Pippa Welch, center, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and a member of the Cherokee High School women’s wrestling team, won the 1A-4A Western Regional championship in the 152 lb. division at the regional meet held at Mount Pleasant High School in Mount Pleasant, N.C. on Wednesday, Feb. 11. She is shown with Natalie Aiella (Thomas Jefferson) who placed second and Cristal Pena (Fred T. Foard) who placed third. (Photo courtesy of CHS Wrestling Program)
One Feather Staff Report
The Cherokee High School (CHS) men’s and women’s wrestling teams competed in two separate regional events this past week, and two CHS wrestlers have qualified for the upcoming state meet scheduled for Feb. 19-21 at the First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C.
The Cherokee High School women’s wrestling team competed in the 1A-4A Wrestling Regional Championship held at Mount Pleasant High School in Mount Pleasant, N.C. on Wednesday, Feb. 11. The team took fourth place overall out of 30 teams and Pippa Welch qualified for the state meet by winning the regional title in the 152 lb. division.
The Cherokee High School men’s wrestling team competed in the 1A/2A Regional meet at North Rowan High School in Spencer, N.C. on Friday, Feb. 13 and Saturday, Feb. 14. Levi Tramper qualified for state by placing fourth in the regional 285 lb. division.
Todd Odom, Cherokee High School head wrestling coach, noted, “I’m super proud of the Cherokee Wrestling Program. Both of our teams got exposed to what good looks like this year. Several of our kids wrestled 40+ matches and we chased great competition all season. We couldn’t be happier with the progress from where we started to where we are today.”
He added, “To have two of our athletes represent us at the state tournament is an awesome accomplishment. Pippa and Levi have worked towards that goal all season and will have their shot at a state title next week. The outpouring of support from our community has been nothing short of incredible and we want to say a big Sgi for traveling and watching us online! We hope to see all of the Braves Wrestling Nation in Greensboro!”
Women’s results, per trackwrestling.com, are as follows:
Teams: 1 – Swain Co. 107.5, 2 – Robbinsville 87, 3 – West Stanly 82.5, 4 – Cherokee 68.5
114PT: 1 – Emma Ashby (Mount Pleasant), 2 – Taylor Hefner (Newton-Conover)
100: 1 – Yaleen Khang (Maiden), 2 – Kaylin Foster (Bandys), Sayler Chappell (East Surry), Jany Echeverria (Swain Co.)
107: 1 – Jenevy Olalde (Mount Airy), 2 – Mia Roberson (East Henderson), 3 – Chloe Kent (Swain Co.), 4 – Taylor Baker (Patton)
114: 1 – Mary Huneycutt (South Stanly), 2 – Mia Parker (Forbush), 3 – Jada Parrish (West Davidson), 4 – Lyla Burns (Burns)
120: 1 – Bailey Nimer (Mount Pleasant), 2 – Clair Ball (Swain Co.), 3 – Emma Grey Dorset (North Surry), 4 – Mayle Willard (Forbush)
126: 1 – Katelyn Kiker (West Stanly), 2 – Bella Pethel (Bradford Prep), 3 – Zia Brown (Brevard), 4 – Madison Mashburn (Swain Co.)
132: 1 – Cheyenne Bramhall (West Stanly), 2 – Malie Turne (Brevard), 3 – Alexis El-khouri (Robbinsville), 4 – Abigail Martinez (Newton-Conover)
138: 1 – Moriah Antis (Bradford Prep), 2 – Destiny Fidel (East Rutherford), 3 – Lily Flores (Avery Co.), 4 – Mattie Mains (Hendersonville)
145: 1 – Nola Walker (Newton-Conover), 2 – Shelby Kleinknecht (Hendersonville), 3 – Myah Winfrey (Robbinsville), 4 – Mayson Hyder (East Henderson)
152: 1 – Pippa Welch (Cherokee), 2 – Natalie Aiella (Thomas Jefferson), 3 – Cristal Pena (Fred T. Foard), 4 – Makayla Hunt (Swain Co.)
