Remembering Grant W. Wilson

December 18, 1990 - February 26, 2009

Grant W. Wilson
(photo - Grant Wilson's myspace.com page)

Death is never something that comes easy. Anytime a member of our family passes we feel the void left by them.

Whenever you become part of a team, each person spends countless numbers of hours practicing, traveling, and competing with the other members of the team. The team becomes another family to each individual member.

With Thursday's passing of Grant Wilson, myself and the current members of the Rocky Mount wrestling team have lost a brother. Personally, I knew Grant before he became of member of the Gryphons family, when his brother Windell was still competing on the football field and wrestling mat.

My sophomore season was Grant's freshman year. As the years progressed, you could always see Grant's determination come out on the mat. Whenever he wrestled, Grant gave everything he had, as he was never one to take losing lightly. But regardless of the outcome, Grant would soon return to his normal self.

His presence will be felt as his fellow senior classmates at Rocky Mount High School move through their final months of school and into the rest of their lives. Grant will also stay within everyone whose lives he has ever come in contact with. Because he was that type of person.

Grant had intended to become a part of the United States Coast Guard after graduation this spring.

He leaves behind his mother, father, and three brothers, teammates on the Rocky Mount wrestling team, and fellow employees at the Highway Diner, as well as a countless amount of friends and people whose lives he has touched during his time with us.

Although his time may have seemingly been cut short from us, his passing was pre-determined by a higher force. As we go through the coming weeks and months, Grant will still be a part of our lives, watching from his seat in the sky-boxes.

We love you and miss you Grant.

Good Things Still Happen in Sports

So often in sports, we only hear about the guy getting in trouble. With the law, their league, whatever. For family problems, weapons charges, drugs, or steroids.

But we never hear about the good things that happen.

This article I first heard about on one of ESPN's afternoon panel shows, and after some resarch, found out more about it from ESPN.com's story. That link is here - http://sports.espn.go.com/highschool/rise/basketball/boys/news/story?id=3914375.

What a story this is. I have decided to not disgrace sports and those who are clean by arguing and talking about the steroids issue. Athletes take steroids for me-me-me. This story is about he other player, and doing what was right.

This is the story of Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Madison senior Johntell Franklin. On February 7th, Johntell lost his mother, Carlitha, to cancer. She was only 39 years old.

Johntrell, a senior on the basketball team, was not thought to be fit to play in his team's game that same night. His coach, Aaron Womack Jr., did not include Johntrell's name on the official scorebook because he thought Johntrell would miss the game.

The opposing team, DeKalb (Ill.) High School, had tried to have the game postponed due to the situation, but Womack would have no part in it. He argued that DeKalb had come two plus hours for the game. The game was then delayed another two hours as Womack himself was with Johntrell.

During the game, Johntrell arived at the gym during the second quarter. Fans gave him a standing ovation as they became aware he was in the gym.

But Johntrell Franklin didn't want to watch the game. he wanted to play in it.

Since his name wasn't on the official scorebook, Milwaukee Madison would be called for a Technical Foul if Johntrell stepped on the court. DeKalb tried to decline the foul call, but officials argued they were required to call the penalty.

Upon the foul call, DeKalb coach Dave Rohlman gathered his players and asked who wanted to take the shots. Senior point guard Darius McNeal wanted to take the shots.

McNeal walked to the line, alone on the floor, as the other players and coaches watched from the sidelines. The fans sitting in the stands, watching as well.

With all eyes on him, McNeal stepped to the line and went through his normal free-throw routine. What he did next had nothing regular about it.

Instead of shooting the regular free-throw, McNeal instead flipped the ball a few feet in front of him where it bounced a few times before rolling over the end line, constituting in an attempted 'shot.' McNeal followed the attempt up with another of the same variety.

McNeal turned away from the line to a standing applause from everyone in the gym, as his sportsmanship was saluted.

"I did it for the guy who lost his mom," McNeal said. "It was the right thing to do."

DeKalb eventually lost the game, 62-57.

Johntrell finished the game with ten points.

His coach, Womack, was so impressed that he sent a letter to the Dekalb newpaper that first reported the story.

