A social studies teacher by day, Jerry Cox certainly has a keen understanding of history.
Which has proven useful in recent years given the accomplishments his Polk County Middle wrestlers keep achieving.
The Wolverines captured their third consecutive Blue Ridge Conference Individual Tournament team title on Friday, with five wrestlers winning conference titles and nine reaching the championship match in the postseason event held at Polk County High School.
Get PolkSports delivered to your inbox
Sign up for our free newsletter →
All of that – three straight tournament championships, five individual winners, nine finalists – either set or matched existing program records. The Wolverines wrestled so well that the team title was already well in hand before the gym lights dimmed to spotlight the individual finals.
“Five is a record. I think the record was four,” Cox said. “We beat the record of 219.5 (tournament team score. Polk had 226 Friday). Tied the record for finalists. So, a pretty good night.
“Obviously last year we won, but we only had two champions. It’s a lot more fun at the end of the day when you’ve got nine kids walking out there and have five win.”
Polk’s five champions included:
- Silas Amorelli, who dominated the 83-pound class, recording two pins and a technical fall.
- Rhys Jackson, who became the first sixth grader since Brody Wolfe in 2021 to win a conference title. He scored two pins before winning a 9-3 decision over Bethel Middle’s Carter Mabry in the final.
- Riley Morgan, who pinned all three of his opponents en route to winning the 120-pound class.
- Andy Serrano, a tourney runner-up last season who posted a 4-0 decision over Brevard’s J.T. Rogers in the 157-pound final to remain undefeated this season.
- And Gavin Waldbillig, who had perhaps the most dramatic match of the evening in the final round at 126 pounds.
Also a finalist a year ago, Waldbillig faced Apple Valley’s Liam Williams for the third time this season in the championship match. The two split their regular-season encounters, with Williams rallying in the final period to decision Waldbillig in their last match.
Friday’s third meeting proved just as close. Trailing 2-0, Waldbillig scored two takedowns early in the third period and took a 7-5 lead in a match stopped frequently for a nasty nosebleed that Williams endured.
Leading and looking to elude Williams in the final seconds to prevent him from scoring any more points, Waldbillig drew two penalties for stalling, one at the final whistle, to even the match at 7-7. Neither wrestled scored in the one-minute sudden victory period, setting up two 30-second extra periods.
With Williams heavily bandaged across his face to stem the bleeding, Waldbillig escaped Williams in the final 10 seconds of the first extra period, scoring a point for an 8-7 lead. He then prevented Williams from scoring in the second to secure his conference title.
Reaching the championship round for Polk were Ethan Dotson at 76, Jared Contreras at 90, Matthew Sokil at 144 and Hudson Hyde at 215.
Polk’s quest for history isn’t complete. The Wolverines will travel Tuesday to Canton to compete in the BRC Dual Tournament semifinals, looking for a third straight conference championship there. No Polk Middle team in any sport has ever won three straight BRC titles. The Wolverines will wrestle Bethel Middle in the semifinals and would, with a win, face either Canton or Apple Valley in the final.
“It’s kind of weird winning this first instead of the Duals,” Cox said. The individual tourney usually ends the season. “We’ll definitely look at some brackets and see where we line up and match up and see what we can do to hopefully get a sixth conference championship plaque and third dual team.”
