New Bern making a push

Junior Pa Sanneh, a first-year wrestler, joined the New Bern wrestling team at the start of the season. The 160-pound wrestler made an impact for the Bears in the first two rounds of the 4A dual team state tournament on Tuesday.

Sanneh pinned his first opponent in 30 seconds. In the next round, he won by major decision.

The Bears knocked off Clayton and Durham Jordan at Clayton High School, putting them just two wins away from the spot they occupied last year — in the state finals.

“(Pa) won both of his matches, big time wins,” said New Bern coach Bo Lansche. “He got a pin in one and a major decision in the other. It was big.”

New Bern (20-2), the No. 1 seed out of the Mideastern Conference, will travel to Cary High School on Thursday for two more rounds.

The first match of the evening is against Pinecrest (30-1), the top seed from the Southeastern Conference, at 5 p.m. If the Bears survive that match, they would challenge either Cary (26-0) or Jack Britt (20-3).

“I think the guys are confident going into the next round,” Lansche said. “They are going to have to be because Pinecrest is a tough opponent. They lost only one match all year, to Lake Norman, so it’s going to be a really tight match.”

Lansche is expecting solid matches from Eric Milks (138), Jon Sherman (126), De’Andre Jones (182), Di’Mitreus Davenport (195), Chris Waters (220), Max Stout (145), Brian Best (120), Nick Zapata (285) and Nick Wheeler (106).

“When you get to this point, anything can happen,” Lansche said. “Last year, on paper, it looked like we could beat those two teams that we had on Thursday. It’s all up to these guys and what they decide to do when they step on the mat.”

New Bern freshman Jaden Edwards also impressed his coach in the first couple of rounds on Tuesday. Edwards went toe-to-toe with one of Clayton’s top wrestlers, before getting pinned in 3:35.

He bounced back to pin his Jordan opponent in 4:49 in the second round.

“Jaden Edwards, a freshman, wrestles at 152, but only weighs around 147,” Lansche said. “He stayed off his back for two whole periods against one of Clayton’s toughest kids. He ended up getting a win for us against Jordan.”

The team that comes out of Cary, will square off against either Parkland (47-0), Southeast Guilford, Mooresville or Sun Valley for the state championship on Saturday.

Parkland, who beat New Bern 52-12 in the state finals last year, has won 263 straight dual team matches.

“We just have to go out and wrestle our match,” Lansche said. “We can’t let the other team’s record get into our head. We have to make sure we are doing what we do and not letting them set the tone of the match. We need to come out and be aggressive.”

Adam Thompson can be reached at 252-635-5670 or at athompson@freedomenc.com. Follow Adam on Twitter @Adam_matic.