UCA wrestlers buff up with more success

Caden Bond 

TRINITY — Uwharrie Charter Academy’s wrestling team is on target for a league championship and another bid for a dual team state title.

Per usual, the Eagles have been doing so by rolling past most opponents.

“We’re trying to dominate,” senior Aiden Foster said. “We’re trying to be better every day.”

UCA has a new coach in Hayden Waddell, who moved into the position that his father, Chris Waddell, previously held. The elder Waddell remains involved and on the bench with the Eagles.

“We’re trying to stay consistent with what we do,” said Hayden Waddell, who was the school’s first state champion when he was on the mats.

UCA has wrapped up at least a share of another Piedmont Athletic Conference championship, regaining the title after Trinity prevailed last season. The Eagles finish conference competition Jan. 23 vs. Southwestern Randolph.

“Our mentality, we come to win,” said junior middleweight Lorenzo Alston, a two-time state champion. “We make sure we come to win every single match.”

Last week’s 66-9 victory at Wheatmore guaranteed the team conference honors. The meet included UCA’s normal string of pins along with a bonus when senior Caden Bond pulled off an upset.

Bond defeated Wheatmore’s Dominic Hittepole 4-2 in a 175-pound bout. Hittepole, the Class 2A state runner-up at 175 last February, had never dropped a bout during a dual meet.

“I was saying, ‘You can win the match.’ I just had to believe,” Bond said.

There was no scoring in the first period. Hittepole escaped in the second before Bond’s takedown for a 3-1 lead, though Hittepole’s escape made it 3-2. Hittepole began the third on top and locked in a move but Bond fended it off.

Hittepole let Bond escape with about 30 seconds remaining but couldn’t secure a takedown in the ensuing scramble.

“I was so hesitant on my feet,” Hittepole said of the match’s earlier moments.

Bond, whose only defeat this season came to David Rudd of Harrison (S.C.), lost by a big margin to Hittepole during an offseason tournament. He said this marks his most significant victory.

“Staying in good position and working what you know,” Bond said of the key. “I guess it’s just you got to keep pushing.”

Bond, who placed fourth in Class 1A at 175 in last year’s state tournament, had spent much of this season competing at 190.

The Eagles are gearing up for another postseason with more lofty goals. They’re the two-time defending Class 1A dual team state champs.

“It all starts in practice,” Alston said. “The more pressure we put on ourselves. Just remembering how much work we put in. We put our heads down and work.”

Hayden Waddell said it’s important to maintain the high standards.

“To have the right mindset and we have the culture established,” he said.

Other winners for UCA against Wheatmore, all by pins or technical falls, were Andrew White (120 pounds), Brennan Worrell (132), Travis Nobles (138), Brandon Jordan (144), Rick Riccardella (150), Aiden Foster (165), Michael Shropshire (215), Jesse Bowles (285), Ayven Virasone Chitavong (106) and Paxton Kearns (113).

UCA’s steamrolling of Wheatmore was interrupted only by 126-pounder Ayden Sumners’ pin and 190-pounder Noah Browning’s decision.