Andrews – Three Smoky Mountain Conference wrestling teams were in the Valley for the Wild West Duals on Nov. 27.
Andrews, Hayesville and Murphy high schools competed in the meet. In duals competition, two teams go head to head to earn team points to defeat the other team. Wrestlers earn team points from getting wins in each weight class; each team enters one wrestler per weight class.
In team scores, Hayesville went undefeated, Andrews defeated Murphy and Murphy went winless in the duals competition.
To kick off the event, Murphy took on Hayesville and lost 66-12.
Murphy earned team points first to take a 6-0 lead as Jake Miller got the pin against Parker Hughes of Hayesville. Also scoring for Murphy was Daniel Chastain in the 126-pound weight class, as Hayesville did not enter a wrestling to compete against Chastain.
At 132 pounds, Murphy’s Evan Wilson fell to Mason Ray. At 157, Branson Crocker of Murphy fell to Hayesville’s Andrew Reynolds. At 165, Canyon Hughes of Murphy lost to Robert Manning.
Following the completion of each weight class, there were two exhibition matches where team points were not awarded for wins. Miller got his second win of the day by pinfall over Cooper Treptow in the 120-pound weight class. At 126, Chastain of Murphy lost to Kaden Harbuck.
Hayesville wrestled the Yellow Jackets’ second dual of the day when they took on Andrews. In the Wildcats’ season debut, they fell to Hayesville 66-6.
The Wildcats’ six points came as Hayden Virtanen defeated Silas Lovingood by pinfall. Also wrestling for Andrews, Josiah Roehm lost to Ray of Hayesville, Ethan Davis fell to Denton, Isaac Vaught fell to Reynolds and Colton Rose fell to Rayland Martinez.
In an exhibition match, Ford Ashe of Andrews lost to Dawson Devane.
To close out the Wild West Duals, Andrews took on Murphy. The Wildcats won 25-24.
Both teams earned six points, as Chastain of Murphy at 126 pounds and Roehm at 132 did not have opponents. Andrews took the lead as Davis of Andrews got a pin against Wilson of Murphy. Murphy tied it up as Crocker of Murphy pinned Vaught of Andrews.
They stayed tied as Hughes of Murphy at 157 pounds and Virtanen of Andrews at 175 did not have opponents. The match remained tied after Rose of Andrews at 285 pounds and Miller of Murphy at 113 did not have opponents.
With it being tied at 24 points each, the match came down to criteria. Andrews had the edge, as the Wildcats had the most near fall points 4-0 and most reversal points 4-2 to defeat Murphy 25-24.
After the team points scoring matches, there were two exhibition matches. Roehm of Andrews defeated Chastain of Murphy by pinfall, while Virtanen of Andrews defeated Hughes of Murphy by pinfall.
This was Virtanen’s second win of the season, improving on last season when he got only one win.
On Friday, Murphy will host Andrews in a duals matchup at 5 p.m. At 6 p.m. Tuesday, Murphy will travel to take on Rabun County, Ga. Andrews and Murphy will then head to Swain County for the Devil Duals on Saturday, Dec. 14.