Published Wednesday, January 27, 2010 10:47 AM
Updated Wednesday, January 27, 2010 10:49 AM

 

Gators capture region wrestling title

Anything other than this crowning moment would have been a huge disappointment for Goose Creek’s wrestling team.

“We’ve got a bunch of seniors and they’ve done a good job with their leadership,” Gators coach Leonard Covington said after his team’s 54-21 win over Berkeley Jan. 20 wrapped up the Region 7-AAAA title. “With all these seniors, I thought we should have (won the region championship).”

The region crown was the first for Goose Creek since 2007 and the Gators will be a No. 1 seed in the playoffs, which begin Feb. 1. They’ll begin the state duals against the fourth-place team from Region 6-AAAA.

“If we keep winning, we’ll be at home all the way throughout,” Covington said.

The match was tied 21-21 before Jawaun Foreman pinned his man at 152 pounds to set in motion a furious finish for the Gators.

Over the final five matches, the Gators had four pins and Berkeley forfeited the heavyweight match.

“We worked hard all season,” said senior 215-pounder Dontavia Reid, who recorded a pin in the last match contested on the mat. “We didn’t get the one we wanted in football so it feels good to get it against Berkeley tonight.”

“We put a lot of sweat and hard work into it so we wanted to win,” Goose Creek senior heavyweight Shawn Williams said. “It feels pretty good getting it against (the Stags).”

It was the Stags who denied Goose Creek the region championship and a state-championship appearance this past football season.

Both Reid and Williams were members of Goose Creek’s football team along with Foreman.

“We came prepared,” Foreman said. “Everybody was ready to wrestle.”

The Gators also defeated Military Magnet the next night and end the regular season Jan. 27 against Beaufort.