Polk County wrestlers capture individual, team titles at Junior High State Championship

Published 11:33 am Monday, February 6, 2023

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The future of wrestling in Polk County is rather bright. The present isn’t too shabby, either.

 

Led by a pair of individual state champions, a team of Polk County wrestlers took top honors Saturday at the 41st Annual Junior High State Championships, held at the Rise Sports Complex in Advance.

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Polk County’s Styler Blackwell and Zalen McCraw each won state titles to lead the Wolverines, whose team consisted of wrestlers in grades 7-9 from both Polk County Middle and Polk County High Schools. Blackwell won the 154-pound class for eighth graders while McCraw claimed the 162-pound class for ninth graders.

 

Polk County finished ahead of teams from Pisgah High School, BeastWorks Wrestling in Jacksonville and East Wilkes Middle School.

 

Blackwell’s title came against a familiar foe as he faced Waynesville Middle School’s Ty Walker for the third time in the past two weeks. Blackwell and Walker entered the third period tied at 2-2, but Blackwell scored an escape and then a near-fall in the final period to secure his state title and claim his third straight win over Walker.

 

Polk Middle’s Efrain Rivera added a second-place showing in the 100-pound eighth grade class while Connor Ahlert and Kam Montgomery had third-place finishes. Sawyer Huff added a fourth-place result.