In seconds Tuesday night, Donovan Lloyd went from trying just to hold on to just being a hero.
Trailing 2-0 in the final match of the night, the match that would decide Polk County’s fate against Avery County, Lloyd stunned Avery’s Kyle Ward with a quick reversal and pin, scoring the fall with 19 seconds left in the the second period to give the Wolverines a 39-30 win over the Vikings in a Western Highlands Conference match.
Polk County wrestled Rosman to close the tri-match.
Get PolkSports delivered to your inbox
Sign up for our free newsletter →
Determined to open their WHC schedule with a win, Polk County clung to a 33-30 lead when Lloyd stepped onto the mat. Ward scored two points early in the first and had the upper hand into the second period, when Lloyd drew a warning for stalling. A decision for Ward would have deadlocked the team score at 33-33 and left tiebreakers to decide the team victor.
But as the second period neared an end, Lloyd began to come to life. He nearly escaped Ward’s hold midway through the period, then, suddenly, flipped on top of Ward and pinned the Viking within seconds, setting off an explosion of leaps and cheers from the Wolverine bench.
“We met our goal,” said Polk County head coach Phillip Miller. “We wanted to be 1-0 and we are, though I didn’t know it would be with all that drama at the finish.
“I thought we wrestled good overall. We had a few kids that didn’t do as well as I thought, and we weren’t able to fill every class. Our 113 missed weight by an ounce or we would have gotten a forfeit there. But it had been a two-week break for about half of these kids, so I thought we wrestled pretty good considering that.”
The match began at the heavyweight class, and Avery soon opened a 24-6 lead. Then Polk’s Chase Emory won his match by forfeit, and Dustin Calvert followed with an overtime win over Preston Childress, scoring a point 15 seconds into the extra session for a key win. Cameron Reed’s forfeit win and Anthony Marino’s 8-4 decision at 160 pounds evened the team totals at 24-24, and Chandler Patrick gave Polk its first lead with a 9-3 win over Banner Main.
Jerry Cox followed at 182 with a pin of Rick Daniels. Scoreless at the end of the first period, Cox built a 5-0 lead in the second, then quickly pinned Daniels at the start of the third to give Polk a 33-24 advantage. Ryan Sheppard, ranked second in the state at 195 among 1A wrestlers, then scored a first-period fall over Devin Panchyshyn to set the stage for Lloyd’s heroics.
Polk County 39, Avery 30
106: Cody Daniels (A) p. Triston Watkins
113: Double forfeit
120: Kevin Sandoval (PC) p. Braxton Maya
126: Braden Riley-Deaton (A) p. Dillon Knighton
132: Ben Clark (A) p. Christian Davis
138: Chase Emory (PC) by forfeit
145: Dustin Calvert (PC) dec. Preston Childress, 7-6, OT
152: Cameron Reed (PC) by forfeit
160: Anthony Marino (PC) dec. Chris Clark, 8-4
170: Chandler Patrick (PC) dec. Banner Main, 9-3
182: Jerry Cox (PC) p. Rick Daniels
195: Ryan Sheppard (A) p. Devin Panchyshyn
220: Donovan Lloyd (PC) p. Kyle Ward
HWT: Austin Hicks (A) p. Marquise Lipscomb
