Last year, in its first season as a varsity program, the Seaforth wrestling team sent four athletes — Layne Armstrong, Chance Cody, Lockard Bowen and Judge Lloyd — to the 2A individual state wrestling tournament.
Now, with a full season under their belt and everyone returning, the Hawks are ready to make some noise at the team level.
“This group we’ve got, they’re special,” said Seaforth head coach Ryan Armstrong. “We came in last year and took it really, really slow, and as we progressed throughout the season things started to get harder and harder and harder. This year, we were able to start where we left off last year.”
This year’s Seaforth team has already started the season on a high note. At a quad match with Northwood, Chatham Charter and Southern Alamance on Nov. 16, the Hawks were victorious, picking up wins over each team — including 3A school Northwood, which sent three wrestlers to last year’s individual state tournament.
This year, Armstrong said he will be able to field a full roster, which means the Hawks will have at least one wrestler for each of the 14 designated weight classes. He credits the quick growth of the program to his fellow coaches at Seaforth, who have encouraged their players to try new sports during the offseason.
“Our future looks bright,” Armstrong said. “If it wasn’t for (football) Coach (Terrance) Gary, we wouldn’t have had the numbers we had the first year. He pushed his guys to get out there and try out, and we made them fall in love with the sport. It just kind of got contagious after that.”
Seaforth should be able to continue to build on its solid foundation beyond this season, as the Hawk currently don’t have a senior on their roster. Armstrong’s lineup is made up mostly of freshmen and sophomores, including a few newcomers who could become household names over the next several months.
One name to watch for in particular is freshman is Gabe Rogers, who comes into Seaforth as one of the most decorated middle school wrestlers in the entire state.
Competing at the 2022 Middle School state championships in February in the 90-pound weight class, Rogers won first place. Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Rogers has an overall record of 48-4 with 29 pins, seven tech falls and four major decisions, according to TrackWrestling.com.
Also expected to contribute for the Hawks this winter are sophomores Armstrong, Bowen, Lloyd and Cody, as well as juniors Josh Miller and Roger Eubanks. Of the group, only Armstrong was won a match at last year’s individual state championships.
The Hawks had another match against Graham High on Wednesday night. Seaforth’s next action is Saturday, as it travels to Carrboro High for the Rumble in the Jungle Tournament.
Seaforth will compete throughout the winter in preparation for the Mid-Carolina Conference championships, which take place on Jan. 21. The first and second rounds of the dual team state championships start the following week, with individual regional tournaments kicking off on Feb. 10.
Sports Editor Jeremy Vernon can be reached at jeremy@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @jbo_vernon.