Cherokee’s Jaron Bradley (2nd from right), took second place in the 145lb division at the 1A state wrestling tournament on Saturday, Feb. 21. Shown (left-right) are Preston Childress (Avery), third place; Dalton Beaver (Mitchell), first place; Bradley; and Joseph Waters (Rosewood), fourth place. (Photo courtesy of Anthony Swearengin)
GREENSBORO – Cherokee’s Jaron Bradley took second place in the 145lb division at the 1A state wrestling tournament in Greensboro on Saturday, Feb. 21. He took second place at the 1A West Regional tournament the week before in Walkertown.
Bradley opened up his state tournament with a win by fall over Joseph Waters (Rosewood) in the quarterfinals. He then won by fall over Preston Childress (Avery) in the semifinals to advance to the state championship round. The first place match between Bradley and Dalton Beaver (Mitchell) was hard fought and went all three rounds. But, Beaver edged Bradley in points to take a 7-4 decision.
Bradley wrestles Mitchell’s Dalton Beaver in the 145lb first place match. (Photo by Vickie McCoy)
EBCI tribal member Spencer McCoy took first place in the 220lb division at the state tournament. This makes the third state wrestling championship for McCoy, a senior at Swain County High School, and marks the first time this feat was accomplished by a wrestler from the Smoky Mountain Conference. He went 119-12 in his high school wrestling career and won four Smoky Mountain Conference championships and three 1A Western Regional championships in addition to his three state championship rings.
The official raises Spencer McCoy’s hand moments after winning the 220lb division at the 1A state wrestling tournament. It was the third state championship for McCoy, an EBCI tribal member and senior at Swain County High School. (Photo by Vickie McCoy)
McCoy won by fall over Alan Gibson (South Davidson) in the quarterfinals, and then won by fall over Landon Shipman (Rosman) in the semifinals. In the first place match, he won a 10-4 decision over Will Atkins (Mitchell) to take the title.
Chad McCoy, an EBCI tribal member from Robbinsville, also qualified for Saturday’s state tournament. He won in the consolation first round with a 6-2 decision over Robert Alvarez (East Montgomery), but then lost in the consolation semifinals to Landon Shipman (Rosman).
– One Feather staff report
