The East Burke High School community this month lost a pair of coaching legends as Wayne Fletcher and P.D. Fowler passed away.
Fletcher died at age 77 on June 11, and Fowler died at age 83 the following day, June 12.
A Drexel native, Fletcher went on to earn degrees from Appalachian State University and Gardner-Webb University before returning to Burke County, where he coached under Danny Williams before becoming Cavaliers head football coach in 1984, a position he held for 11 seasons.
In that span, EB had eight winning seasons on the gridiron, including a 10-win campaign in 1988 that was highlighted by his only outright Northwestern 4A Conference title and undefeated NWC run.
Fletcher’s 68 career wins (against 50 losses) are second-most for any EB football coach, behind only Williams, and he guided teams to six NCHSAA state playoff appearances and five league titles, including four straight from 1988-91.
His teams went 6-5 against Fat Friday rival Freedom, winning three in a row at one point, as his six coaching wins in that head-to-head series rank first all-time at EBHS.
A 2004 East Burke Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, Fletcher also coached track and field at EBHS and returned in the 2000s as an assistant football coach for several seasons.
“Wayne Fletcher was the greatest coach I ever worked with,” Sam Wilkinson, a former EBHS assistant coach and prep football radio announcer who is also a former Burke County Public Schools school board member, posted to Facebook upon hearing the news of his death.
“Wayne was more than good football knowledge, which he was. He also was the best friend anyone could have. Once you became his friend, you stayed his friend for life. Wayne taught me so much football. … You were one of the best, and you left a mark on all of us. You fought one heck of a fight.”
Fowler was a Hildebran native who served in the military in Vietnam before returning home and joining the Hickory Police Department, where he served from the 1960s until the ’90s.
He coached baseball at Hildebran High in the 1960s and Hickory High School in the 1970s and also had stints at Lenoir-Rhyne College (now Lenoir-Rhyne University) and with the Hickory Crawdads and Atlanta Braves (as a scout).
Additionally, Fowler coached youth baseball with the Hildebran-Icard Little League and at the Hickory Foundation YMCA for more than four decades, was a coach at Grandview Middle School and Granite Falls High School, then spent parts of the past three decades as an assistant coach at East Burke High, during which time he also coached the EB American Legion junior squad.
In 2022, the baseball field at Jaycee Park in Hickory was renamed P.D. Fowler Field.
“Thank you Coach PD Fowler for all you did for Cavalier Country,” read a June 13 Facebook post from East Burke High School Athletics. “You gave your heart and soul to kids and the game of baseball.”
Draughn names Lowman new AD
Draughn High School via a Facebook post recently announced that Brian Lowman will take over as athletic director in the 2026-27 school year.
Lowman comes to Draughn from Salem Elementary School, where he taught P.E. after having taught both E.C. and math previously. His wife, Anna, already teaches in the Valdese area, at Heritage Middle School, and the couple has three children.
“(Lowman) has coached numerous athletic programs and built strong relationships with students, families, and staff across our district,” the post reads, in part. “His passion for student success, athletics, and school community will be a tremendous asset to Wildcat Country.”
Lowman replaces Eric Shehan, who retired this month after spending the last five years as DHS athletic director.
Draughn football, softball camps
Draughn High School recently announced that it will hold both its youth summer softball and football camps next month.
The Lady Wildcats softball camp for rising third- through eighth-graders will be held July 13-14 from 6-8 p.m. Registration cost is $40, and instruction will include hitting, fielding, and throwing.
The Wildcats football camp for rising kindergartners through ninth-graders will run from July 27-29 from 6-8 p.m. Registration cost is $40, with discounts available for multiple siblings.
For more information or to sign up for either camp, contact DHS two-sport head coach Chris Powell at chrispowell@burke.k12.nc.us.
EBHS boys, girls wrestling camp
The East Burke High school youth wrestling camp for rising kindergarteners through eighth-graders will be held July 11 from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the EBHS mat room.
Registration cost is $40, which includes a camp T-shirt, and instructors will include current Cavaliers coaches and current and former Cavaliers wrestlers.
To sign up, visit shorturl.at/neaKi. For more information, contact EBHS head coach Brandon Bethel at brandonbethel@burke.k12.nc.us.
Doors will open at 8 a.m. on the day of camp for in-person signups, where cash or checks made out to East Burke Wrestling will be accepted.
Jensen transferring to Catawba
Draughn 2025 graduate Tate Jensen recently announced via social media that he will transfer from Appalachian State University and play baseball at Catawba College in Salisbury starting next spring.
Jensen is a 6-foot-1 left-handed pitcher who at the prep level was named 1A state player of the year in 2023 before being named Burke County player of the year in both 2024 and 2025. He led Draughn to playoff wins and conference titles in each of his four seasons at DHS.
As a Wildcats senior, Jensen hit for a .476 average with three home runs, eight doubles, four triples, 14 stolen bases, 23 runs, and 32 RBIs. He also won seven games from the mound, striking out 113 batters in just 56 innings with a 2.12 ERA.