165: 1 – Kaylah Evans (Bandys), 2 – Shya Watson (West Caldwell), 3 – Felicity Hereim (West Stanly), 4 – Anna McFarling (Hendersonville)
185: 1 – Savada Kitchen (Brevard), 2 – Raelyn Brummels (West Davidson), 3 – Ashlynn Spivey (Rosman), 4 – Faith Duncan (Union Academy
235: 1 – Kimberly Talton (Madison), 2 – Abbi Stout (East Wilkes), 3 – Emily Jones (West Caldwell), 4 – Shayla Dominguez (Robbinsville)
Men’s results, per trackwrestling.com, are as follows:
Team Scores: 1 – Robbinsville 226.5, 2 – East Wilkes 158, 3 – Alleghany 145.5, 4 – Avery County 111.5, 5 – Bradford Prep 110.5, 6 – Hayesville 104, 7 – Starmount 78, 8 – Thomas Jefferson 75, 9 – Mitchell 73.5, 10 – Mountain Island Charter 73, 11 – Murphy 63, 12 – South Stokes 57, 13 – Rosman 47, 14 – Cherokee 39, 14 – Elkin 39, 14 – Swain County 39, 17 – Cherryville 30.5, 18 – Christ the King 24, 19 – North Rowan 22.5, 20 – Andrews 18.5, 21 – Corvian 13, 22 – North Stokes 8, 23 – Bonnie Cone 7
106: 1 – Ryan Johnson (Mountain Island Charter), 2 – Jon Fritz (Avery County), 3 – Wyatt Tilley (South Stokes), 4 – Weston Adams (Murphy)
113: 1 – Alexandero Ical (Avery County), 2 – Sullivan Cunningham (Swain County), 3 – Josue Welsh (Mountain Island Charter), 4 – Dean Huffstetler (Bradford Prep)
120: 1 – Adair Panama (Robbinsville), 2 – Gage Neal (Starmount), 3 – Skylor Dickens (East Wilkes), 4 – Ethan Gomez (Thomas Jefferson)
126: 1 – Bryson McFalls (Mitchell), 2 – Christopher Nuevo (Alleghany), 3 – Ayden Conley (Robbinsville), 4 – Jeshua Fuentes (East Wilkes)
132: 1 – Christopher Settle (East Wilkes), 2 – Zander Lucksavage (Robbinsville), 3 – Erris Crone (Mitchell), 4 – Sawyer Scott (South Stokes)
138: 1 – Loxston Hooper (Robbinsville), 2 – Brandon Orduna (Alleghany), 3 – Colten Vestal (East Wilkes), 4 – Chris Pometto (Elkin)
144: 1 – Devin Hall (Robbinsville), 2 – Collin White (East Wilkes), 3 – Evan Burks (Hayesville), 4 – Kobe Mashburn (Swain County)
150: 1 – Lleyton Hooper (Robbinsville), 2 – Kade Parlier (Alleghany), 3 – Ryan Kinter (Thomas Jefferson), 4 – Hayden Hunt (Hayesville)
157: 1 – Michael Mauro (Bradford Prep), 2 – Bobby Moore (Robbinsville), 3 – Wesley Willey (East Wilkes), 4 – Enrique Lopez (Elkin)
165: 1 – Alexis Nuevo (Alleghany), 2 – Jerimiah Phillips (Robbinsville), 3 – Anthony Catuto (Murphy), 4 – Collin Crater (Starmount)
175: 1 – Brodie Wright (Starmount), 2 – Billy Oh (Thomas Jefferson), 3 – Linking Vanrijsewijk (South Stokes), 4 – Jamal Gilliam (Bradford Prep)
190: 1 – Reuben Zufall (Bradford Prep), 2 – Brayden Lane (Robbinsville), 3 – Lee Birchfield (Rosman), 4 – Triston Phillips (Mitchell)
215: 1 – Christian Koeller (Robbinsville), 2 – Ayden Guessford (East Wilkes), 3 – Maverick Mora (Avery County), 4 – Hayden Virtanen (Andrews)
285: 1 – Rayland Martinez (Hayesville), 2 – Jerry Joines (Alleghany), 3 – Connor Brewer (Avery County), 4 – Thomas (Levi) Tramper (Cherokee)
