Wrestling team wins conference championship

There will be 12 West wrestlers competing in the North Carolina 3A regional championship individual tournament at Gardner-Webb University on Friday.

“I am excited for regionals,” senior Aaron Turpin said. “All year long, the whole team hasbeen working and improving for this weekend. We have a lot of wrestlers that have stepped up and worked hard to make it to regionals.”

Turpin will be wrestling as the number two seed out of 16 at regionals for his 170 lb. weight class. The other wrestlers that will be competing are freshmen Colby Sousa and Tanner Wood, sophomore Cody Green and seniors Nico Padilla, Grant Billingsley, Zach Younger, Jefferson Futch, Logan Plemmons, Donovan Wrightsman, Caleb Musser and Daniel Carroll.

“We have 11 seniors, a strong nucleus of experience along with a really solid all around team from our seniors to the freshman,” Coach Jeff Smith said. “With all of our experience, we expect to advance more wrestlers then last year into the individual state tournament.”

The team is practicing hard, working to cut weight, have fun and perform well at the state tournament.

“Every team has a different chemistry; this team really has effort and heart,” Smith said. “This is the first team I have coached in awhile with this strong of a shared success, and we are more of a team than in years past because of it.”

The team won the Western North Carolina Athletic Conference title.

The team then defeated Erwin in the dual team state playoffs before losing to Ashbrook.

“For the future, we need to work by making our younger kids keep fighting and not give up pins as fast when they get on their back,” Futch said.

By Tiernan Turner, Asst. Sports Editor