Mountaineers wrestlers close out 2023 with two big tournaments
Jan. 13—The Mountaineers participated in a large, 46-team "Smoky Mountain Grapple" on Dec. 15-16 at Harrah's in Asheville. Teams from North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia came out to compete.
113-pounder Michael Lettner went 2-2 over the course of the tournament, receiving a bye in the championship round one, then defeating Pisgah's Walker Henlin by fall at 5:44. Lettner fell to Jones County's Hunter McCleskey (Fall 1:20) in the quarterfinals before being bested by Polk County's Brody Wolfe (Major Decision 10-0) in round four of the consolation bracket.
120-pounder Aydan Mull received a bye in the championship round one before Avery County's King Orvosh beat him by a 6-5 decision in round two to send him to the consolation bracket. Mull beat Cherokee's Xavier Sanchez (Fall 0:16) and Swain County's Noah Rowe (Fall 2:12) before Pisgah's Kail Burnette beat him by a 10-0 major decision in consolation round four.
157-pounder Lucas Burress beat McDowell's Draco Ellmaker and Polk County's Donte Tingling (Decision 9-6) in the championship rounds one and two before Pisgah's Xander Hill beat him in the quarterfinals by fall at 1:29. Burress would fall to Jones County's David Little (Decision 7-1) in consolation round four.
165-pounder Chase Hillis finished fourth overall, going 3-2 over the weekend. After a championship round one bye, Hillis bested Polk County's Zachary McCraw (Fall 5:13) in round two and Newton-Conover's Weslee Jones (Fall 2:53) in the quarterfinals to set up a showdown with Brevard's Jaxon Turner in the semifinals. Turner beat Hillis, sending Hillis to the consolation bracket, where he beat Jones County's Jacob Skinner (Decision 4-3) in the semifinals before falling to Uwaharrie Charter Academy's Alek Millikan (Major Decision 9-1) in the 3rd- Place Match.
215-pounder Charlie Greene fell to Enka's Coleman Jones (Fall 1:33) in championship round one, received a bye in round one of the consolation bracket, and then fell to Swain County's Matthew Ferguson (Fall 0:29) in round two.
285-pounder Alexander Caldwell bested Chapel Hill's Oen Reams (Fall 1:16) in championship round one before losing to Alleghany's Jason Vielandi (Fall 7:11) in round two and then to Polk County's Lucas Johnson (Forfeit) in consolation round two.
Devil Duals
Tuscola capped December by squaring off with five other area teams at the "Devil Duals" on Dec. 23 at Swain County High School in Bryson City.
The Mountaineers went 1-4 throughout the event. Tuscola beat Cherokee 42-18 but fell to Dade County 60-24, Mountain Heritage by a close 39-36 margin, Enka 54-28 and Madison 48-30.
Against Dade County, four Mountaineers scored points for Tuscola: Lettner (Forfeit), Mull (Fall 0:54 over Ashton Case), Burress (DQ over Gavin Childress) and Hillis (Fall 5:23 over Jet Shavers).
Against Mountain Heritage, six Tuscola wrestlers scored points: Mull (Forfeit), 132-pounder Wyatt Ferguson (Forfeit), Burress (Forfeit), Hillis (fall 0:07 over Charles Williamson), 190-pounder Benjamin Ulery (Forfeit) and Caldwell (Fall 0:39 over Adam Pate).
In the win over Cherokee, Lettner (Forfeit), Mull (fall 1:08 over Xavier Sanchez), 126-pounder Micah Howard (Forfeit), Ferguson (Forfeit), Burress (Forfeit), 175-pounder Anuar Araujo (Fall 2:41 over Julius Pepion) and Ulery (Forfeit) helped Tuscola to victory.
Against Enka, Mull (fall 3:00 over Alexander Vester), Howard (Fall 1:08 over Dylan Pyatt), Burress (Fall 1:25 over Zeke Williamson), Hillis (Fall 4:50 over Andrew McKinley) and Caldwell (Major Decision 8-0 over Ryan Luther) scored points for the Mountaineers.
Finally, in the loss to Madison, Mull (Forfeit), Howard (Forfeit), Burress (Fall over Drake Marshall) and Hillis (Fall over Triston Massey) scored points for Tuscola.
Tuscola will travel to wrestle Pisgah (host) and West Henderson on Friday, Jan. 12, which begins the Mountain 7 Conference run, culminating in the Jan. 20 Conference Tournament at Smoky Mountain.
