Rams begin quest for state title

Three consecutive trips to the state semifinals have all resulted in losses for the Havelock wrestling team. Havelock coach Ed Cruz believes this year’s version is built to take the next step and win a 3A state championship.

The second-ranked Rams (25-1) will open the state duals against Nash Central (24-12) at 6 p.m. today at C.B. Aycock High School. The winner advances to play C.B. Aycock (17-7) or Rocky Mount (13-10) later in the evening.

“Our goal, quite frankly, is to win a state title,” Cruz said. “I don’t think you can go to the state playoffs and not have the mentality to go all the way. They are confident in knowing what they have to do to get that done.”

According to retrorankings.com, Havelock has six wrestlers ranked in the state — sophomore Matt Bogard (112), junior Christian Holleman (119), junior Zach Jaramillo (130), senior Ray Davis (145), senior Terrance Zaleski (152) and senior Thurman Green (215).

Zaleski is the top-ranked wrestler in his weight class. Holleman, Jaramillo and Davis are also ranked in the top five.

On Saturday, Havelock won the Coastal Conference tournament championship. The Rams crowned seven wrestlers conference champs and advanced eight to the finals.

Each of the Rams’ ranked opponents won their championship bout, along with Jake Sanborn (125). Michael Newby (135) also reached the finals, but lost to Jacksonville’s Clayton Davenport.

“We are pretty stacked,” said Jaramillo. “We all push each other in the wrestling room. There’s not one guy that has not benefited from his teammates.”

The Rams beat Nash Central earlier this season, 63-18. They haven’t seen C.B. Aycock or Rocky Mount.

While Nash Central doesn’t have one ranked wrestler, C.B. Aycock is led by ninth-ranked Justin Farrell (119). Rocky Mount is led by six-ranked Chandler Phillips (135).

Last year, Havelock lost to Dudley, 40-27, in the semifinals. In 2008, they lost to Eden Morehead, 38-30. In 2007, Eden Morehead beat Havelock, 36-27.

“We feel like we are capable of winning it this year, but we are going to take it one round at a time,” Zaleski said.