WHC tourney ‘rougher than expected’ for Polk wrestling squad

It wasn’t the Western Highlands Conference tournament performance that Polk County head coach Phillip Miller expected.

With the seven teams of the WHC gathered at Polk County, Miller hoped having home-mat advantage would help boost a handful of Wolverines into the championship round. But only 138-pounder Chase Emory reached the final round, with Emory dropping a 5-0 decision to Mitchell’s Solomon Duncan in that match.

Three other Wolverines – Anthony Marino at 152, Frederick Veser at 113 and Cameron Reed at 145 – did earn medals for finishing third in their weight classes.

“It was a rougher night than we expected,” Miller said. “It was a good learning experience for our younger guys.”

Emory won a pair of decisions to reach the championship match before falling to Duncan, one of eight Mitchell wrestlers to win titles. Another who did so was 152-pounder Dalton Beaver, who upset Marino in the semifinals with a 3-2 decision. Marino entered as the top seed in the class.

“Anthony had a tough draw,” Miller said.

Perhaps the hard-luck Wolverine of the night was Jerry Cox, who won his first two matches in the tough 182-pound class before dropping a 4-2 decision to Mitchell’s Josh Huggins in the semifinals. Cox then faced Owen’s Chris Music in the consolation final, with Music taking a 2-0 lead early in the third period. Cox scored a point, then spent the final 45 seconds working hard to escape Music’s hold and tie the match. He came close on a couple of occasions, but Music hung on for a 2-1 win.

Polk County will now begin competition in the state 2A dual team playoffs on Tuesday, traveling to Hunter Huss in the first round.

Polk County results
106
Triston Watkins (PC) p. Will Calkins (MH); Mason Bernhardt (Mad) p. Watkins; Malichi Staton (Mit) maj. dec. Watkins, 13-5
113
Braxton Mays (A) p. Frederick Veser (PC)
120
Jonas Seagle (H) p. Kevin Sandoval (PC); Michael Briggs (O) p. Sandoval
126
Levi Richardson (Mit) p. Dillion Knighton (PC); Braeden-Riley Deaton (A) p. Knighton
132
Josh Yontz (Mad) dec. Jose Chavez (PC) 12-7; Ben Clark (A) p. Chavez
138
Chase Emory (PC) dec. Daniel Pearce (H) 14-10; Emory dec. Tyler Pressley (O) 7-3; Solomon Duncan (Mit) dec. Emory 5-0
145
Preston Childress (A) p. Cameron Reed (PC); Reed (PC) inj. def. Caleb Brewer (MH)
152
Dalton Beaver (Mit) dec. Anthony Marino (PC) 3-2; Marino dec. Sam Browne (H) 8-5
170
Jacob Morgan (MH) p. Braden Miller (PC); Miller inj. def. Zach Cannon (O); Chris Clary (A) maj. dec. Miller 14-4
182
Jerry Cox (PC) p. Garret Brown (MH); Levi Metcalf (H) dec. Cox 5-4; Cox dec. Josh Huggins (Mit) 4-2; Chris Music (O) dec. Cox 2-1
195
Dylan Fischl (Mit) maj. dec. Devin Panchyshyn (PC) 11-2; Jaden Woods (Mad) p. Panchyshyn
220
Jacob Hutchins (Mad) p. Donovan Lloyd (PC); Kyle Ward (A) p. Lloyd
285
Todd Self (Mit) p. Marquise Lipscomb (PC); Austin Hicks (A) dec. Lipscomb 2-1