76
Quarterfinal – Ethan Dotson (Polk County) maj. dec Lucas Leclair (Hendersonville), 21-11
Semifinal – Ethan Dotson p. Lane Gordon (Flat Rock) (Fall 1:51)
1st Place Match – Noah Rhinehart (Canton) tech. fall Ethan Dotson, 19-3
83
Quarterfinal – Silas Amorelli (Polk County) p. Jonah Ervine (Waynesville) (Fall 0:40)
Semifinal – Silas Amorelli p. Brantley Henderson (Canton) Fall 2:45)
1st Place Match – Silas Amorelli tech. fall Will Myers (Macon) 15-0
90
Quarterfinal – Jared Contreras (Polk County) d. Kade Hunter (Rugby), 13-6
Semifinal – Jared Contreras p. Camden Gash (Brevard) (Fall 2:27)
1st Place Match – John Woodard (Smoky Mountain) p. Jared Contreras (Fall 0:41)
98
Quarterfinal – Rhys Jackson (Polk County) p. Grayson Barker (Waynesville) (Fall 0:54)
Semifinal – Rhys Jackson p. Trevor Frank (Flat Rock)Fall 3:35)
1st Place Match – Rhys Jackson d. Carter Mabry (Bethel), 9-3
113
Quarterfinal – Jordan Robles (Apple Valley) p. Oakley McDowell (Polk County) (Fall 2:29)
Cons. Round 1 – Oakley McDowell p. Bri Dezarn (Macon) (Fall 0:51)
Cons. Semi – Oakley McDowell won in sudden victory – 1 over Chase Kilibrew (Hendersonville) (SV-1 13-0)
3rd Place Match – Avett Bishop (Flat Rock) p. Oakley McDowell (Fall 0:34)
120
Quarterfinal – Riley Morgan (Polk County) p. Anders Jurovich (Hendersonville)(Fall 0:50)
Semifinal – Riley Morgan p. John Hunt (Brevard) (Fall 2:42)
1st Place Match – Riley Morgan p. Malachi Johnson (Bethel) (Fall 2:18)
126
Quarterfinal – Gavin Waldbillig (Polk County) p. Slade Savage (Canton) (Fall 1:42)
Semifinal – Gavin Waldbillig p. Brock Messer (Bethel) (Fall 2:32)
1st Place Match – Gavin Waldbillig won in tie breaker – 1 over Liam Williams (Apple Valley) (TB-1 8-7)
132
Quarterfinal – Alex Labreche (Polk County) maj. dec. Jaxon Downs (Canton), 10-1
Semifinal – Cooper Morrow (Apple Valley) maj. dec. Alex Labreche, 17-8
Cons. Semi – Alex Labreche maj. dec. Mattie Mains (Hendersonville),18-7
3rd Place Match – Calvin Russell (Brevard) maj. dec. Alex Labreche, 9-0
138
Quarterfinal – Job Hensley (Canton) p. James Logan (Polk County) Fall 2:28)
Cons. Round 1 – James Logan p. Aiden Justice (Brevard) (Fall 0:44)
Cons. Semi – James Logan p. Leaf Crider (Waynesville) (Fall 2:55)
3rd Place Match – Til Sullivan (Flat Rock) p. James Logan (Fall 0:44)
144
Quarterfinal – Matt Sokil (Polk County) p. Shelby Kleinknecht (Hendersonville) (Fall 0:52)
Semifinal – Matt Sokil p. Micah Ledford (Canton) (Fall 0:31)
1st Place Match – Exavier Hernandez (Apple Valley) p. Matt Sokil (Fall 4:59)
157
Quarterfinal – Andy Serrano (Polk County) . Jacob Clare (Smoky Mountain) (Fall 0:27)
Semifinal – Andy Serrano tech. fall Roenin Hickey (Apple Valley), 16-1
1st Place Match – Andy Serrano d. J.T. Rogers (Brevard), 4-0
175
Quarterfinal – Isaac Young (Canton) p. Michael Jenkinson (Polk County) (Fall 0:16)
Cons. Round 1 – Walter Middleton (Smoky Mountain) p. Michael Jenkinson (Fall 0:41)
190
Quarterfinal – Xander Worley (Polk County) p. Daniel Gooding (Hendersonville) (Fall 1:44)
Semifinal – Landen Surrett (Bethel) maj. dec. Xander Worley, 14-1
Cons. Semi – Xander Worley p. Kaden Camelot (Canton) (Fall 0:32)
3rd Place Match – Xander Worley d. Kevin Gregorio (Smoky Mountain), 9-6
215
Quarterfinal – Hudson Hyde (Polk County) p. Javon Jenkins (Macon) (Fall 0:30)
Semifinal – Hudson Hyde p. evan reece (Bethel) (Fall 0:40)
1st Place Match – Simon Robinson (Brevard) tech. fall Hudson Hyde, 17-1
250
Quarterfinal – Cameron Morris (Rugby) p. Gabe Nelon (Polk County) (Fall 0:35)
Cons. Round 1 – Gabe Nelon p. Charles Page (Hendersonville) (Fall 0:47)
Cons. Semi – Justin Swink (Bethel) p. Gabe Nelon (Fall 1:33)
