The North Moore wrestling team split a pair of Yadkin Valley Conference matchs in a tri-meet held at West Montgomery Wednesday. After falling behind 30-12 to the host Warriors in the opening match, the Mustangs rallied to take five of the final six matches for a 42-36 victory over West.

In the second match against South Stanly, North Moore once again fell behind, trailing 36-3. But the Mustangs rallied to within three points. However, the Rebel Bulls took the final two matches for a 48-32 victory.

The two-match split gives the Mustangs a 2-3 league mark and 5-12 overall.

The Mustangs travel to Thomasville Saturday for a tournament and then journey to second-ranked North Rowan Wednesday for a conference match.

Most of the more competitive bouts took place in the South Stanly match, where the Mustangs forfeited the first two bouts in the 120-pound and 126-pound divisions. North Moore’s Hunter Shaw (132 pounds) and Cole Garner (138) were pinned in the first round, leaving the Mustangs trailing 24-0.

North Moore finally got on the scoreboard when Logan Stancil (145) took a three-round 6-3 decision over South’s Josh Lewellen. The Mustangs’ Ethan Morrison (152) and Alvaroc Coronel (160) were pinned by their Bulls’ opponent, with Morrison falling in the first round and Coronel in the second round with 1:01 showing on the clock.

The Mustangs started to make their move in the next match when Oliver Castrejon (170) pinned Sawyer Barlett late in the third round. This was Castrejon second win of the night with a forfeit in the West Montgomery match.

Kyle Kidd (182) picked up his second victory on the night with a forfeit, moving North Moore closer to the Bulls on the scoreboard. Dean Thomas (195) kept the Mustangs’ rally going with a pin over South Stanly’s Brandon Lowery in the first round. Xisto Hernandez got his second forfeit of the night in the 225-pound class.

After falling behind 10-3 in the battle of the heavyweights, North Moore’s Joe Davis pinned the Bulls’ Jonathan Beechum with 31 seconds left in the second period, pulling the Mustangs to within three points.

But North Moore had to forfeit their 106-pound bout and Tristin Mackey was pinned in the second round by South Stanly’s Jesse Williams, giving the Bulls the conference victory.

“I was pleased with the split,” said North Moore coach Mike West. “South is a good team and West has won or tied for the conference championship the past three years. We’re improving and we’ve got a good bunch of kids that work hard. We’re going to be all right.”

In the West match, Shaw, Stancil, Coronel, Castrejon, Kidd, Thomas and Hernandez picked up wins for the Mustangs.