McMurray, Emory place in top four to lead Wolverine wrestlers at Falcon Frenzy

Polk County’s wrestling squad brought home a pair of top-four finishes and a number of encouraging signs of progress from this weekend’s Falcon Frenzy tournament at West Henderson.

Chase McMurray placed second in the 285-pound class and Chase Emory placed fourth in the 132-pound class for the Wolverines at the 24-team event, which included virtually every program in Western North Carolina as well as some Tennessee schools.

Polk County entered eight wrestlers in the tournament, which ran for two days before concluding Saturday night. The Wolverines placed 20th in the team competition, won by North Buncombe.

“They wrestled very well this weekend,” said Polk County head coach Phillip Miller. “We are getting better every day.”

McMurray won three matches to reach the 285 final, where he lost to Pisgah’s Cody Lamb. Emory reached the semifinals before suffering a 9-3 loss to Josh Croley of Pigeon Forge.

Also competing were Dustin Calvert, who lost to eventual champion Aaron Owensby of East Henderson at 138; Anthony Marino, who pinned Asheville’s Brett Weinert before falling to Dobyns-Bennett’s Alex Jeffers at 145; Franklin Sandoval at 152; Chandler Patrick at 160; Matthew Reedy at 170 and Jerry Cox at 195, where he won two consolation matches before falling to Dobyns-Bennett’s Peyton Laughlin.