Randleman duo pins down tourney titles

Randleman’s Alex Raymundo, left, and Kolby Garner were champions in the Eagle Invitational. (Bob Sutton/Randolph Record)

MEBANE – Two Randleman wrestlers were champions in the Eagle Invitational, a two-day event that ended Saturday at the Mebane Arts & Community Center.

Alex Raymundo and Kolby Garner collected the individual titles.

“They just wrestled tough,” Randleman coach Andrew Molina said. “I think it being two days was good for them, and getting pins helped.”

Raymundo, a 106-pound sophomore, pinned Carson Giannotti of Southern Alamance in 4:35 of the final after an earlier pin and decision.

“Just went hard and wrestled,” Raymundo said. “Everything and anything can happen.”

Raymundo’s pin came in 67 seconds against Western Guilford’s Naziere Ford before he defeated Orange’s Chris Winstead 12-5 in the semifinals.

At 144 pounds, Garner registered a pin of top-seeded South Granville’s Jonathan Hayes in the final. It was Garner’s second fall of the tournament, which began with a bye before a second-period pin of Carson Gardner of host Eastern Alamance.

Garner, a junior, said there were challenging moments during the tournament. He won a 7-1 decision against Orange’s Talan Pearley in the semifinals.

“Not giving up when it was hard,” Garner said.

Randleman’s Jesus Garcia was the 150-pound runner-up, falling in a 7-5 decision to Southern Alamance’s Andrew Dudley in the final.

Kobe Kinley of the Tigers also placed second, falling in a 17-5 decision to Ryan Jones of Tunstall, Va., in the title bout at 165 pounds. Kinley reached the final with three pins. In the final, both wrestlers created first-period pinning opportunities.

Randleman placed third among 16 teams with 142 points, trailing only champion Orange (206) and runner-up Southern Alamance (147½) in the 16-team event. The Tigers were without Braxton Walker, a standout in upper weights, as he was unavailable.