Bryson City – Wrestling teams from western North Carolina headed to Swain County to compete in the Devil Duals meet on Saturday.
Murphy found success as they secured second place in Pool B, while Andrews got pins but lost matches due to having a smaller team.
In Pool B competition, Murphy defeated Cherokee, while Andrews lost to Smoky Mountain in the first round. In round two, Murphy lost to Smoky Mountain, while Andrews lost to Cherokee. In the third round, Murphy defeated Andrews, while Smoky Mountain beat Cherokee.
Pool B First round
In Murphy’s 36-20 defeated of Cherokee, Josiah Niebla, Brody McFaddin and Anthony Catuto got wins by fall. Murphy’s other points came by forfeit.
Andrews fell to Smoky Mountain 59-6. The Wildcats’ six points came from Josiah Roehm winning by forfeit in the 144-pound weight class.
Second round
In the second round, the Bulldogs lost 60-18 to Smoky Mountain. Their 18 points came from Niebla, Trenton Cook and Branson Crocker getting wins by forfeit.
Andrews fell to Cherokee 40-6. Their six points came from Chase Beasley getting his second win of the season and he got the pinfall win over Collin Sampson of Cherokee.
Third round
In the Bulldogs’ third-round defeat of Andrews, Murphy won 42-18, with two wins by pin and five wins by forfeit.
The match got started with Ethan David of Andrews defeating Braden Edwards of Murphy by fall. Roehm of Andrews defeated Wilson of Murphy by fall, and Cook of Murphy defeated Chase Beasley of Andrews by fall.
With Murphy trailing in the team score, the Dogs then got 18 points by McFaddin, Crocker and Catuto getting wins by fall.
Hayden Virtanen of Andrews then defeated Canyon Hughes of Murphy in their second matchup of the season. Reese Haney of Murphy defeated Ford Ashe of Andrews by fall. Niebla and Daniel Chastain of Murphy got wins by forfeit to secure Murphy’s victory.
Andrews’ results
Outside of the Wildcats Pool B matches, Andrews fell to Mountain Heritage and Swain County.
The Cats fell to Mountain Heritage 35-12. Virtanen and Ashe earned the Wildcats 12 points after getting wins by forfeit.
The Cats then fell to Swain County 54-6. Their six points came from Ashe getting a win by forfeit.
Murphy’s results
The Bulldogs also took on Swain County and Hayesville. They defeated Swain, then lost to Hayesville.
In their win over Swain, Murphy earned points on three pinfall wins and three wins by forfeit. McFaddin, Cook and Braden Edwards got wins by pin, while Branson Crocker, Catuto and Reese Haney got wins by forfeit.
The Dogs then lost to Hayesville 57-15. Their 15 points came from Niebla getting the majority decision win over Hayesville’s Cooper Treptow, McFaddin winning by technical fall over Hayden Hunt of Hayesville and Cook winning by forfeit.
Dogs head to Georgia
Prior to heading to Swain, the Murphy wrestling team kicked off their week by taking on Georgia high school teams from Rabun and Madison counties. The Bulldogs hit the road to Rabun County in north Georgia on Dec. 10 for their first of two duals events last week.
In the first dual, they faced off against Madison County, Ga., and lost 60-12. Their 12 points came from Cook winning by forfeit, as Madison did not have a wrestler in the 144-pound weight class.
Murphy’s other six points came as Catuto defeated Madison’s Lukas Laduke by fall for Catuto’s first win of the season.
In other matches, Jake Miller lost to Landon Barrett of Madison by fall. This was Miller’s first loss in duals competition this season.
David Rochester lost to Jordan Mitchell of Madison by fall, Hughes lost to Madison’s Daniel Higgins by fall and Kane Gibson lost to Douglas Ray of Madison by fall. Madison’s other points came by wins by forfeit.
The Dogs then took on Rabun County, Ga., and lost 66-0. Miller lost his second match of the day and second duals match of the season to Rabun’s Bryson Hunt by fall.
Cook lost to Jackson Word of Rabun, Rochester lost to Rodolfo Ramos of Rabun, Hughes fell to Rabun’s Shaun Fruster and Gibson lost to Caiden Lovell of Rabun. Catuto also lost his second match of the day for his first loss of the season, falling to Harry Word of Rabun.
This was their final match of 2024 and they will prepare for the next part of the season. Murphy’s next match is Jan. 4 on the road against Enka. They will return home on Jan. 7 to host Towns County, Ga. Andrews will hit the road Jan. 3 to wrestle in Cherokee.