McCraw, Virgil lead Polk efforts on first day of Smoky Mountain Grapple

A pair of Polk County wrestlers remained undefeated after Friday’s opening round of the 2021 Great Smoky Mountain Grapple at Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville.

Bryson McCraw won his opening match at 152 pounds while Jaydyn Virgil won two matches in the 170-pound class on the first day of the event, which features wrestlers from 29 schools.

McCraw will begin Saturday’s action with a quarterfinal match against Enka’s Greyson Harris while Virgil will have a quarterfinal match against Bruin Lytle of McDowell.

Polk County wrestlers will compete in all three of the tournament’s divisions on Saturday, with the junior varsity bracket joining the championship and consolation matches in the varsity brackets. The Wolverines have four wrestlers entered in the JV field.

Boys Varsity
138
Champ. Round 2 – Connor Shumate (Newton Conover) d. Collier Foster, 2-0
Saturday’s first match: Consolation vs. Ben Helton (Maryville, TN)

152
Champ. Round 2 – Bryson McCraw (Polk County) maj. dec. Jason McClellan (Pisgah), 14-1
Saturday’s first match: Championship vs. Greyson Harris (Enka)

160
Champ. Round 1 – Deaken Nodine (Polk County) p. Evans Stephens-McIntosh (Hoke County)
Champ. Round 2 – Solomon Jenks (West Henderson) p. Deaken Nodine
Cons. Round 2 – Justin Wikle (Swain) 10-7 p. Deaken Nodine

170
Champ. Round 1 – Jaydyn Virgil p. Trevor Hill-Ledford (Cherokee)
Champ. Round 2 – Jadyn Virgil (Polk County) d. Gabriel Lillard (Swain), 17-13
Saturday’s first match: Championship vs. Bruin Lytle (McDowell)

Girls Varsity
106
Quarterfinal – Aynsley Fink (Robbinsville) p. Tori Strickland (Polk County)
Cons. Round 2 – Tori Strickland p. Savannah Cunningham (Swain)
Saturday’s first match: Consolation quarterfinal vs. Selu Swayner (Cherokee)