A quest that started in October ended with a state team championship for the Sandhills Sandcats youth wrestling club.

With 22 out of the 28 Sandcat wrestlers finishing in the top-four of their divisions, the Sandcats captured the state title in the NC AAU State Wrestling Championships held at Pinecrest High School March 3.

“Number one is where we wanted to be,”Sandcat coach Erich Hoffman said. “Our kids have worked very hard all season and now the work is paying off.”

The team had 14 wrestlers reach the finals, with seven of them earning individual state championships.

State champions for the Sandcats included Jeffrey Brown (bantam 55-pound), Jerod McKensie (bantam heavyweight), Zack Olson (midget 65), Kevin Brown (junior 60), Tommy Ransdell (schoolboy 65), Zack Martin (schoolboy 95) and Bobby Martinsen (schoolboy 119).

Runner-ups for the Sandcats included Rider Excell (tot 50), Dustin Roemer (bantam 50), Joey Augustine (bantam 55), Dalton Lipford (midget 65), Jacob Monroe (bantam hwt.), Robby Olson (schoolboy 75) and Ryan Salmon (bantam hwt.)

Third-place finishers for the Sandcats included Mike Coleman (tot 45), J.R. Southers (bantam 70), Dalyne Balser (midget 50) and Blaine Rockwell (midget hwt.) Fourth-place finishers were Dallas Roemer (tot 45), Austin Fuller (bantam 45), Sam Ransdell (junior 65) and Damond Kelly (midget 70).

Zack Olson and Zack Martin repeated as state champions, while Martinsen moved up from second last year to a state champion this year.

“Overall our team performed very well,” Hoffman. “Going to all those tournaments all season long paid off. We wrestled with heart and desire to win.”

The state tournament featured the eight best wrestlers in the state in each division. For the first time, the state tournament wasn’t an open event, but held two regional tournament with the top four finishers in each region advancing to the state tournament.

This was the first time the Sandcats, and Pinecrest High School, hosted the event and according to several people in attendance it was quite a show. Everyone of the approximately 30 teams entered in the tournament marched into the gym holding banners aloft. The National Anthem was peformed by the 70-member Moore County Youth Choral Society directed by Nancy Arnold.

In somewhat of an understatement, Sandcat coach Jim Ransdell said, “Many of our wrestlers are experiencing great success.”

Four of those wrestlers experiencing great success are Austin Moss, Dalyne Balser, Kevin Brown and Sam Ransdell. Those four were picked to wrestle on two teams representing North Carolina in the AAU Elementary School National Dual tournament held in Kingsport, Tenn., last weekend. The dual teams consisted of wrestlers in fifth grade and below.

North Carolina had one team finish third and another team finish fourth.

“It’s a great honor to be selected to one of these all-star teams,” Hoffman said. “North Carolina, as well as the Sandcat wrestling club, was well-represented by these youths.”

And they’re not done yet.

The club will send 26 wrestlers to the AAU Southern Nationals in Apex this Saturday. Twelve of the Sandcats will be going to the Elementary School Nationals in Cary March 31.

Four other Sandcat wrestlers have been asked to be on the team representing the state at the National AAU Middle School Dual Tournament held in Virginia Beach, Va., March 31. They are Tommy Ransdell, Robbie Olson, Zack Martin and Bobby Martinsen.

North Carolina has over 40 youth wrestling clubs.

AAU wrestling is spreading rapidly across the state. Only a few years ago there were less than 20 youth wrestling clubs.

The Sandcats, in just three years, has become one of the largest clubs in the state. The Sandcats have over 50 wrestlers, while typical clubs range in size from 15-30 wrestlers.