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Mustang wrestlers place second in tournament at Robbinsville
SM Wrestlers

Among the Smoky Mountain wrestlers who placed in the top three Saturday at the Far West Invitational are, from left: Nathan Novgrod, Matt Boud, Andy Matheson, Brandon Woodard and Mike Scott. The Mustangs placed second as a team

Smoky Mountain's wrestlers finished second in the Far West Classic held Saturday at Robbinsville. North Henderson came out on top with 202.5 points to 135 for the Mustangs. Swain was third at 113.5 followed by Franklin (112), Robbinsville (99.5), East Henderson (68), Cherokee (54), Polk (44), Hayesville (22) and Murphy (18).

Mike Scott, Andy Matheson and Nathan Novgrod all won their weight classes.

"We wrestled really well." Coach Ian Roper said. "Everybody on the team who went scored points for us."

He noted Chris McFalls and Chris Hilton were taking the SAT and missed the tournament. They own wins over the wrestlers who placed first in their weight classes at the tournament. Roper said the Mustangs could have given North Henderson a run for the top spots if they had been present.

Scott was the winner at 112 pounds with three pins in the first period. He defeated Zane Dockery of Murphy, Ryan Williams of North Henderson and Josh Phillips of Robbinsville.

"He really tore through the tournament," Roper said. "I was happy for him. It was his first individual tournament championship."

Matheson received a bye to start his road to the championship at 135 pounds. He had first-period pins over Greg Utz of Polk and Derrick Brevard of North Henderson.

"He wrestled real well," Roper said. "He really dominated the competition. Brevard is ranked in the state."

Andy Matherson

Smoky Mountain's Andy Matheson (top) pinned Polk's Greg Utz in the semifinals of the Far West Invitational held Saturday at Robbinsville. Matheson won the 135-pound weight class.

Novgrod started with a bye at 145 pounds then pinned Cherokee's Ricky Morgan. In the finals, he rallied from a 6-2 deficit after the first period to defeat Franklin's Adam Green 15-9.

"He really wrestled super and dominated the rest of the match," Roper said. "It was really a gutsy performance."

Placing second were Boomer Rish at 125 pounds and Brandon Woodard at 130.

Rish received a bye then pinned Matt Martens of Cherokee. He dropped a 15-6 decision to Robbinsville's Dusty Anderson in the finals.

Woodard pinned Adam Nicholson of Franklin then decisioned Rance Shuler of Robbinsville 7-5. He was pinned in the finals by North Henderson's Brandon Niebert, who is undefeated.

Matt Boud placed third at 215 pounds. He pinned Robbie Petty of Polk then lost an 8-3 decision to Swain's Josh Fouts. He advanced to the consolation finals when Jonathan Trantham of Murphy defaulted due to an injury. He claimed third by pinning Cherokee's John Taylor.

Jake Scott finished fourth at 119 pounds. He decisioned Tyler Garvey of Franklin 15-2 before being pinned by Swain's Aaron Lambert. In the consolation round, he pinned Robbinsville's Blake Marino then lost a 1-0 decision to Andy Jones of North Henderson.

Also scoring points for the Mustangs were Charlie Graning (103), John Clark (140), Justin Story (152), Kevin Price (160) and Adam Johnson (189).

A match at Mountain Heritage scheduled for Tuesday was not held. The Mustangs finished the year 15-7 in dual competition.

SM will compete in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament on Saturday at Franklin.

Back to Sports: 02/01/01.