Polk County's Brody Wolfe is one of the Wolverines' six state tournament competitors
Polk County's Brody Wolfe is one of the Wolverines' six state tournament competitors
Wrestling

Six Wolverines ready to chase state wrestling titles

By Staff Reports 2 min read

Six Polk County wrestlers will compete for state championships when the NCHSAA 3A Individual Wrestling Championships begin Friday at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro.

Zalen McCraw (50-1), Styler Blackwell (45-7), Brody Wolfe (39-9), Amon Villarreal (46-10), Jaxtyn Virgil (41-15) and Liam Jackson (41-17) each qualified for the state tournament by finishing in the top four at last weekend’s 3A West Regional.

McCraw, the 165-pound top seed who has lost just once all season, faces Wheatmore’s Brodie Bates (33-23) in Friday’s quarterfinals. The regional champion seeks his first individual state title after claiming his second straight regional championship last weekend.

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Blackwell, a two-time regional champion competing at 190 pounds, takes on McMichael’s Kolten Bradford (17-9) in the quarterfinals. Blackwell finished fourth at last year’s 1A state tournament and enters this weekend as one of the favorites in a weight class that includes defending state champion Dominic Hittepole of Wheatmore.

Wolfe (150 pounds) faces Northeastern’s Jeremy Barcliff (18-8), while Virgil (144) takes on McMichael’s Colby Smith (22-12). Both wrestlers claimed third place at the regional tournament and look to improve on those finishes this weekend.

Villarreal (132) squares off against Providence Grove’s Ayden Terwilliger (28-12) in what could be one of the tournament’s most competitive quarterfinal matches. Villarreal also earned a fourth-place showing at last year’s state tournament.

Jackson (126) draws the toughest opening-round matchup, facing Eastern Randolph’s David Lambright (43-3), the 1A state champion at 126 pounds last season who moved up to 3A this year. Jackson, who finished third at the regional, will need to upset the returning state champion to advance. Another defending state champion, Ayden Sumners of Wheatmore, is also in the class.

Quarterfinals begin at 11 a.m. Friday, with semifinals set for 4:30 p.m. Consolation and championship matches will be held Saturday.

Some Staff Reports content may be produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence tools. All content is reviewed by a human editor before publication.

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