Polk County wrestling coach Phillip Miller spent part of Monday looking down the list of Hunter Huss wrestlers’ individual records. And shaking his head.
“The odds are stacked against us, but that’s why we wrestle the matches,” Miller said. “We’ll go see what we can do and hope for the best.”
The Wolverines will trek Tuesday to East Burke High School to face Hunter Huss (26-6) in the opening round of the state 2A dual team playoffs, the match starting at 5 p.m. Also wrestling at that time will be East Burke and Central Academy, with the winner facing the Huss-Polk winner.
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Hunter Huss enters the match having won the Big South 3A/2A Conference tournament last week. Four Huss wrestlers won conference titles – Keshon McLean (106 pounds), Darius Smith (113), Charles McCombs (126) and Brian Goodson (195) – and eight others placed in the top four at the meet. One of those, Tristen Hendren, placed third at 170 pounds but sports a gaudy 33-2 record.
“It’s definitely going to be a good experience for our younger guys,” Miller said. “We don’t have anyone who has ever seen a state tournament as an individual or as a team. As young as we are, anything like this will be good for us.”
Polk County will compete without 145-pounder Dustin Calvert, who remains sidelined with an injury.
“This is the first time we’ve been in the state duals in five years,” Miller said. “Hopefully, we’re going to make this an annual thing for us.”
