His full team is not on hand yet, but first-year Polk County wrestling coach Adam Dedmon already likes the way the 2018-19 Wolverines are shaping up.

Polk County showed some of the reason for optimism Wednesday, battling Smoky Mountain in a 48-36 setback before defeating Asheville 52-30 in a nonconference tri-match at Polk.

The defeat of Asheville gave Dedmon his first dual win as Polk County’s coach. A series of forfeits in the middle weights helped boost the Wolverines, but Polk also got a pin from Preston Burnett at 132 and a major decision from Bryce Thompson at 145 to help secure the win.

The Smoky Mountain match proved a competitive one. Burnett, Brennan Worthington, Thompson and Kaden Jobe each won consecutive matches by pins to give Polk a 24-12 advantage. The Mustangs answered with two falls to even the score before Trey Thompson, making his season debut, notched a first-period pin at 182 to put the Wolverines back into the lead.

Smoky Mountain’s strength in the upper weights enabled the Mustangs to pull ahead 42-30, but Collier Foster dominated his match at 106, recording a pin in the second period, to cut the Mustangs’ lead to 42-36. Smoky Mountain’s Sam Hudson clinched the win for the Mustangs at 113 with a fall.

“I felt like we improved a lot from last week,” Dedmon said. “We competed with Smoky Mountain in the first match. We’re getting close to filling out all the weight classes. We should have a full team in a week.

“The kids are working hard and practicing hard and continuing to get better. We just need to get our football players out and get them up to speed. I feel like we’re going in the right direction. We’ve turned a corner.”

The Wolverines are scheduled to compete Saturday in the East Henderson Duals, weather permitting.

– Submitted by PolkSports.com