Depth proved just as useful as talent Monday for Polk County Middle’s wrestling team.
The Wolverines picked up eight wins via forfeit in their home opener against Smoky Mountain Middle, and those points helped build the foundation of a 69-36 victory over the Mustangs.
Polk Middle (3-0) raced to a 42-12 advantage thanks to forfeits and first-period pins by Riley Morgan and Gavin Waldbillig and wrapped up the match win fairly quickly. The Mustangs did field wrestlers in most of the upper weight classes, and that provided valuable mat time for some of the newcomers on the Wolverine roster.
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“They’ve got some bright spots in their lineup where they’re really good,” Polk Middle head coach Jerry Cox said of Smoky Mountain. “It’s always good just to get out and compete. We got kids some matches, kids like Landon Plylar, who hasn’t wrestled before, and Jasper Mathews, who had his first match.
“Even when they’re not winning, they’re battling hard, and at the end of the year, we’ll be ready.”
The win boosted Polk Middle’s winning streak to 35 consecutive matches, but Cox isn’t focused on maintaining that, especially with a tough Blue Ridge Conference East Division field to navigate. He’s instead concentrating on developing one of the youngest squads that the Wolverines have fielded in quite some time.
“It’s a very young group,” he said. “I think we started 10 underclassmen. That’s something that is new to is, having this many underclassmen. Probably the last time we started this many underclassmen was when the sophomore group at the high school, Efrain (Rivera) and Brody (Wolfe) and all of those, were sixth graders.
“We’ve got to take our lumps, but once you take your lumps and get through it, you’re pretty good.”
Polk Middle will travel Thursday to Canton Middle, then will open its East Division schedule on Monday, hosting Rugby Middle for a 4:30 p.m. match.
76: Ellis Searcy (PC) by forfeit
83: Ethan Dotson (PC) by forfeit
90: Jared Contreras (PC) by forfeit
98: John Woodard (SM) p. Silas Amorelli
106: Michael Woodard (SM) p. Rhys Jackson
113: Oakley McDowell (PC) by forfeit
120: Riley Morgan (PC) p. Theo Rutt
126: Gavin Waldbillig (PC) p. Eli Franks
132: Alex Labreche (PC) by forfeit
138: Jodi Barrett (SM) p. James Logan
144: Matthew Sokil (PC) by forfeit
150: Easton Queen (PC) by forfeit
157: Ceana Barker (SM) p. Dorrell Littlejohn
165: Andy Serrano (PC) p. IV Culkins
175: Zaiden Johnson (SM) p. Jasper Mathews
190: Xander Worley (PC) d. Kevin Gregorio, 7-3
215: Walter Middleton (SM) p. Landon Plylar
HWT: Hudson Hyde (PC) by forfeit
