2011 Region Champion, Eamonn Gaffney, who he beat 2-1. Next up was Virginia AA State 4th placewinner, Evan Jeffords, from Chancellor High School. Whitney beat Jeffords by a decisive 7-2 margin. Coincidentally, in the very next round Whitney had to face another 2011 Virginia State 4th placewinner when he met Justin Street from Grundy High School. This bout was a bit closer, but Whitney prevailed by a score of 4-3. In his sixth and final bout of the day, Whitney faced 2011 7th place finisher from Greenfield Central High School in Indiana, Josh Farrell. Although there was a great scramble in the closing seconds of the match, Whitney was not able to finish a double leg near the edge, and came up short 3-2.
Terrell Forbes, wrestling at 160 pounds, also went 4-2 on the day. Terrell came out of the gates strong with a 7-1 victory over Brandon Erfft, a Region champion last year from from Port St. Lucie, FL. In the second round, Terrell beat Daniel Smith from South Jefferson HS in Watertown, NY by a score of 3-1 to advance to round three, where he was upended by multi-time national and state wrestling champion, Chance Marstellar from Pennsylvania. Although Marstellar has more experience on the big stage, Terrell managed to hang with him relatively well, but ultimately came up short by a 1-7 score. Terrell's next bout was against 2011 NJSIAA 6th Placer, Vinny Favia from Christian Brothers Academy. Terrell eked out a 1-0 victory versus Favia, and then went on to defeat 2011 South Carolina 2A State Champion, Dennis Flores from Hanahan High School by the exact same 1-0 margin, in the following round. Terrell's sixth bout of the day was against yet another nationally-ranked opponent, Jason Luster. Like with Marstellar, Terrell fought hard but came up short on points, falling to Luster by a 2-6 score.
In all, the Gray Bees went 8-6 at the 2011 Super 32 Tournament which was the first-ever Super 32 attended by St. Benedict's wrestlers. Collectively, Jawan, Whitney and Terrell faced 3 nationally-ranked wrestlers, 4 State Champions, and 6 additional state placewinners on Saturday. Without a doubt, this experience will help to build the foundation needed to compete successfully during the upcoming winter season.
Click here for Terrell's final bout versus Jason Luster.
