'Clones spill Pats, lose to D-B

By Wes Holtsclaw
STAR STAFF
wholtsclaw@starhq.com

   The Elizabethton Cyclone wrestling team came out with a big team win in its first team series, but ran into a team that was unstoppable Thursday night.
   In a four-way dance held at Treadway Gym, the Cyclones laid the smackdown on the Sullivan East Patriots with a 39-30 team victory despite four forfeits.
   Elizabethton then ran into a Dobyns-Bennett team that handed Science Hill its first region team loss in five years earlier in the night.
   The Cyclones fell 51-18 with three wins, two via forfeit, but Patrick Jenkins came up big as the only Cyclone with two pins during his home finale as a senior.
   "We had a good performance tonight against East and we don't match up real well against Dobyns-Bennett, who beat Science Hill for the first time in five years in a regional match," said Elizabethton coach Bill Potter. "We wrestled well, especially against East -- they beat Daniel Boone and Tennessee High on Tuesday."
   Jenkins pulled out a big win over the Indians' Jonathan Salamat, who defeated him earlier in the season with a first period pin.
   Jenkins was trailing 8-5 with under a minute to go, then he dropped Salamat with an inside cradle and held him until the 11-second mark, when he got the pin.
   "Patrick exorcised some demons in that last match," said Potter. "Patrick was up on Salamat earlier this year and Salamat ended up pinning him in the first period. He was wanting that win."
   "He pinned me in the first period in a tournament earlier this year when I got in a bad position and he rolled me," said Jenkins, the senior from Roan Mountain. "I was determined to win this match. He was on his back for awhile, but I finally got him. We did good tonight.
   "I was glad to win both of my matches tonight because it was the last time I will wrestle here."
   Jenkins pinned Sullivan East's Joe Harris in his earlier match to seal Elizabethton's team win over the Patriots.
   Justin Chizmar and Zack Potter also recorded two wins apiece for the Cyclones.
   Chizmar pinned Floyd Crane in the third round of his first 160-pound class match, then took a victory over Dobyns-Bennett's David Kappa via forfeit.
   Potter defeated East's Eric Clark, 12-2, in their match before taking a victory via forfeit in the 189-pound class.
   Mitch Cornett opened up with Elizabethton's first victory of the night over East in the 152-pound class, holding out to beat Reece Wheeler, 7-5, in a back-and-forth outing.
   East got their only victory via pinfall in the team outing when Wayne Smith defeated Jared Taylor in a tight down-to-the-wire battle.
   The other Elizabethton senior, John Ross came out on fire in his first 130-pound battle against Taylor Woodward. Ross forced a pinfall in the second round of the match, but later fell to DB's Josh Bates.
   Cyclone Cory Henson went the distance to take a win over Zack Morris of East in the 140-pound match, but fell to Dobyns-Bennett's Phil Singleton in his 135-pound match.
   The Cyclones have one more tournament before they begin action in the region tournament in three weeks.