At the end of his letter he added this - "I'd like to recognize Darius who stepped up to miss the shot on purpose. He could have been selfish and cared only for his own stats [I hope Coach Rohlman doesn't make him run for missing the free throws]."

Good things still do happen in sports these days after all.

Twin Counties Fare Well in State Wrestling Tournament

By Nick Phillips
Rocky Mount Telegram Correspondent
Saturday, February 21, 2009

WINSTON-SALEM — A season’s worth of hard work and dedication paid off for Tarboro’s Corey Smith on Saturday night, as the senior captured first place at 189 pounds in the 1-A/2-A division of the NCHSAA State Wrestling Championships.

Smith, who entered the state tournament sporting a 23-2 record, picked up four more wins on Friday and Saturday to become the Twin Counties’ lone state champ. Smith, the Eastern Regional No. 3 seed, made it to the top of the podium by defeating Mideastern No. 2 seed Brandon Moss of Thomasville in the first round, then took down the Western region’s No. 1 seeded Markus Brown.

In the championship semifinals, a bloody Smith prevailed over Tommy McMillian of North Surry by a 3-2 margin.

The championship match pitted Smith against Brach Walker of Mayodan McMichael. Walker, the Mideastern region’s No. 1 seed, gave Smith another hard-fought match. Smith came away with a 7-6 victory and the title of state champion.

Smith wasn’t the only Twin Counties representative to battle deep into the afternoon session.
In the 3-A classification, both Nash Central’s Donny Wacenske and SouthWest Edgecombe’s Landon Lucas finished out their careers by capturing fourth place in their respective weight classes. The two took different paths to their final destination.

Lucas, at 112 poundss, suffered a shoulder injury in his opening-round loss Friday night. The senior didn’t want to end his career by forfeiting away his spot, though.

He came back later to grit out a 6-0 win over Daniel Deardoff to advance to Saturday’s action. A good night’s rest later, Lucas rolled off three straight victories to place himself in the position to wrestle for third place.

There he faced Southern Alamance’s Joe Deangelo, the No. 1 seed out of the Mideastern region.
Between the grueling three previous matches and the shoulder pain, Lucas was unable to muster enough to defeat Dengelo, falling by an 18-2 score.

At 171 pounds, Wacenske was 2-0 headed into Saturday’s action. He fell to Western No. 1 seeded Chris Hill of Mooresville in the championship semifinals.

Now in the losers’ bracket, Wacenske earned a 7-3 decision victory over Greensboro Dudley’s Guillermo Magallon to advance to the consolation finals.

There, he faced Western No. 2 seed David Atwood of Tuscola. A tough, back-and-fourth battle ensued, and the two were tied after three periods. In overtime, Atwood caught Wacenske on his back for the pin and the win.

Although Wacenske and Lucas lost their final prep matches, their door prize was the title of fourth-best wrestler in the state of North Carolina.

In earlier Saturday action, both Northern Nash’s Corey Johnson and Rocky Mount High’s Ahmir Scott bowed out in the consolation second round. Scott fell to NEW 6 Conference foe Vincent Webb of Wilson Fike in overtime.

Also in the consolation second round, Rocky Mount’s Chandler Phillips was pinned at 135 pounds by Morgan McDaniel of Kannapolis Brown.

Webb went on to lose in the third round of consolation to Winston-Salem Parkland’s Antwan Davis.

Northern Nash’s Joe Young won his 215-pound second round consolation matchup, pinning Kaleb Rierson of Cameron Union Pines before falling in the third round of consolation action.

Overall, the NEW 6 Conference had 15 wrestlers advance to the championships, with the six advancing. Smith was Tarboro’s only representative.

-This article was written by me as a special to the Rocky Mount Telegram. It is my first article to be published in a major newspaper. Hopefully there will be many more of these to come! Here is the link to the article on the Telegram''s website - http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/sports/high-schools/twin-counties-fare-well-in-state-wrestling-tournament-448737.html

Gryphons close out Championship Run; Season

After advancing to Saturday's action in the Consolation bracket, Rocky Mount's two remaining wrestlers didn't last long.

