TRIPLE DIGITS: Patton grappler Burke Wilson reaches 100-win mark

History was made on Tuesday at Patton High School, as Panthers senior wrestler Burke Wilson earned the 100th win of his prep career during a quad match against nonconference opponents Freedom and Hibriten and Mountain Foothills 7 1A/2A Conference foe Chase.

Wilson, who began wrestling for Patton as a sophomore, went 3-0 on the night as he increased his career victory total to 101. The 165-pounder collected a pin in the Panthers’ 45-28 loss to Freedom, won by forfeit in a 48-30 defeat at the hands of Hibriten, and picked up another pin in a 39-30 loss to Chase as Patton completed the dual portion of its season with an overall record of 4-32 and a 1-6 mark in league matches.

“I thank God for giving me the ability to be able to pick up that 100th win,” said Wilson, who also gave credit to his parents, his girlfriend, and all of the others who have supported him. His father, Kelly, is currently an assistant coach at Patton, and Wilson stated that “he’s really broken some of my bad habits and got me back into the swing of things” since joining the Panthers’ coaching staff this season.

“I’m thankful for all those people,” added Wilson. “I am out there on the mat by myself, but those people are always cheering me on, so that’s nice.”

Wilson also recorded his 31st and 32nd pins of the winter as he tied the program record for single-season pins. Kaleb Spann previously tallied 32 pins for the Panthers during the 2019-20 season.

“It’s awesome to be kind of a part of history at a school that’s about as old as I am,” said Wilson, who was born in 2007, the same year that Patton opened. “I’ve always since I was a kid looked for pins, I wanted to get off the mat as quickly as possible, so it’s nice to have a record like that that kind of shows how I am as a wrestler.”

Luke Parker (144 pounds; pin, two forfeits) and Nicholas Parlier (175; two pins, forfeit) also earned three wins apiece for Patton on Tuesday, while Cayden Marshall (126/132; two pins) and Cavan Sullivano (157; forfeit, major decision) each won twice and Gabriel Puac Miguel (138; forfeit) and Brady Christian (285; forfeit) nabbed one victory apiece.

In addition to the aforementioned win over Patton, the Patriots (12-19, 0-5 Northwestern 3A/4A Conf.) also defeated Chase by a 47-30 score and lost to Hibriten by a 49-30 final on Tuesday in a match that was wrestled as a nonconference contest since the NWC foes already competed against each other on Jan. 17 in Lenoir.

Xander Vue (106; three forfeits), Christian Lawhon (126; pin, forfeit, decision), Enrique Gonzalez (138; pin, forfeit, technical fall), and Alan Vicente Perez (190; two pins, forfeit) each picked up three wins for Freedom, which also received two victories apiece from Kaleb Pearson (132; pin, forfeit) and Kayden Bowman (150; two forfeits) and one win each from Taylor Skylar (120; forfeit), Hank Hall (144; forfeit), Zachary Carson (157; forfeit), John Mabry (175; forfeit), and Oliver Salvatierra-Pascual (215; forfeit).

Freedom and Patton also participated in their conference tournaments on Jan. 25 at South Caldwell and Polk County, respectively, with the Patriots being led by a first-place finish from Pearson at 132, a runner-up finish from Vicente Perez at 190, a third-place finish from Gonzalez at 138, and fourth-place finishes from Skylar (120), Lawhon (126), and Bowman (150). As for the Panthers, they got a first-place finish from Parker at 144, third-place finishes from Wilson (165) and Parlier (175), and a fourth-place finish from Ryan Vue at 190.

After receiving an opening-round bye during the NWC tournament, Pearson won via pin in his semifinal bout before earning a 17-1 tech fall in the title match. Meanwhile, Vicente Perez won by pin and a 7-2 decision before dropping an 8-3 decision in the finals, and Gonzalez pinned his opponent in the third-place match after getting through the consolation bracket.

During the MF7 tournament, Parker won via pin in the semifinals before emerging victorious by a 7-4 decision in the title match, Wilson pinned his opponent in the consolation semis before winning by a 7-2 decision in the third-place match, and Parlier also pinned his opponent in the consolation semis before winning by a 14-10 decision in the third-place match.

