Cherokee – Murphy Bulldogs’ Weston Adams and Ivy Werner were crowned Smoky Mountain Conference champions in their respective weight classes.
A total of 10 other varsity wrestlers from Murphy and Andrews finished on the podium at championship meet Thursday.
Bulldog boys
Nine Bulldogs were finalists at the conference championship meet Thursday, with Adams claiming the crown in the 106-pound weight class.
Adams’ route to being a conference champ started with a first-round bye, then a pinfall win in the semifinals. He claimed the championship with a pinfall win over Deagon Ledford of Swain County with a pinfall win.
Lucas Castell won third place in the 113-pound division. He got a 16-12 decision in the quarterfinals, but lost by pinfall in the semifinals. He bounced back with a pinfall win in the consolation semifinals to earn a spot in the third-place match, which he won by pinfall.
James Garrett also got third place. His day started in the quarterfinals. He received a bye in the first round of the consolation bracket, then followed it up with a pinfall win in the consolation semis. To earn third place, he defeated Ethan Beechum by pinfall.
Braden Edwards got second place in the 132-pound division. He got a bye in the quarterfinals, then won by pinfall in the semifinals for a place in the championship match. In the first-place match, he lost by pinfall to Zander Lucksavage of Robbinsville.
Josiah Niebla also got second place. After getting a bye in the quarterfinals, he won by pinfall in the semifinals. He then lost to Loxston Hooper of Robbinsville by technical fall in the 138-pound division for Niebla for a second-place finish.
Brody McFaddin got second place in the 150-pound division. After a quarterfinals bye, he won a 11-4 decision to earn his spot in the first-place match. He then lost to Lleyton Hooper of Robbinsville by technical fall in the championship.
Brodi Haines lost a close decision and had a second place finish. After a bye and a pinfall win in the semifinals, he lost in the championship to Gabriel Patterson of Hayesville in a 7-6 decision.
Anthony Catuto won third place in the 165-pound division. He had a quarterfinals bye, then lost in the semifinals. In the consolation bracket, he got a bye in the semifinals to get his spot in the third-place match, which he won by defeating Brock Garrett of Hayesville.
In the 175-pound division, Branson Crocker won third place. He had a bye, then lost in the semifinals. He received two byes in the consolation bracket to secure third place.
Reese Haney, Kane Gibson, Xander Stricklin and Brayden Gunter also competed, but did not place in the meet.
Bulldog girls
Three Lady Dogs competed, with Ivy Werner claiming the conference crown in the 114-pound division. Werner received a quarterfinals bye, then won by pinfall in the semifinals. In the championship, she defeated Elaynah Cogdill of Swain to secure the championship.
Kyndle Garett and Sara Drew also competed, with both securing fourth-place finishes in their weight classes.
Wildcat boys
Andrews had four wrestlers compete in the championship meet. Chase Beasley and Hayden Virtanen had second-place finishes.
Beasley started his day with a 21-4 technical fall win over Gunter of Murphy. He won a majority decision in the semifinals to earn a spot in the championship match, then fell to Devin Hall of Robbinsville for a second-place finish in the 144-pound division.
Virtanen got pinfall wins in the quarterfinals and semifinals to earn a spot in the 215-pound championship. He then lost to Christian Koeller of Robbinsville for a second-place finish.
AJ Johnson and Ford Ashe also competed, but did not place at the meet.
Dogs battle for belt
The Dogs traveled to Hayesville for the Highway 64 Belt Battle duals event against Franklin and Hayesville. Murphy split, defeating Franklin 60-24 but falling to Hayesville 42-31 on Jan. 20.
Reyden Galarza and Lucas Castell opened the dual with forfeit wins. Then James Garrett, Braden Edwards and Josiah Niebla earned pinfall wins.
Also earning wins in the dual were Brodi Haines, Anthony Catuto and Branson Crocker by pinfall. Getting forfeit wins were Brody McFaddin and Weston Adams.
The Dogs put together 10 wins to defeat Franklin.
In their loss to Hayesville, Castell won by decision, while Niebla and Crocker got wins by technical fall. Also earning wins were McFaddin and Catuto by forfeit and Adams by pinfall.
Hayesville went on to defeat Franklin to go 2-0 on the day to claim the belt.
The Lady Dogs were also in action at the duals, falling 36-12 to Franklin and 19-12 to Hayesville.
In their dual with Franklin, only two matches were wrestled. Murphy’s Ivy Werner got a pinfall win, and Kyndle Garett lost by pinfall. The Lady Dogs earned six more points as Sara Drew got a forfeit win.
Franklin had five forfeit wins en route to a 36-12 win.
It was a similar dual against Hayesville, but only one match was wrestled.
Werner and Garett got forfeit wins for the Lady Dogs’ 12 points. Hayesville’s 19 points came from one pinfall win and two forfeit wins, as well as one point of criteria to net the 19-12 final score.