As the season winds down, rival games bring competition to a peak and then come the playoffs — the Greater Neuse tourneys.

Anyone who has been to a basketball or wrestling match lately knows what this is all about. Matches last longer. Fouls are doled out in a more systematic manner. Sometimes it’s the worst mistake, sometimes it’s the best play of the game. Games last until overtime and gym temperatures begin to rise.

The result, of course, is always a happy ending for one team.

That’s how it was in East Wake’s wrestling win over the Knights. The Warriors have now gained entry into the State Duals as a two-seed from the Greater Neuse.

“Knightdale would like to wish East Wake the best as they compete in the State Duals tournament,” coach Harry Von Hoene said of the Warrior squad after the showdown. “East Wake is very well coached and should wrestle well in the GNRC Tournament.”

At times it seems like wrestling is an unmeasurable sport in terms of stat keeping and rank. Of course this is the result of individual progress adding to a team’s total, and the fact that such individuals wrestle all grades of skilled grapplers from various schools across various states. Beyond that, there are endless events in which any given school participates.

As the season began I had a hard time concluding on which wrestling teams were solid and which were not. If for no other reason, it was the impression left when you see a player on the winning team having it handed to him.

But East Wake has stuck with it, and even in following its week-in, week-out wins or losses, its overall success snuck up on me.

It’s like piecing together a puzzle where you can’t see the big picture until the final few pieces fall into place.

Knightdale was East Wake’s last piece, but the Knights’ rival factor certainly gave the Warriors the coffee-binge hand in closing the season with a W.

The same applies to basketball. Every time East Wake and Knightdale face off — girls or boys — the losing team’s plummit is the epitome of bittersweet. The sloppiness that comes with frustration in these rivalries takes the spotlight and one team’s struggle to keep up becomes another’s crutch.

It will be interesting to see where this Knight-Warrior rivalry takes us in the future. In such a special setting where, before Knightdale High School was built, the kids were all from the same “area”, now there are lines drawn.

This means fans and players from both schools that have historically taken sports very seriously now have one more gut-check game on the schedule — one that no one wants to loose.

Basketball season is now coming to a close. The Knights and Warriors will face off once more to end the regular season on Friday, Feb. 15.

I would not anticipate any lingering mushy behavior, despite the post-Valentine's Day time, as East Wake’s men and Knightdale’s women will certainly have payback on their agendas.