It was a working holiday for the Avery Vikings wrestling team this past week as the team traveled to the greater Hickory area for a pair of wrestling tournaments.
On Saturday, December 20 the squad took part in the Fred T. Foard Tiger Classic.
In the pigtail round (a play-in round prior to opening round action), Bryan Moody competed at 140 pounds, while Lucas Lecka entered in a 189 pounds. Both wrestlers met stiff competition, falling in first round falls.
A total of four grapplers began tournament play for the Big Red. Brock Yackey competed at 112 pounds, with Jacob McKinney at 119 pounds, Forrest Sickler at 135 pounds, and Anthony Varacalli at 145 pounds.
Both Yackey and Sickler were victorious in their first round bouts, Yackey by technical fall 17-1 over Foard’s Caleb Griffin, and Sickler by pin at 3:29 over Wilkes Central’s Tyler Ward.
McKinney fell by 12-3 major decision to Freedom’s Luiz Lopez, while Varacalli was defeated by an 8-3 decision to West Caldwell’s J.D. Stiles. Both wrestlers dropped to the consolation bracket, where they advanced in opening round action. McKinney won in a third period pin over Draughn’s Miles Maunery, while Varacalli earned a first period pinfall win over East Lincoln’s Kurtis Snyder.
In the championship semifinals, Yackey advanced to the finals with a pinfall at 2:31 over Hickory’s Dylan Harnish. Sickler met up with a tough competitor in West Caldwell’s Treigh Triplett, losing by technical fall 17-1 to drop to the consolation semifinal bracket.
In semifinal consolation bouts, McKinney was defeated in a 7-2 decision by Scotty Royal of Wilkes Central. Sickler squared off against Burns wrestler Dalton Elmore. Elmore emerged victorious with a pin with only four seconds remaining in the opening period to capture the win. The losses eliminated the Avery wrestlers from the tournament.
In his consolation semifinal bout, Varacalli won by decision over Burns wrestler Shawn Stanton to make the consolation finals, but lost by an 8-5 decision to Hickory’s Dalton Obeerle to capture fourth place at the 145 pound class.
“Anthony came away with a couple of good wins, and also had a couple of matches where he didn’t wrestle as well. I feel like he wasn’t exactly up in to the level he had been,” Avery head wrestling coach Stacey Clark said after the event. “It was really good for him to overcome a couple of tough matches and be able to place at the tournament.”
In the championship finals at 112 pounds, Brock Yackey came away as the Vikings’ lone champion on the day, winning by pin at 5:17 over Sam Melton of East Lincoln.
“Brock was our Avery Wrestler of the Week and had a terrific tournament. He wrestled solid all day long. He faced a tough kid in the finals and came out with an edge in the second and third period to get the win,” Coach Clark added. “Brock is showing both himself and us as coaches that he has a great opportunity for success at the 112 pound class.”
On Tuesday, December 23rd the Vikings journeyed to Newton-Conover High School to compete in the annual Red Devil Duals Tournament. During the day the Vikings faced stiff competition in separate dual meets with McDowell, Enka, R-S Central, and Newton-Conover High Schools. The Vikings were unable to come away victorious in team scores in the meets, but the duals provided the group of six wrestlers who made the trip with top-notch opposition and experience heading into conference and regional action in the coming months.
“We took a little short of a full team as we’ve had wrestlers either out of town for the holidays or unable to go because of missing practice. We took the kids who have been working hard and getting better,” Coach Clark said as the meet concluded last Tuesday.
Four wrestlers earned multiple wins during the day. Brock Yackey earned four wins and lost in a tough fifth match by a 3-1 final score to Newton-Conover’s Eric Holbrook. Anthony Varacalli earned three wins on the day and narrowly missed a fourth win with a narrow 6-5 loss against Randy Ortega from Newton-Conover. Two other wrestlers, Forrest Sickler and Lucas Lecka, earned a pair of victories at Tuesday’s event.
“Dual team tournaments are tough this time of year because we have so many people not with us, but it’s good for the kids we do take because they will see competition here that they won’t see again until they reach regional competition,” Coach Clark explained. “This tournament is a good eye-opener for our wrestlers and team, as it’s around the halfway point of the season. We get to see where we need to be and where the other kids are. Even if you come out with a couple of losses, it’s not a bad thing because you get to see the caliber of where you should be at this point.”
Avery did receive a forfeit win in the duals, as Providence School did not attend the tournament and Avery’s wrestlers each received forfeit victories for that match.
Individual Avery wrestler records following matches of December 23rd are as follows:
103 lbs. - Bennet Sweat - 13–8
112/119 lbs. - Jacob McKinney - 9–9
112/119/125 lbs.- Brock Yackey - 18-11
125/130 lbs. - Tyler Long 3–10
135/140 lbs. - Forrest Sickler - 15-16
130/135/140 lbs. - Bryan Moody- 3–22
145 lbs. - Anthony Varacalli - 16–6
152/160 lbs. - Jose Munoz - 9-4
171 lbs. - Leo Munoz - 2–4
171 lbs. - CJ Vance - 4–13
189 lbs. -Lucas Lecka - 8–11
215/285 lbs. - Nathaniel Buchanan - 3–26
285 lbs. -Justin Crowder - 3–10
The Vikings jump into conference action quickly following the New Year’s holiday, with dual meets at Hendersonville on Tuesday, January 6th and at home against Polk County on Friday, January 9th.
