After two cancelled dual meets and four missed days of practice due to weather conditions, the Pinecrest grapplers shook off the icicles to compete at the Colt Clash Tournament Saturday at Cape Fear High School in Fayetteville.

The Patriots matched up against wrestlers from 14 other teams to finish in second place, with 172.5 team points, behind Croatan High School, who are currently considered the top dual team in the 2A division in the state.

Helping to clinch that runner-up trophy were the six varsity wrestlers who placed in the top three in their weight classes. Team captains Garrett Bateman and Dustin Roemer both placed first in the 135 and 145 classes, senior Nathan Frederique placed second at 160, and Zac Lupien, Dallas Roemer and Luke Fetla placed third at the 103, 130 and 215 weights.

Top placer Garrett Bateman brought his record to 20-6 with three pins against Croatan’s Austin Mackey who is currently ranked No. 8 in 4A at 135, Da’Vonte Howard, of Douglas Byrd, and Green Hope’s Josh Ether.

Dustin Roemer snagged first place and kept his spotless record — he’s now 26-0 — with two pins against Cape Fear's James Hall and Sam Baird, of Green Hope, and a tough 5-2 decision win over Sam McCauley, ranked second in 2A at 145 pounds. Nathan Frederique (17-8) won a 13-1 major decision over Westover’s Chris Bailey and pinned William Flynn, of Terry Sanford, before losing a 9-17 major decision to Green Hope’s Brian Hinckley to finish in second.

Zac Lupien (24-3) lost a tight 7-8 decision to Croatan’s Grayson Mills, but then redeemed himself with three consecutive pins, against Hunter Lyons of Cape Fear, Brennan Patton of Western Harnett, and Chris Shepard of Douglas Byrd, to come back for his third place finish.

Dallas Roemer (24-3) handily pinned St. Paul’s Tavarius Hall before dropping to the consolation bracket with a tough 2-4 decision loss to Matt Williams, ranked fifth in 130 in all divisions, of Cardinal Gibbons. Roemer bounced back when he pinned Terry Sanford's Jordan Blackwell and beat Stephen Falcon, of Douglas Byrd, with a 17-1 tech fall to finish third.

Luke Fetla (16-8) beat Jeremy McNeill of Hoke with a 11-2 major decision before dropping to the consolation rounds from a close 5-7 decision loss to Terry Sanford's DaShaun Kelly. Fetla was then able to come back and finish third with a 6-4 decision win over T. Seipler, of Green Hope, and pin Western Harnett’s Zachary Poling in the finals.

Pinecrest will next face off against Richmond and Scotland in a tri-meet at Richmond High School on Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. before heading to the Riverside Duals on Jan. 29 at 10 am.

The Patriots will host their last conference meet of the season against Hoke for Senior Night at 6 p.m. on Feb. 2 at Pinecrest.