Wheatmore’s Sumners passes big early test on wrestling mats

Ayden Sumners (Bob Sutton / Randolph Record)

HILLSBOROUGH — Ayden Sumners didn’t have a chance to ease into the wrestling season.

The Wheatmore junior, a reigning state champion, was put to the test right away last month in a tournament.

He passed that assignment and all the others so far in ringing up a 16-0 record.

Sumners faced another state champion when he hooked up with Eastern Randolph’s David Lambert in the Cecil Mock Invitational on Nov. 22 in Ramseur. Both wrestlers won 126-pound state championships last February in separate classifications.

So here they were just a week or so into the season with what looked like a monumental clash.

“It was weird the nerves going into a match against another state champ,” Sumners said. “I didn’t fire off as much. … That mindset of wrestling another state champ really got to me, so I got to get out of that.”

Sumners prevailed 4-0, repeating a victory from last season when the duo met.

More recently, Sumners and teammate Dominic Hittepole, also a reigning state champion, won individual championships in Orange’s Jim King Invitational.

The earlier Sumners / Lambert match drew attention as they met at 132 pounds.

“I wrestled him last year and wrestled him again this summer, so this was like another one,” Sumners said.

Wheatmore coach Kyle Spencer was with other Warriors at a junior varsity tournament, so assistant coach Tony Hairston was on hand for the showdown in Ramseur.

“It was just good wrestling,” Hairston said.

There was no scoring until Sumners escaped in the third period and then padded the advantage with a takedown. Hairston said it was a valuable bout for Sumners.

“He likes the competition and likes to compete,” Hairston said. “You need that competition to see where you are, to measure yourself. It’s important to see what you have to work on.”

Sumners, who said he wasn’t anticipating a November matchup with Lambert, said he’s adjusting to having the label as state champion.

“You definitely feel it. You have a target on your back,” he said. “I feel that just makes me more confident and drives me to have to keep my name up there.”

Sumners has competed at 126 and 132 pounds so far this season after an extensive offseason of tournament competition. He said that was important to rising to a new level.

“Really getting every look I could this summer,” he said. “At Fargo (in nationals), setting my pace. Not just blow my whole gas tank the first period. Being able to set a pace the whole match.”

Orange tournament results

Sumners (126 pounds) and Hittepole (190) were dominant in the 29-team field at the Jim King Invitational on Saturday in Hillsborough.

Raleigh Millbrook claimed the team title with 161½ points to edge Cardinal Gibbons (154) and Pine Forest (148). Asheboro placed fourth with 127½ and Wheatmore took fifth with 121.

Summers registered pins in 47 and 37 seconds surrounding a second-period technical fall to reach the final, where he pinned previously undefeated Elijah Watson of Eastern Alamance in 1:01.

Hittepole improved to 15-0, recording two first-period pins and a third-period technical fall before defeating Raleigh Millbrook’s Matthew Dobo 14-1 in the title bout. Hittepole said he has emphasized conditioning and technique in gearing up for another championship run.

Wheatmore’s Dylan Harris (106) placed third and Spencer Moore (160) finished fourth. Harris had a 5-1 record with four pins.

Asheboro’s Esteban Santos (113) and Owen Chidester (215) were runners-up. Santos fell by 16-8 to Raleigh Broughton’s Henry Byrd in the final, while Chidester lost a 5-1 decision to Carrboro’s Noah Matamoros.

Asheboro’s Omar Basyouny (120) and Oscar Zelaya (132) placed third and Jonah Lester (285) was fourth.

In girls’ competition, Andrea Thornton of Asheboro was the 126 runner-up, losing by a first-period pin in the final to Cape Fear’s Ashtyn Westbrook.

Asheboro’s Grace Redding (235) was third and teammate Andreona Thornton (100) was fourth.