On Saturday, December 20 the squad took part in the Fred T. Foard Tiger Classic.
In the pigtail round (a play-in round prior to opening round action), Bryan Moody competed at 140 pounds, while Lucas Lecka entered in a 189 pounds. Both wrestlers met stiff competition, falling in first round falls.
A total of four grapplers began tournament play for the Big Red. Brock Yackey competed at 112 pounds, with Jacob McKinney at 119 pounds, Forrest Sickler at 135 pounds, and Anthony Varacalli at 145 pounds.
Both Yackey and Sickler were victorious in their first round bouts, Yackey by technical fall 17-1 over Foard’s Caleb Griffin, and Sickler by pin at 3:29 over Wilkes Central’s Tyler Ward.
McKinney fell by 12-3 major decision to Freedom’s Luiz Lopez, while Varacalli was defeated by an 8-3 decision to West Caldwell’s J.D. Stiles. Both wrestlers dropped to the consolation bracket, where they advanced in opening round action. McKinney won in a third period pin over Draughn’s Miles Maunery, while Varacalli earned a first period pinfall win over East Lincoln’s Kurtis Snyder.
In the championship semifinals, Yackey advanced to the finals with a pinfall at 2:31 over Hickory’s Dylan Harnish. Sickler met up with a tough competitor in West Caldwell’s Treigh Triplett, losing by technical fall 17-1 to drop to the consolation semifinal bracket.
In semifinal consolation bouts, McKinney was defeated in a 7-2 decision by Scotty Royal of Wilkes Central. Sickler squared off against Burns wrestler Dalton Elmore. Elmore emerged victorious with a pin with only four seconds remaining in the opening period to capture the win. The losses eliminated the Avery wrestlers from the tournament.
In his consolation semifinal bout, Varacalli won by decision over Burns wrestler Shawn Stanton to make the consolation finals, but lost by an 8-5 decision to Hickory’s Dalton Obeerle to capture fourth place at the 145 pound class.
“Anthony came away with a couple of good wins, and also had a couple of matches where he didn’t wrestle as well. I feel like he wasn’t exactly up in to the level he had been,” Avery head wrestling coach Stacey Clark said after the event. “It was really good for him to overcome a couple of tough matches and be able to place at the tournament.”
In the championship finals at 112 pounds, Brock Yackey came away as the Vikings’ lone champion on the day, winning by pin at 5:17 over Sam Melton of East Lincoln.
“Brock was our Avery Wrestler of the Week and had a terrific tournament. He wrestled solid all day long. He faced a tough kid in the finals and came out with an edge in the second and third period to get the win,” Coach Clark added. “Brock is showing both himself and us as coaches that he has a great opportunity for success at the 112 pound class.”
On Tuesday, December 23rd the Vikings journeyed to Newton-Conover High School to compete in the annual Red Devil Duals Tournament. During the day the Vikings faced stiff competition in separate dual meets with McDowell, Enka, R-S Central, and Newton-Conover High Schools. The Vikings were unable to come away victorious in team scores in the meets, but the duals provided the group of six wrestlers who made the trip with top-notch opposition and experience heading into conference and regional action in the coming months.
“We took a little short of a full team as we’ve had wrestlers either out of town for the holidays or unable to go because of missing practice. We took the kids who have been working hard and getting better,” Coach Clark said as the meet concluded last Tuesday.
Four wrestlers earned multiple wins during the day. Brock Yackey earned four wins and lost in a tough fifth match by a 3-1 final score to Newton-Conover’s Eric Holbrook. Anthony Varacalli earned three wins on the day and narrowly missed a fourth win with a narrow 6-5 loss against Randy Ortega from Newton-Conover. Two other wrestlers, Forrest Sickler and Lucas Lecka, earned a pair of victories at Tuesday’s event.“Dual team tournaments are tough this time of year because we have so many people not with us, but it’s good for the kids we do take because they will see competition here that they won’t see again until they reach regional competition,” Coach Clark explained. “This tournament is a good eye-opener for our wrestlers and team, as it’s around the halfway point of the season. We get to see where we need to be and where the other kids are. Even if you come out with a couple of losses, it’s not a bad thing because you get to see the caliber of where you should be at this point.”
Avery did receive a forfeit win in the duals, as Providence School did not attend the tournament and Avery’s wrestlers each received forfeit victories for that match.
Individual Avery wrestler records following matches of December 23rd are as follows:
103 lbs. - Bennet Sweat - 13–8
112/119 lbs. - Jacob McKinney - 9–9
112/119/125 lbs.- Brock Yackey - 18-11
125/130 lbs. - Tyler Long 3–10
135/140 lbs. - Forrest Sickler - 15-16
130/135/140 lbs. - Bryan Moody- 3–22
145 lbs. - Anthony Varacalli - 16–6
152/160 lbs. - Jose Munoz - 9-4
171 lbs. - Leo Munoz - 2–4
171 lbs. - CJ Vance - 4–13
189 lbs. -Lucas Lecka - 8–11
215/285 lbs. - Nathaniel Buchanan - 3–26
285 lbs. -Justin Crowder - 3–10
The Vikings jump into conference action quickly following the New Year’s holiday, with dual meets at Hendersonville on Tuesday, January 6th and at home against Polk County on Friday, January 9th.
