Yackey captured the regional championship at the 135-pound weight class. He defeated Zach Caldwell of Thomas Jefferson by second period pin and won an 8-3 decision over East Surry’s Blaine Hunter to advance with an undefeated mark to the second day of competition.
In his championship semifinal round, Yackey defeated Colby Yanez of host Cherokee by a 9-3 decision, and in the championship shut out West Wilkes’ Adrian Garcia by a 7-0 decision.
Lecka punched his ticket to Greensboro with wins in his opening match by pinfall over Will Ferguson (Swain). Lecka advanced to day two with an unbeaten mark as he defeated Mitchell Abbey of Elkin by first period pin. In the championship semifinals Lecka pinned Robbinsville’s Will Grindstaff in the third period. Lecka’s hopes for a regional title fell short as Greg UpChurch of East Surry upended the Big Red mat man by a 7-2 decision.
Although the pair was the only AHS wrestlers to advance to next week’s championships, a number of other Vikings had solid performances.
Freshman Harley Rash earned two wins by pinfall at the 119-pound weight class. Devin Buchanan earned a pinfall victory at 130 pounds during the tournament. Meanwhile senior C.J. Vance won three matches in the 160-pound weight class, defeating Hiwassee Dam’s Lucas Hayes by 15-0 technical fall, winning a 6-0 decision over Alex Carter of East Wilkes and winning an 8-1 decision against Mitchell’s Jacob Hundley.
Fellow senior Kyle Greene also earned multiple victories at the tournament in the heavyweight class. Greene won a 7-0 decision over West Wilkes’ Anthony Alvarado and winning by second period fall over Cherryville’s Dylan Reynolds.
Congratulations to the Viking wrestling team, and good luck to the Big Red grapplers this weekend at the state tournament.