Within the first twenty minutes of the day's action, junior Ahmir Scott had lost to NEW-6 foe, Vincent Webb, by a 3-1 decision in overtime. Scott was in control up 1-0 with thirty seconds remaining in the 3rd and final period before Webb escaped to tie the score at 1-1 and extend the match into overtime. Web would go on to secure a takedown in the first overtime, where first points scored wins the match.

Phillips didn't fare as well, falling to Morgan McDonald in the first period. McDonald used a takedown off the opening whistle to gain control before taking the pin.

Both won't hang their heads long, as they gained valuable experience for next year, their senior seasons, as they look to be back here next year this time.

Day One of the State Wrestling Tournament

Of the six Gryphon wrestlers that qualified for the NCHSAA State Championships, only two were able to survive a grueling day one in their respective brackets.

Juniors Ahmir Scott and Chandler Phillips both advanced to Saturday's action after both lost in their first round match-ups.

In the 112-lb bracket, Scott, the East regional's #2 seed, lost to West #3 seed Jacob Freeman of South Rowan in the day's opening round. Scott was able to bounce back with a strong, 9-4 decision victory over Isnardo Alberto of Greensboro Dudley in the Consolation First Round to secure a spot on Saturday morning's line-up.

Phillips will move on to wrestle in the 135-lb division after defeating Luke Ziglar of Morehead with an 8-2 decision in the Consolation round. Phillips, the East's #4 seed, lost his opening round match-up to Midwest #1 seed Jacob Creed. Creed entered the Championships with a 49-1 record.

Friday ended the season for Freshman J.K. Williamson, who ended his first high school season with a 29-14 record.

Consecutive losses for Fransisco Alfaro, Dedrick Silver, and Guy Williamson ended their varsity careers. All three were able to join the select, 100-career win club earlier this season.

Saturday's action begins at 8:30 am. Check for periodic updates throughout Saturday on the action.

Six Gryphon Wrestlers Qualify for State Tournament

NEW 6 Conference Produces 15 Qualifiers

Rocky Mount head coach Jermaine Jones was intense all weekend while his wrestlers were on the mat competing in the NCHSAA East Regional Individual Tournament at South Central High School in Winterville. You could hear his booming voice shouting instructions to his guys even while sitting in the upper reaches of the bleachers. He argued calls, questioned scoring, tended to wounds and plugged bloody noses.

Jones studied the bracket sheets between his team's matches. He studied wrestlers his guys would be going up against in the next round. At one time Friday night, he was coaching one wrestler in the main gym while two more of his wrestlers waited on their mats in the auxiliary gym. Finish coaching one winning wrestler, on to the next.

After 2 days of all that intensity, Jones had enough energy to smile. A big, wide smile of satisfaction. He had coached 9 members of his team into qualifying status for this Regional. Six of those wrestlers came out two days later as State qualifiers.

Ahmir Scott (112), Francisco Alfaro (130), Chandler Phillips (135), J K Williamson (160), Dedrick Silver (171) and Guy Williamson (215) will all be heading to Winston Salem next weekend.

Alfaro will be making his third trip to compete at Joel Coliseum, while Silver will be competing for the second time. J K Williamson is thought to be the first Rocky Mount wrestler to qualify as a freshman.

The "Gryphon Six" will lead a contingent of 15 NEW 6 Conference wrestlers to compete at the state tournament. Northern Nash qualified 4 wrestlers, Nash Central 3, while Southwest Edgecombe and Fike qualified one each.

There is a pool of 22 teams within the East Region. The Gryphons placed 6th in team points, tops among NEW 6 schools. They finished just 2 points behind White Oak for 5th place. Northern Nash (7th) and Nash Central (9th) both finished in the top 10. Havelock finished first, followed by host South Central, Currituck and Washington.

