For the first time in six years, Polk County is king of the Western Highlands Conference.
The Wolverines clinched at least a share of their first WHC boys soccer championship since 2009 on Wednesday, shutting out Madison 3-0 in the regular-season conference finale in Marshall.
Polk may well be outright WHC champions at some point on Thursday. The win improves the Wolverines to 14-4-1 overall, 10-1-1 in WHC play. That 10-1-1 record includes a Sept. 21 tie with Owen, though a final verdict on that match still remains to be issued.
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In that game, match referees left the field with the teams tied at 2-2 at the end of overtime rather than hold penalty kicks as prescribed under WHC policy. The two schools have debated several options since to resolve that situation, but with playoff seeding and conference finish not impacted by the outcome, the schools may agree to leave the match as a tie. A final decision will be made Thursday.
If an ending to the game were to be played, Polk County would remain the top WHC seed even with a loss thanks to its season sweep of Hendersonville. Hendersonville (14-6, 9-2) is assured of the second automatic berth from the conference no matter the result of its game with Avery on Thursday.
Wil Rimer scored two goals Wednesday to lead Polk County, with Nate Smart adding the other goal. Jeremy Allsbrook and Tom Artmeier had assists as the Wolverines took a 1-0 halftime lead, then pulled away in the second half.
Madison closes its regular season at 4-15, 4-8.
Wilson Edwards had three saves for Polk County, which is slated to travel to Crest on Thursday for its final regular-season match.
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