In other recent wrestling action, Draughn (11-16, 2-4 Western Highlands 1A/2A Conf.) traveled to Southwest Guilford on Jan. 22 for a nonconference tri-match during which the Wildcats defeated Ragsdale by a 72-6 score and lost to the host Cowboys by a 50-18 final. Double winners for Draughn were Carson Murdock (138; pin, forfeit), Landon Clark (175; pin, forfeit), and Connor Brinkley (215; pin, forfeit), while the following grapplers nabbed one win apiece: Jayson Yang (113; pin), Wade Garrison (120; forfeit), Paxton Brown (126; pin), Gaston Garrison (132; forfeit), Chance Yang (144; forfeit), Noah Hoyle (150; forfeit), Cayman Lewis (165; forfeit), Christian Ugalde (190; forfeit), and Cain Martinez (285; forfeit).

The Wildcats also took part in the WHC tournament at Mitchell on Jan. 24, with Brinkley coming in first at 215 thanks to a bye in the first round, an 8-0 major decision in the semifinals, and a pin in the championship round. Draughn also got a runner-up finish from Jayson Yang at 113 after he received a first-round bye, pinned his semifinal opponent, and lost by a 5-1 decision in the title match.

Third-place finishers for Draughn included Isaac Kirk at 144, Chance Yang at 150, and Lewis at 165.

And East Burke (5-13, 0-7 Catawba Valley 2A Conf.) dropped matches at league foes Maiden and Bandys by scores of 71-6 and 63-12 on Jan. 24 and Tuesday, respectively. The Cavaliers’ lone win on Jan. 24 was a pin by Patrick Hernandez (215), while Tuesday’s match saw EB receive a pin from Tucker Chapman (120) to go with a 9-3 decision from Zach Ward (138) and a 16-11 decision from Daniel Cook (157).

Draughn was the only Burke County team to qualify for the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) dual-team state playoffs, which begin with the opening two rounds today (Saturday, Feb. 1). The No. 12 seed in the 1A West bracket, the Wildcats will travel to Bradford Prep in Charlotte to face fifth-seeded Cherryville in the first round, with the winner taking on either fourth-seeded Bradford Prep or 13th-seeded South Stokes in the second round after the opening-round matches are completed.

NCHSAA individual regionals for girls are scheduled for Feb. 7-8, while individual regionals for boys will take place Feb. 14-15.

INDOOR TRACK

Cavs notch 6 victories at Bunker Hill

East Burke won six events during a 13-team polar bear meet hosted by Bunker Hill on Wednesday.

Victorious Cavs included Ossie Burkeen in the boys 55-meter hurdles (8.19) and long jump (19 feet, 2.5 inches), Marc Denton in the boys 3200 meters (11:53.39), Nathan Rees in the boys triple jump (35 feet, 7 inches), Kolby Byrd in the boys shot put (52 feet, 4.5 inches), and Cadence Willis in the girls 1000 meters (3:22.28).

EB also competed alongside NCSSM-Morganton’s Stella Friedman, three runners from Patton, and over 100 other schools during the Fast Track Invitational on Jan. 25 at JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, where Byrd was the Cavs’ top performer with a third-place finish in the boys shot put (52 feet, 6.75 inches). Meanwhile, Friedman came in 20th in the girls 3200 meters and 39th in the 1600 meters, and the Panthers were paced by Layla McGuire’s 43rd-place finish in the girls 1000 meters.

NCSSM-M, Patton, and Freedom will be among the teams represented at the WNC Polar Bear Championships today at Polk County, while EB and Freedom will also be in action on Wednesday (Feb. 5) when they travel to West Iredell for a polar bear meet.

SWIMMING

EB relay team posts runner-up finish

East Burke sent four of its top boys swimmers to a last chance meet hosted by Owen on Jan. 25 at the Buncombe County Schools Aquatic Center in Asheville, and that foursome came away with a second-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay.

Taylor Lennex, Noah Ramsey, Gage Allen, and Haiden Dale posted a time of 1:50.56 to earn the runner-up spot, and they also took fourth in the 200 medley relay. Additionally, Dale finished fifth in the 100 free and Allen came in 12th in the same event.

EB competed alongside fellow Burke County teams Draughn, Patton, and NCSSM-Morganton at the NCHSAA 1A/2A West Regional championship meet on Friday at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center, which will also be the site of today’s 3A West Regional championship meet that will include Freedom. Furthermore, the 1A/2A (Saturday, Feb. 8) and 3A (Friday, Feb. 7) state championship meets will be held next weekend at Cary’s Triangle Aquatic Center.