Below is a list of NEW 6 Conference wrestlers who will be in Winston Salem Friday and Saturday, February 20-21 -

103 - Cory Johnson, Northern Nash
112 - Vincent Webb, Fike ; Ahmir Scott, Rocky Mount ; Landon Lucas, Southwest Edgecombe
119 - Donald Battle, Northern Nash
125 - Jacob Robinson, Nash Central
130 - Francisco Alfaro, Rocky Mount
135 - Chandler Phillips, Rocky Mount
140 - Tavis Richardson, Northern Nash
145 - Steven Luper, Nash Central
152 - None
160 - J K Williamson, Rocky Mount
171 - Dedrick Silver, Rocky Mount ; Donnie Wecenske, Nash Central
189 - None
215 - Guy Williamson, Rocky Mount ; Joe Young, Northern Nash
HWT - None

Dedrick Silver Joins 100-Win Club

Dedrick Silver joined two fellow senior wrestlers in the elusive 100 career varsity win club with a victory in the first round of the Individual Regional Tournament on Friday, February 13.

Despite missing handfuls of matches over the years, delaying his wrestling to be part of Rocky Mount's powerhouse football playoff teams, Dedrick reached the 100 win plateu in his own style; with a quick pin over his 171-pound opponent.

It is rare enough for wrestlers to get 100 wins in a career, which makes Silver's feat all the more impressive. The wrestling season starts roughly in the first weeks of November, which affects almost no athlete besides the few who are participating in playoff football. Taking into consideration the Gryphon football team has played through Thanksgiving the past several years, all the matches Silver has missed on the mat have added up over his career.

The fewer chances you have, the more difficult it is to get there.

Dedrick has made the most of the opportunities he's had. In addition to notching win number 100, he won 3 more times Friday and Saturday, placing him 3rd in the Individual Regional which earns him the title of "Two-Time State Qualifier."

-Senior Dedrick Silver

(photo - Nick Phillips)

Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th, a day associated with bad luck. The name of this phobia is paraskavedekatriaphobia, derived from the Greek words meaning Friday and 13, with phobia attached on the end.

Despite the associated fear with the day, several athletes have had milestone days on a Friday the 13th.

The great Babe Ruth hit his 700th home run on this day, in his final season with the New York Yankees. Ruth would play the next season with the Boston Braves before retiring.

All-time hits leader Pete Rose got his 4,000th hit on a Friday the 13th with the now disfunct Montreal Expos. Rose would become baseball's all-time hits leader the following season. Rose's career in baseball would be going downhill from here..........

Finally, Roger Clemens recorded his 300th win on Friday the 13th. His career is also falling apart in front of him........

Is it ironic that although Rose's and Clemens' milestones were historic, that both of there baseball careers abruptly came falling down in a cloud of questions (Clemens) and disgrace (Rose).

Also, the year 2009 will have three Friday the 13ths, today (February), as well as March and November.

Gryphon Wrestlers Head to Regionals

Nine Rocky Mount wrestlers are headed to South Central High School in Winterville to compete in the State Individual Regional Friday and Saturday, February 13-14. The wrestlers will weigh in starting at about 4:00, with matches slated to begin about 5:30. The top 16 wrestlers, by winning percentage in each weight class, will compete for the opportunity to qualify for the State Individual Tournament in Winston Salem's Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum February 20 and 21.

The East Regional is a double elimination tournament. Lose once, go to the Consolation Bracket, with a shot at taking a 3rd or 4th place finish & a ticket to Winston-Salem. Lose twice, and your 2008-2009 season is over. Four wrestlers from each division will be eliminated on Friday, while only four will be left undefeated and in the Championship bracket. Four wrestlers will be left on the brink of elimination, at 1-1.

Saturday's action is scheduled to begin at 9am.

Here is a list of the nine Gryphons who qualified for the East Regional by weight class, season record and tournament seeding:

112 - Ahmir Scott 25-2; #2 seed
130 - Francisco Alfaro 35-4; #2 seed
135 - Chandler Phillips 23-7; #4 seed
140 - Johnny Stewart 29-11; #4 seed
152 - Justin Atkinson 12-14; #13 seed
160 - JK Williamson 25-11; #4 seed
171 - Dedrick Silver 22-3; #3 seed
189 - Darryl Cross 22-4; #4 seed
215 - Guy Williamson 33-4; #3 seed

Rocky Mount's Harrison Inks with Braves

- RM's Nick Harrison
(photo - David Hahula)

Rocky Mount senior Nick Harrison was one of many across the country who signed their National Letter of Intent on Wednesday to play football at the next level.


