GASTON -- Yorktown's junior varsity wrestling team was recognized as Delaware County champions after all.
Members of the Tigers' JV squad captured the county trophy on Thursday night, out-pointing Delta for the top spot at the five-team meet 192 1/2 to 160.
"We had eight wrestlers in the finals," Yorktown coach Trent McCormick said. "We asked all of our kids to go and compete. We didn't have an entrant at 112, and 160 got put out in the first round, but the other 12 wrestlers placed in the top four. I'm very proud of that."
McCormick opted to wrestle his JV instead of his No. 6-ranked varsity team in an effort to save the Tigers' allotment of 18 competition points under IHSAA rules for more quality competition. In years past, Yorktown's varsity wrestlers had dominated the county meet and often did not receive much time on the mat when they did wrestle.
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Initially, McCormick said he was told his JV team would not be recognized as the county champion if it scored the most points at the meet. But McCormick said he learned on Thursday that the Delaware County Athletic Association apparently had voted back in December to honor the JV wrestlers' scoring at the meet.
"I was unaware of that vote until (Thursday night)," McCormick said. "However it was handled would have been fine with me."
Six JV wrestlers won their respective weight classes to help put the Tigers over the top. First-place finishes included: Rudy Aguirre (103 pounds), Dalton Baysinger (130 pounds), Austin Dent (140 pounds), John Wales (171 pounds), Mick Hart (189 pounds) and Dylan Ervin (285 pounds).
Other county champions were Steven Gonzales (112 pounds), Adam Gordon (119 pounds) and Alec Taylor (145 pounds) for Delta; Stefan Harry (125 pounds), Clayton Harry (135 pounds) and Kyle Buechler (160 pounds) for Wapahani; and Jesse Green (152 pounds) and Josh Folkner (215 pounds) for Wes-Del.