Slowly but surely, Watauga High wrestling coach Todd Allan is whipping the Pioneers into shape. He led them to their first two wins of the season in duals competition on Saturday at the Alleghany Duals.

The Pioneers defeated East Chapel Hill 54-28, and Grayson, Va., 48-30. WHS (2-7 in duals) lost to Avery 42-39, St. Stephens 60-16, and to West Lincoln 45-34.
"And when you forfeit two or three weight class because of illness like we did, it really hurts," Allan said. "We coughed up 12-18 points a match. It makes a difference, believe me. But the guys we had in there competed, and we did pretty well."
Gus Coffey and Demetrius Kostis led the way. They both went 5-0. Coffey, who wrestled at 126 pounds, also had two pinfalls; Kostis at 132, who is 17-0 on the year, had four pinfalls.
Mark Townsend at 113 went 4-1 with three pins; Gabriel Irwin was 4-1 with four pinfalls at 152; Jake Page was 4-1 with three pinfalls at 160. The Pioneers return home to take on McDowell Thursday night.

ALLEGHANY DUALS

Avery 42, WHS 39
WHS 54, East Chapel Hill 28
St.Stephens 60, WHS 16
WHS 48, Grayson, Virginia 30
West Lincoln 45, WHS 34

106- Templeton 1-4
113- Townsend 4-1, 3 Pins
126- Coffey 5-0, 2 Pins
132- Kostis 5-0, 4 Pins
138- Sherrill 0-5
145- Hawley 3-2, 3 Pins
152- Irwin 4-1, 4 Pins
160- Page 4-1, 3 Pins
170- Carr 2-3, 1 Pin
195- Critcher 2-3, 1 Pin
220- Jackson 2-2, 1 Pin
HWT.-Beach 1-4