Jensen homered eight times as a DHS junior and tossed three solo no-hitters at DHS. He will face his older brother, Trey Jensen, who’s a rising redshirt junior at Lenoir-Rhyne University, next spring as both programs are members of the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Conference.
Catawba was 49-14 overall (29-4 SAC) in 2025, winning the SAC regular-season championship and finishing as SAC Tournament runners up before reaching the NCAA D-II National Championships.
Davis competes at nationals in track
Freedom High School 2026 graduate Ke’Andre Davis competed at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals track and field championship meet at Franklin Field in Philadelphia on Sunday, taking seventh place in the boys long jump event.
Davis, the NCHSAA 6A state champion in the event, posted a top distance of 23 feet, 10¼ inches on his second of six total jumps, a personal-best effort.
The two-sport star Davis, who also played on the Patriots’ 2025-26 conference title basketball squad, has said that he will try to make the men’s track team at East Tennessee State University in the upcoming school year.
Harrelson, Parker, Call win in Hickory
Rising high school juniors Frank Harrelson from Freedom and Juleighanah Parker from East Burke were at it again on June 18 in the third meet of the 2026 Hickory Summer Track Series hosted by Lenoir-Rhyne University.
Parker claimed both the women’s 100 meters (13.78) and 200 meters (28.60), and Harrelson won by more than a minute in the men’s 3000 meters (10:58.81) while finishing second in the mile run (5:04.64).
Rising Freedom sophomore Abigail Call was also victorious, claiming the women’s pole vault event (6’6”).
Also locally, Amy Brooks of Morganton finished atop her age group and seventh overall in the women’s 3000 meters (15:09.13), and Robert McGimpsey of Morganton placed second in his age group and sixth overall in the men’s shot put (23’5”).
Mace, HMS lead way at NASP nationals
Several qualifying schools and individuals from around Burke County competed at the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) 2026 Championships from June 18-20 in Daytona Beach, Fla.
East Burke Middle School eighth grader Maggie Mace placed 12th nationally among girls in her class in the 3-D discipline, where she finished with a score of 280 that included 16 perfect 10s. Mace, who was also named an academic archer, posted a score of 253 (seven 10s) in bullseye.
Also in bullseye, the Heritage team finished 13th out of 41 qualifying middle school squads with a score of 3,135 points. HMS was led by William Bowman (278; 17 10s), who placed 30th nationally among eighth-grade boys, and by Viollet Sevcik (275; 13 10s), who was 22nd nationally among seventh-grade girls.
Heritage also got strong showings from Emmy Warr (274; 14 10s), Eli Warr (266; nine 10s), Sam Braswell (personal-best 265; nine 10s), Leyla Sevcik (265; five 10s), and Jason Gupta (personal-best 264; nine 10s).
Icard scored 2,461 points and finished 30th nationally in bullseye at the elementary school level, paced by Brooklyn Evans’ personal-best 265 (nine 10s) as she claimed 24th place nationally among fifth-grade girls.
Icard was also paced by Bailey Bartlett (241), Aubrey Grindstaff (225), Ruger Deal (207), Kaine Michaux (personal-best 206), Sutton Peacock (205), and Jaxson McNabb (personal-best 203), each of whom, like Evans, were named academic archers. Bartlett also qualified individually in 3-D, where she posted a 221 total.
And George Hildebrand was represented in both disciplines by individually-qualifying academic archer Kyleigh Hunt, whose personal-best 265 (eight 10s) in bullseye was good for 25th nationally among fifth-grade girls. Hunt also posted a 229 in 3-D.
County youth football signups underway
Signups are now open for the 2026 Burke County Parks and Recreation Department’s youth football league. There are three age divisions (5-7, 8-9, and 10-12), and age cutoff is Aug. 31. Those in the oldest age group cannot turn 13 at any time during the season or be entering seventh grade (or above).
Practices will get underway Aug. 17, the annual preseason jamboree will be Sept. 12 at East Burke High School, and the regular season starts Sept. 19. Four-team playoffs in all three ages will be held following the regular season on Nov. 7 and 14 (sites yet to be announced).
Last year, the Valdese 5-7s and 8-9s and East Burke 10-12s all completed county titles with perfect seasons.
Confirmed programs participating this year include Drexel, East Burke, George Hildebrand, Mull, Oak Hill, Ray Childers, Salem, and Valdese. Search for “Burke County Parks and Recreation” on Facebook for a complete list of signup contacts at each school/athletic foundation.
All children living in Burke County are eligible to participate, including those who attend charter or private schools or who are homeschooled. Call league director Wesley Hasson 828-796-4806 with questions or for more details.
Biltmore Championship tickets on sale
Tickets are now on sale for the PGA Tour’s inaugural Biltmore Championship in Asheville.
The event will be contested in the fall portion of the season, the new “FedExCup Fall,” a stretch of events where players compete to secure their tour status and position for next season.
Announced in November 2025 as Western North Carolina’s first PGA Tour event since the Asheville Land of the Sky Open in 1942, the Biltmore Championship will be held Sept. 17-20 at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove, a Jack Nicklaus design in Arden. Tickets are available at biltmorechampionship.com/tickets.
