Polk County’s wrestlers have a couple of goals in mind for the upcoming season.
One is to make their coach more closely resemble Ric Flair.
“I told them last year if we had five state qualifiers, I’d dye my hair blonde,” Wolverines coach Thomas Hensley said. “If it’s six this year, I’ll do it again.”
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Six state qualifiers from a team that won the Mountain Foothills 7 tournament last season and that returns a bunch of talent from that squad is just one of the Wolverines’ objectives. Some of them are far simpler.
“It’s definitely getting better every day,” Hensley said. “It’s not worrying about what people are saying as far as good things or bad things or what we’re doing as a team. We’re really focused on becoming better wrestlers, becoming better people, and doing the right things on and off the mat.”
Four of those state qualifiers – Styler Blackwell, Zalen McCraw, Amon Villareal and Brody Wolfe – are back for the Wolverines. One big loss was Jadyn Virgil, who’s now wrestling at Limestone College and who was a nearly-guaranteed six team points every time he walked on the mat. Hensley said Virgil can’t be replaced, but maybe some of his contributions can be replicated.
Senior Jacob Ed finished just shy of a state trip and will be a leader this season for the Wolverines and heads a group of returnees that includes Aiden Billings, Carson Bell, Donte Tingling, Zach McCraw and Connor Ahlert, among others. They’ll be looking to help fill Virgil’s shoes.
“You know, I think what you do is just count on those younger guys to step up,” Hensley said. “You can never replace great wrestlers, you just hope those next guys will step up and do their part. That’s part of growing up, just like in life That’s like a battlefield promotion. You learn and you get better.”
To that end, Hensley has instituted some cool incentives for his wrestlers.
“We do this thing in the offseason where if you wrestle fifty matches, we’ll get you a singlet with your last name on it,” he said. “If you wrestle a hundred, we’ll get you headgear with the Wolverine wing and the PCHS symbol. We try to make those guys feel special and let people see it.
“We have a lot of guys who are going to impress people. They’re impressing us every day.”
One of those guys is Efrain Rivera, who started his freshman year at a blazing 41-1 before an injury. He’s fought through that, and is ready to go.
“The crazy thing is that he didn’t miss a single day,” Hensley said. “He’d come in here and shadow-wrestle and things like that. We’d go to tournaments, and he’d come with us for support and to just hang around. I’ve always thought that out of sight means out of mind, and he was definitely never out of sight.”
Hensley believes that just spending time around the team will make Rivera even better.
“You get better at wrestling in different ways,” he said. “He’s gotten better at the mental stuff. Since he’s been back in the summer, he’s been working really hard.”
There’s also an influx of new talent, as the eighth graders from yet another undefeated middle school season are filtering into the high school program. Freshman Liam Jackson showed the promise of that group in winning his division at Saturday’s Plowboy Brawl tournament at Chase.
“Those guys have won 30-plus matches in a row,” Hensley said. “Those guys are used to winning, and used to working hard. Coach (Jerry) Cox does a heck of a job. He’s the best middle school coach in Western North Carolina, without a doubt.”
All those returners and all that depth from new additions gives the Wolverines an advantage that some 1A teams can only dream about – a full lineup. With a wrestler in every weight class, Polk County won’t likely concede team points in duals matches.
“We’re going to have a full lineup,” Hensley said. “We’ve got 30-plus kids, and hopefully we can make those kids feel appreciated and valued. A full lineup is super-rare. We’re excited to have that depth. Our goal is to be two or three deep everywhere. Kids get the flu, get sick, miss matches, and we want to be able to have someone step up.”
“We won the conference tournament last year for the first time since 2011. Selfishly, I’d like to win it in duals for the first time since 2003. It’s been a long time since we had a state champion (2011), and we need to break that. These kids need to realize that they can be the change they wish to be in the world. I think they’re going to take the challenge on and be great.
“They have what it takes, for sure. This is a great time to be a Wolverine.”
