With weather causing a number of postponements and in order to convene a number of teams together to collectively assist one another’s schedules, four Western Highlands Conference wrestling squads gathered at Mountain Heritage High School for an evening of high school mat action.The Avery wrestling squad took on a trio of teams in conference foes Mitchell, Mountain Heritage, and Owen. It was a difficult evening in team competition, as the Vikings were unable to come away with a team dual victory.
Avery began the evening by tangling with the neighboring Mitchell Mountaineers. A strong Mountaineers team defeated the Big Red by a final dual score of 69-8.
Brock Yackey continued his strong season at the 112 pound weight class with an 11-2 major decision victory over Mitchell’s Seth Hollifield. Yackey led 4-1 after one period and the pair battled through a scoreless second period. Yackey picked up a reversal from the down position, gave up an escape, then earned a takedown and three nearfall points for the win.
The senior Viking wrestling standout Anthony Varacalli also competed against a tough foe at the 145 pound weight class in Caleb Mitcler, falling by a 5-3 decision. “Anthony had a difficult match that. He’s struggled against that particular opponent and he is developing a skill set, but he needs to bring his confidence along to be able to defeat the same guy if he faces him in the conference tournament, but Anthony is making strides at this point in the season, which has been reflected in his wins,” Avery head wrestling coach Stacey Clark commented following the event. “I felt he wrestled well in the match, but just came up short in the end.”
The match was tied at 2-2 after one period. Varacalli deferred the choice and Mictler chose the down position. Mictler earned an escape and a takedown to lead 2-5 going in the third peiod. Varacalli earned a penalty point for an illegal hold but could score no more in the 5-3 final decision.
Avery’s only other win came from Jose Munoz at 152 pounds, who won by 11-1 major decision over Mitchell’s Jubal Church. “Mitchell is a strong 2A team and is a tough opponent for us. We managed a couple of wins. The rest of our team showed our inexperience, and a more veteran Mitchell team reflects that,” Coach Clark added.
In the second dual of the evening, Avery took on host Mountain Heritage. In a closer match than the prior contest with Mitchell, Avery was still unable to come out on top as the Cougars prevailed 51-27.
The dual began with the 189 pound class and Avery picked up its first points with a forfeit win awarded to Brock Yackey at 112 pounds. At the 119 pound class, Jacob McKinney earned a pinfall victory in the final seconds of the second period over Heritage’s Calvin Denny. Denny scored first with a takedown and earned three points for a near fall. Jacob reversed the position for a pair of points, Denny escaped and the period ended 2-6 with McKinney trailing. McKinney chose the down position, earned an escape and takedown, Denny earned an escape, then Jacob got a quick takedown and finished the match with a pin.
Another tight match in the dual was at 135 pounds, where Forrest Sickler fell in a narrow 8-5 decision to Wyler Fondaw. Fondaw earned the first takedown of the match for the only first period points. Sickler deferred decision then gave up a reversal before earning one of his own. Another reversal by Fondaw left the score 6-2. Sickler began in the down position, earned an escape and takedown to cut the lead to 6-5, but a reversal by Fondaw closed the match.
Avery earned pin fall wins in the dual from Anthony Varacalli in the first period at 145 pounds and also from CJ Vance in the second period at 171 pounds. Jose Munoz earned the other four points with a 10-4 decision win at 152 over David Johnston. Munoz led 2-0 after the first period with a takedown, then led 5-0 after an escape and takedown in the second period. Munoz earned a penalty point for an illegal hold and earned an escape and takedown. Johnston picked up a takedown and two-point near fall in the third period, but Munoz took the win.
The Vikings had won a previous dual with Heritage, but there were a number of differences between the prior meeting and Friday’s encounter. “Both our teams had a few lineup shifts going into Friday’s match. Several wrestlers were at different weight classes, and Mountain Heritage had picked up a few of their wrestlers who had been out due to injury,” Coach Clark explained. “Also, in a match as close as it was, there are several bouts we refer to as “swing matches” that pit wrestlers who are really close in skill levels and wrestling skills that can go either way. We picked up favorable results in every swing match except one in the first meeting, but we didn’t get any in this match.”
Avery’s final dual match was against their regularly scheduled opponent Owen, and the Warhorses handed the Vikings a tough 69-6 defeat. At the 112 pound class, Brock Yackey was handed a rare loss by pin in the third period to Austin Edwards. Yackey led 4-1 at the end of the first period. The pair started in the neutral position to start the second period and Edwards earned a takedown and three near fall points. The bout was stopped on three occasions due to blood from Yackey’s nose which eventually had to be gauzed for the match to continue. Edwards earned a takedown in the third period and finished the match with a pin.
“Edwards is a tough opponent for Brock who wrestles similarly to the Bottoms kid from Tuscola that Brock faced in the finals at Robbinsville. All three wrestlers have similar styles and look for the same takedowns and finishes,” Clark added. “Hopefully we can help him with further developing his skill set over the next couple of weeks to be able to overcome those types of opponents heading into regionals. He’s close to getting over that hump to be a strong factor at regional and state competition.”
A pair of Vikings earned decision wins in the dual. Anthony Varacalli won by 9-6 decision at 145 pounds and Jose Munoz won by a 3-1 decision for Avery’s only points for the match.
Avery wrestles in a dual match on Wednesday at Mitchell on Senior Night in Ledger, and will travel to Madison on Friday for the Western Highlands Conference Tournament. The 1A/2A Western Regional take place the following weekend at North Henderson High School.
Avery’s cumulative records by weight classification and wrestler are as follows:
103 pounds- no wrestler
112/119 pounds- Brock Yackey: 26-13
112/119 pounds- Jacob McKinney: 11-16
125/130 pounds - Tyler Long: 3-14
125/130/135 pounds - Bryan Moody: 3-30
135 pounds - Forrest Sickler: 16-25
140 pounds - no wrestler
145 pounds - Anthony Varacalli: 22-9
152/160 pounds - Jose Munoz: 14-6;
160 pounds - no wrestler
171 pounds - CJ Vance: 7-18
189 pounds - Lucas Lecka: 11-17
215 pounds - Nathaniel Buchanan: 4-34
Heavyweight- no wrestler
