While Meeks had Mooring on his back more than once, he couldn’t quite score a pin.  A frustrated Mooring hurt his own cause, giving away points via poor conduct. The first incident brought Miller to the mat to emphasize the infraction to the referee, who awarded a point to Meeks. A technical violation shortly afterward gave Meeks two more points. Both competitors refused to concede the match, which was, to say the least, intense.

“Chris needed a win,” reflected Miller. “Chris is s tough kid.” Miller noted that around Christmas, Meeks missed about three weeks due to illness, but “He’s a strong kid, (who) works hard.”  Weeks also plays football.

Regardless of the final score against Mitchell, Miller was pleased with his team’s overall performance.

“I thought we wrestled well all night,” he said. “It might not have looked that way (going by the score against Mitchell),” but he noted, as shown on the mat, that a number of matches could have gone either way, and the score been much closer. Unfortunately, for Polk, Mitchell’s greater experience took its toll. For instance, sophomore Anthony Marino lost an 8-7 squeaker at 138; 145-poundeer Alex Metcalf enjoyed a small lead before he lost a tough 7-4 battle; and 195-pounder Joel Hernandez was pinned after enjoying an early lead. All three fought tenaciously, but couldn’t hold on.

Against Shelby, Miller’s crew shook off the Mitchell meet, and came out fighting. Peyton Gevedon (pin), Franklin Sandoval (forfeit win); Marino (pin), and Metcalf (pin) gave the Wolverines six points apiece at 126, 132, 138 and 145, respectively. Then Shelby got on the board with a pin over Ryan Badger at 152, and added six more with a pin over Zack Price (160). At 170, Jerry Cox lost a 17-14 decision, but had nearly pinned his opponent. Pins over Polk’s Austin Hylemon (182), Hernandez (195) and Robert Waldrop (220), gave Shelby a 33-30 advantage. A forfeit loss at 106 put the Wolverines behind, 39-30, before Vera’s pin, and Meeks’s heroics.

On January 24, Polk scored a win at Mountain Heritage. On Friday (Feb. 1), the Wolverines visit Avery. On February 5, they visit Asheville School, to meet A.S. and East Henderson. Friday, February 8 will feature Polk at conference meet at Mitchell High School. Regionals will be held February 22 and 23 at West Lincoln.  In between, the Wolverines will stay sharp, with a visit to Smokey Mountain.