Bright spots emerge for Polk Middle wrestlers in loss to Brevard

Amid a tough loss, a few bright spots still emerged Tuesday for Polk County Middle School’s wrestling squad.

The young Wolverines, wrestling for the second straight day, dropped a 73-24 decision to Brevard Middle in a Blue Ridge Middle School Conference match at Polk. The setback followed Monday’s 72-24 loss to Apple Valley.

In both matches, Polk’s Braden Miller (154), Hayden Shumate (184) and Devin Panchyshyn (222) each posted pins, as did 134-pounder Charlie McKaig. The wins continued strong seasons for Miller, Shumate and Panchyshyn, part of the Wolverines’ team strength in the upper weight classes.

“All three of those guys have had great seasons,” said Polk Middle head coach Ben Johnson. “We’re looking toward them going to the conference tournament as individuals.

“Our heavier weights, we don’t have to say as much to them. They understand, it has clicked. We’re still trying to figure out how to get our smalls to click.”

Many of those at the lower weights are in their first year of competition, and those newcomers got their first taste of back-to-back matches this week. It was not a lesson easily learned.

“It’s really tough coming off a match to go straight into another match,” Johnson said. “But everybody had great effort and fought a lot harder than we’ve seen.”

Panchyshyn’s first-period pin meant early points for Polk, but Brevard rolled through subsequent matches until McKaig scored a third-period fall at 134. Miller then earned six more points with a second-period pin, with Shumate picking up a forfeit for his second win of the week.

The Wolverines will be back in action on Thursday, traveling to Hendersonville Middle School.

“I’m happy with what Coach (Dustin) Stott is doing for us. He’s teaching great technique to the guys,” Johnson said. “This is a tough time. We just have to keep working to get better.”

85: Jacob Fulp (B) dec. Ethan Edwards, 5-4
92: Chad Johnson (B) p. Travis Hill
100: Tre Combs (B) forfeit
108: Keenan Hawkins (B) d. Kevin Sandoval, 10-2
115: Luke Ellenberger (B) p. Kaleb Eubanks
122: Ashton Robinson (B) p. Xavier Caldwell
128: JQ Whitesides (B) p. Christian Davis
134: Charlie McKaig (PC) p. Mitchell Johnson
140: Jose Guitierrez (B) p. Zak Abril
147: Jackson Owen (B) forfeit
154: Braden Miller (PC) p. Daniel Quade
162: Cody Swangim (B) p. Blake Rackely
172: Josh Bickle (B) p. Leland Henderson
184: Hayden Shumate (PC) forfeit
197: Chase Bishop (B) forfeit
222: Devin Panchyshyn (PC) p. Matthew Ridenour
HWT: Corey Mackey (B) p. Orlando Baltazar