Andrews and Murphy returned to the wrestling mats last week, with the Wildcats competing twice and the Bulldogs wrestling once.
Andrews traveled to Hayesville for duals competition, then headed to Polk County. Murphy competed Saturday at a tournament in Towns County, Ga.
Andrews
The Wildcats’ wrestling team started their meet with their first duals matches of the season at Hayesville, facing both Hayesville and Brevard in duals. In the first dual, they lost to Hayesville 78-6.
Andrews’ six points came in the 190-pound weight class, as Hayden Virtanen got a pinfall win over Robert Manning in just under three minutes.
Chase Beasley was also in action in 144-pound division and lost by pin. In the 285-pound division, Chris Jackson lost to Hayesville’s Rayland Martinez.
In an exhibition match, Ford Ashe defeated Brendon Collins in 1:11.
Hayesville’s high points total came through wins by forfeit. Andrews only had wrestlers competing in three weight classes, whereas Hayesville had a wrestler in almost every class.
In its second dual, Andrews lost to Brevard 60-12.
The Wildcats’ 12 points came as Beasley and Virtanen won by forfeit. Brevard’s points came the same way except in the 285-pound division, as Isaac Hardin defeated Ashe by pinfall.
In an exhibition match in the 144-pound division, Beasley feared Joshua Van Dyke by pinfall in 5:09.
The Cats returned to the mats in Polk County at the Wolverine Duals event Saturday. In their five duals matches, Andrews went 0-5 due to being a small team compared to other teams from around the state.
In the first dual, the Cats fell 72-0 to Shelby High School. They were also shut out by Lake Normal High School 70-0.
The Cats earned their first points against Kings Mountain High School, when they fell 78-6. Andrews’ six points came from Chris Jackson’s pinfall over Joshua Thomas in 3:13.
The Wildcats faced host school Polk County and fell 63-3. The Cats’ three points came as Chase Beasley defeated Alex Labreche by a 10-7 decision.
In their fifth dual of the day, the Cats had their highest scoring dual when the lost to South Caldwell 72-12.
Beasley earned their first six points with a pinfall win over Loan Rudisill in 3:48. Ford Ashe earned their next six points with a win by forfeit.
Andrews will hit the mats next Wednesday, Dec. 3, in Travelers Rest, S.C.
Murphy
Murphy hit the mats Saturday morning, when they traveled to Towns County.
In the tournament, one Bulldogs finished on the podium. Weston Adams had an undefeated day to win first place in the 106-pound weight class.
Joshua Cutting had a strong day, finishing in fourth place. He was not pinned once in five matches.
Adams started his day with a first-round bye, then got a pinfall victory in 31 seconds in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, it only took him 18 seconds to get the pin, sending him to the championship. In the championship, Adams got the pin over Diego Contreras of East Hamilton High School in 1:26 to claim gold.
Cutting started his day with a majority decision loss to head to the consolation bracket. After a first round bye, he got pinfall wins in the second and third rounds, as well as the consolation semifinals. In the third-place match, he lost by majority decision again.
Also wrestling for the Dogs was Reyden Galarza in the 113-pound division. He finished the day 0-2 after two losses by fall.
Lucas Castell started his day with a win in the 120-pound division, then fell in the second round. In the consolation bracket, he won in the second round but lost in the third.
James Garrett in the 132-pound division went 0-2 on the day with two losses by fall.
Braden Edwards in the 138-pound division started his day with a loss. He then bounced back with three straight wins in the consolation bracket before losing in the semifinals by decision.
Josiah Niebla in the 144-pound division had the same path as Edwards with a loss in the first round, then three straight wins in the consolation bracket before suffering a loss in the semifinals by decision.
In the 150-pound division, Tristan Nicholson went 0-2 after two losses by fall.
Jeremiah Bateman went 1-2 for the day. He lost in the first round, then picked up a win in the first round of the consolation bracket before losing in the second round.
Brodi Haines also went 0-2 after two pinfall losses.
Branson Crocker in the 175-division went 2-2 in the tournament, earning wins in the championship first round and consolation second round. Jonathan Cowan went 0-2 after two losses in the 190-pound division.
In overall team score, the Dogs came in ninth place with 70.5 points.
Murphy will be on the mats again in their next competition at home Tuesday, Dec. 9, when the Dogs host Rosman and Towns County.
They will then head to Swain County on Saturday, Dec. 13.