Just when it looked like Surry Central was getting back in the match, North Surry flexed its muscle in the middle of its lineup and pulled away for a 46-21 wrestling win last night.

The victory clinched first place in the Northwest 1A/2A Conference for the Greyhounds (18-0, 4-0), who are 50-1 spanning back to last season. Both teams came into last night’s match as the lone unbeaten squads in the conference.

The Greyhounds raced to a big lead in a match that began at heavyweight. Cory Cane, Austin MacMillian, Cody MacMillian and Colby Bowman each scored victories to make it 15-0. But the Golden Eagles (18-3, 3-1) stormed back with a pair of pins from Casey Felts at 125 pounds and Cesar Pena at 130 to make it 15-12.

“I felt real confident going in that at ‘25 and ‘30 we could catch up pretty quick,” Surry Central coach Stephen Priddy said.

However, that was as close as the visitors would get. The Greyhounds ripped off five straight victories, four of which came by pin, to extend their lead to 43-12.

“We took our lumps there, but we stayed focused,” North Surry coach Eric Jessup said. “We knew we had to win those middle matches, from ‘35-‘60 especially was important to us.”

Despite several pins and a lopsided score, the match wasn’t a breeze for North Surry.

“Nobody dominated this match tonight,” Jessup said. “Some of those matches could go either way. A takedown could have decided a little bit of momentum one way or another. Surry Central wrestled hard and I’m just glad we were up to it tonight. Coach Priddy really had them ready. It was everything we thought it would be.”

North is 2-for-2 against Central this season. The Greyhounds took a 63-6 decision Nov. 29 at the Jimmy Martin Classic.

Now that the match is over, Priddy will root for the Greyhounds and Jessup, a close friend since they attended Mount Airy in the early 1990s, to roll through the conference unbeaten. Priddy said overtaking the Greyhounds for the top spot in the conference is a mammoth task for the other schools.

“I guess anybody on a given night can catch somebody, but I’d like to see the team that does,” Priddy said. “They are just so solid from top to bottom and are able to move guys and put them in situations that are beneficial for them. They can get the matchups they want during the match.

“I hope they finish it out. Now since we lost to them, I hope they finish it out. That’s a little easier to say now.”

Contact Ed Phillipps at ephillipps@mtairynews.com or 719-1921.

NS 46,

SC 21

103 — Austin MacMillian (NS) d. Mason Snow, 4-1

112— Cody MacMillian (NS) wbf

119 — Colby Bowman (NS) d. Jacob Longworth, 8-1

125 — Casey Felts (SC) p. Levi Taylor, 2:43

130 — Cesar Pena (SC) p. Austin Collins, 3:27

135 — Christopher Murray (NS) P. Ethan Davis, 5:31

140 — Josh Thomas (NS) p. Jared Johnson, 4:49

145 — Ethan Hazzard (NS) md. Johnny Glass, 15-4

152 — Dillon Hawks (NS) p. Johnny Gonzales, 1:29

160 — Logan Younger (NS) p. Alex Salazar, 3:31

171 — Josh Stover (SC) p. Logan Maines, 3:45

189 — Zach Creed (NS) d. Jake Dellinger, 6-3

215 — Jared Salyers (SC) d. Austin Riggs, 7-1

275 — Cory Cane (NS) d. Wes Brown, 4-2