Harrison was joined by three other Gryphons as he signed with the University of Noth Carolina at Pembroke on Wednesday in the Rocky Mount High School library. He will be joined by 30 other student-athletes in Pembroke next fall, as part of the University's largest recruiting class to date.


Harrison recorded 57 tackles his senior season to go along with a deflected pass and a blocked field goal attempt. He also led the team with seven blocks and three fumble recoveries. He was part of a group of seniors who accumulated a 27-3 record over the past two seasons, and has been clocked at a quick 4.8 seconds in the 40-yard dash.


UNC-Pembroke ended the season with a 9-1 record in only their second year of play. The defense allowed only 11.2 points per game, tops in the nation among Division II schools. That same defense will return all its starters, as well as adding 14 new defensive players (12 freshman, 2 transfers) next season.


There are currently no other former Rocky Mount football players on UNC-Pembroke's roster, although there are four former football players enrolled in school. The UNC-P men's track-and-field team includes 2006 RM grad Greg Byrd, a 200- and 400-meter runner, and Charles Penny, a jump specialist and 2008 RM grad.


Rocky Mount head coach B.W. Holt is also a graduate of the school, which was called Pembroke State while he attended.


- RM head coach B.W. Holt
(photo - David Hahula)

Information from this story was taken from both rockymounthigh.ihigh.com (Charles Alston) and UNC-Pembroke's athletic site, uncpbraves.com.

Gryphon Wrestlers Fall to Patriots

The Rocky Mount wrestling team traveled to Southern Alamance High School for the second time in three years to compete in the Team State Tournament. The results were the same, as the Patriots upended the Gryphons 45-36 in the first round.

Silver started the night out right for the Gryphs, pinning his opponent at 171 for a quick 6-0 RMHS lead. Two matches later, Guy Williamson was given a forfeit at 215 to keep Rocky Mount ahead, 12-6.

After taking the Heavyweight match and getting forfeit victories in the next 4 weight classes, the Patriots were in control of the match, up 36-12. They were far enough ahead of the Gryphons on points that they did not send out wrestlers for 140 thru 160 pound matches.

This was the last dual match of the year for a tough bunch of guys. The team was unable to put a full line up on the mat for the entire year, giving up between 18 and 24 points each time they wrestled. In spite of that, they won more matches than they lost and secured a tie for the regular season Conference Championship. The team will be back on the practice mat to prepare for the Individual State Tournament.

The team will travel to Winterville, where South Central High School will host the 3A Regional next Friday and Saturday, February 13-14. The top 16 wrestlers in each weight class qualify for the double elimination tournament, with the top four at each weight advancing to the State Tournament. Good Luck to each of them, and congratulations on another fine season.

Alfaro named MOW at Conference Tournament

Senior Gryphon wrestler Francisco Alfaro was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the NEW 6 Conference individual championship tournament held Saturday at Southern Nash High School.

Alfaro notched his fourth individual title with a pin in the 130 pound championship match. He becomes the first Gryphon wrestler to win a conference crown in each of his four years at Rocky Mount High.

Eight Gryphons reached championship matches. Four came away with titles.

Junior Chandler Phillips won all three of his matches on the day, including a pin to take the title at 135.Freshman J.K. Williamson took the 160 pound title with a 5-1 decision over his finals opponent. Senior Daryl Cross took honors at 189 with a 9-6 decision in his final conference match. Both Williamson and Cross won two matches on the day.

Also representing the Gryphons well were runner up finishers Ahmir Scott (112), Johnny Stewart (140), Dedrick Silver (171) and Guy Williamson (215).

The team will travel to an unknown destination on Tuesday, February 3 to participate in the Team State Tournament. They will represent the NEW 6 Conference as the #2 seed and will face Southern Alamance in the first round. Nash Central secured the conference #1 seed by taking the team side of Saturday's event.

The Gryphons finished third as a team on Saturday, behind Northern Nash. With a second place finish, the Knights will hold their breath to see if they have earned an at-large bid into the tournament. Check out NCMAT for bracket information.

(photo - Nick Phillips)

- Gryphon's Eight Conference Medalists (Four Champions and four runners-up)