Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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28 UCW JANUARY 24-30, 2018 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS Justice Galloway-Velazquez Colt football coach Jake Thomas The high school wrestling season is getting close to the finish line, and three Cumberland County wres- tlers are currently ranked at the top of the heap in their respective classes. The most recent rankings at NCMat.com showed two Cape Fear wrestlers, 170- pound Mike Vernagallo and 285-pound Josh Jones, at the No. 1 position. Joining them at No. 1 is Pine Forest's Daniel Peede at 152 pounds. Vernagallo and Jones are in the 3-A clas- sification while Peede com- petes at the 4-A level. Of the three, Vernagallo is the only one still unbeaten for the season through Jan. 17. Jones and Peede both have losses they picked up over the Christmas break, Jones in the Holy Angels tournament in Charlotte and Peede in the WRAL tournament in Raleigh. Records posted on ncprepsports.net as of Jan. 15 had Peede 29-1, Jones 26-1 and Vernagallo 29-0. Vernagallo is chasing his second state wrestling title, having won for the first time last season, while Jones and Peede will both be looking for higher fin- ishes as they attempt to again qualify for the state tournament this season. Cape Fear coach Heath Wilson said Vernagallo and Jones both provide leadership for his Colt team, which is among the best in the state this year. "Mikey is a dominant force, a freak of nature,'' Wilson said. "Josh is one heck of a man when he gets on the mat. It's tough to deal with his strength and size, but he's also teachable, which is probably the biggest asset with Josh. You teach him something and he grabs hold.'' Pine Forest coach Charles Daniels said he has no problem motivating Peede. "He's an independent guy,'' Daniels said. "He takes it on himself to go to club wrestling. He's like a second coach. He knows what to do and makes it happen.'' Peede said being top-ranked with only one loss doesn't put any pressure on him. "Last season, I was ranked pretty high, so I'm used to it,'' he said. "If there's a target on my back and everybody is com- ing for me, I welcome it. It's not going to change the way we do things.'' Like Peede, both Vernagallo and Jones are looking ahead to the major competi- tions waiting at the end of the season: conference tourna- ment, regionals and state finals. Vernagallo's main goal has been to get a more solid physique and stay healthy. "Last year, I was a small 170,'' he said. "I just lifted, and my diet got better, more meats and carbs.'' Jones has been focus- ing on consistency and taking one match at a time. "Right now, I'm focus- ing on staying healthy and making sure by body is in tip-top shape,'' he said. Cape Fear also has a shot at a state team title, and Jones said the whole team has one goal in the matches remaining. "To pin and not get pinned,'' he said. "That's basi- cally all we've got to do.'' Vernagallo, Jones and Peede rank No. 1 in high school wrestling by EARL VAUGHAN JR. Josh Jones Mike Vernagallo Daniel Peede EARL VAUGHAN JR., Sports Editor. COMMENTS? EarlUCWSports@ gmail.com. 910-364-6638. Galloway-Velazquez commits to Campbell by EARL VAUGHAN JR. Cape Fear High School football standout Justice Galloway-Velazquez was a big part of changing the school's football program to a winning tradition. Now he wants to do the same for Campbell University. In an announcement that caught some people by surprise, Galloway-Velazquez recently revealed he's made an oral com- mitment to play football for the Camels. Many expected the Cape Fear quar- terback and linebacker to choose a more high-profile program, but Galloway-Velazquez said there were a lot of commonsense reasons why he went with Campbell. One was the attention he got from the Campbell coaching staff, especially defensive line coach Damien Adams, who was the primary recruiter pursuing Galloway-Velazquez for the Camels. "He stayed with me throughout the whole pro- cess, gave me the love and care I was looking for and wasn't receiving from other schools,'' Galloway- Velazquez said. There were overtures from some more high- profile schools, but many of them wanted to see Galloway-Velazquez in person on their campuses and at camps. Most of those requests came last spring when he was recovering from surgery for an ankle injury that took place in the Eastern Regional championship game with Scotland near the end of his junior season. "With the ankle injury, there were some questions from some schools with how he would recover,'' said Colt coach Jake Thomas. "I feel he prob- ably was under-recruited for his size, talent and production on the field.'' Thomas said he's checked the North Carolina High School Athletic Association record book and is confident Galloway-Velazquez ranks in the top ten in the state all-time in all-purpose yards, thanks to his combination of rushing and passing prowess during his career at Cape Fear. But the question remains if he'll play quarterback or linebacker at Campbell. Galloway-Velazquez said he's leaning toward the defensive side of the football but added no final decision has been made. "We'll talk it over a lot more,'' he said. "We'll see where I need to be to benefit the team.'' Thomas said Campbell will likely be happy wher- ever it decides to use Galloway-Velazquez. "He was a guy who could emotionally, mentally and physically will your team to victory,'' Thomas said. "He'll go down as one of the top athletes in Cumberland County history, and definitely the top player in Cape Fear history.''