Just in the second year after the North Moore wrestling team was resurrected, the Mustangs were able to bring home a conference champion in the Yadkin Valley Conference tournament held Saturday at East Montgomery High School. Junior Dean Thomas went undefeated in the 195-pound class to capture the league’s title.

The Mustangs had two other wrestlers to finish as runners-up, one to finish in third place and two in fourth place.

North Moore finished fifth overall as a team in the eight-team field. Next on the Mustangs’ schedule is the Midwestern Regionals scheduled Feb. 17-18 at Monroe High School. The top-four finishers in each weight class qualifies for the state tournament held in Greensboro the following week.

Kyle Kidd and Xisto Hernandez made it to the championship brackets with Kidd losing a 7-4 decision to Chatham Central’s Carson Joyce in the 182-pound class. Teammate Hernandez fell to North Rowan’s Cecil McCauley by a 9-3 decision in the 220-pound class.

North Rowan, ranked second in the state in 1-A, took the overall team championship, winning eight of the 14 weight divisions, giving them a commanding 252.5 points. Chatham Central took second place with 149 points followed by host East Montgomery with 132.5 points, South Davidson 101, North Moore 80.5, West Montgomery 57, Albemarle 53 and South Stanly 13.

North Rowan and Chatham Central qualified for the state dual team tournament that started yesterday.

To win the conference individual championship, Thomas drew a first-round bye, having an overall record of 16-5. Thomas handled East’s Drew Russell in the semifinals by a 10-8 score, putting him in the title bout against Chatham Central’s Seth Elkin, who Thomas pinned at the 3:34 mark. The two wins give Thomas an 18-5 overall mark.

Kidd, who has a team-best 24-4 record, also drew a first-round bye and defeated North Rowan’s Xavier Robinson 3-1 in the semifinals. Hernandez has a 13-12 record and drew a first-round bye as well in his class.

Hernandez defeated East’s Undre Ross 11-5 in the semifinals, qualifying him for the championship battle where he fell to McCauley.

Oliver Castrejon placed third in the 170-pound class, going 3-1 during the tournament. Castrejon opened the tournament defeating Chatham Central’s Graham Jones 10-9. Castrejon was pinned in the second round to eventual champion Thomas Fowler from North Rowan. Fowler is ranked No. 1 in the state in his weight class.

The loss dropped Castrejon to the consolation bracket where he won 17-2 over South Stanly’s Sawyer Barlett, putting him in the battle for third place against familiar foe Jones. Castrejon prevailed once against by a 3-2 decision.

Logan Stancil took fourth place in the 145-pound class when he forfeited his match for third place. Stancil won his first-round match in the consolation bracket over East’s Kevin Cagle, pinning him at the 2:17 mark.

The other Mustang to finish fourth was freshman Joe Davis in the 285-pound class. Davis won his first-round match, pinning South Stanly’s Jonathan Beachum with one second left in the first period.

Davis lost to eventual champion Will Robertson in the second round. Robertson is currently ranked second in the state in 1-A wrestling.

The loss sent Davis to the consolation bracket where he pinned Albemarle’s Tyler Hatley in the third round. Davis lost his bid for third place, being pinned by Chatham Central’s Casey Canterbury.

Cole Garner opened his tournament in the 138-pound class, pinning South Stanly’s Jeff Helms at the 1:23 mark. Garner lost his second-round match to eventual champion Parker Smith from North Rowan.

Garner was eliminated from tournament, falling to Chatham Central’s Jared Matthewson.

Tristin Mackey also went 1-2 during the tournament in the 113-pound class. After falling to Chatham Central’s Michael Wolf, Mackey bounced back in the next match, defeating East’s Areli Leyva 4-2. Mackey was eliminated in the next round by Albemarle’s Grant Plyer.

North Moore other wrestler participating was Alvaroc Coronel in the 160-pound class.

After losing to eventual tournament champion, North Rowan’s Aaron Chambers in the first round, Coronel had to withdraw from the tournament.