Haywood middle schools on target at state sportsman club tournament

May 6—Haywood County was well represented by middle school hunters during statewide competition.

All three of the county's middle schools competed in the Youth Hunter Education Skills Tournament State Championship, facing off with hunters from 24 other schools across the state.

Bethel and Waynesville Middle each finished in the top four of the tournament overall, while Canton earned an individual state title.

Bethel finishes on podium

The Blue Demons came away from the state meet with a third-place finish overall.

But that was after a slow start. The day began with the shotgun, something that Bethel Coach Chad Franklin described as "starting the day on a real low note" with Bethel's worst-performing discipline.

Despite that, the Blue Demons came storming back up the leaderboards with strong performances in the other three disciplines. Bethel came away with first-place finishes in both the rifle and hunter skills test — the first time the team had taken home the win in either discipline.

"I was really pleased with how they finished that day, how they just had short memories and just finished that day strong," Franklin said.

Franklin gave a shoutout to the Haywood Homeschool Sportsman's Club and Roger Thomas for their help with the skills test — a category the homeschool team has dominated in its two years of existence.

"He's taken those studies and the hunter education part of it to another level, and kind of brought us along with it and helped us study," Franklin said.

As for the rifle team, Franklin said it was all about hard work and talent.

"The kids worked hard. I'm really young on my .22 team too, so I'm excited about getting a lot of those kids back next year."

While prepping for tournaments was a focus, it was really internal competition that spurred the team toward victory.

"They really learned how to push each other and make each other better. They really competed internally this year, and it really pushed them and made them a whole lot better," Franklin said.

Waynesville finishes top four

The Mountaineers weren't too far behind their Haywood County compatriots. In fact, they were just one spot behind Bethel in fourth place overall.

Waynesville Middle grabbed first place in shotgun, second in archery and third in rifle.

The win in the shotgun marked just the second time in 14 years the team has won an individual discipline at the state level.

While the Mountaineers finished in fourth, they were right in the race. The gap between first and fourth was smaller than the gap between first and second in the high school competition.

"It makes every event very important," said Waynesville Middle Coach Brandon Sutton.

The Mountaineers struggled on the skills test, leaving the most points on the table in that discipline.

"Years ago in the middle school, they used to teach us hunter skills at the middle school. I would love to see that come back," Sutton said.

The big wins were the result of a season of hard work from the Mountaineers.

"These kids have worked hard all year long. I knew that they could do it. It's just a matter of getting them to do it at the competition," Sutton said.

Canton seventh grader wins state

Canton Middle didn't have the best of days as a team at the state meet, but they did rack up a handful of great results.

"Team-wise, we kind of fell short, but we had a good day. I was really proud of all of them. They all put a lot of time in this year and worked hard," Canton Middle Coach Nathan Edwards said.

The team finished 14th overall, but seventh grader Lucas Allen earned first place individually in archery.

"I was really proud of him. He's put a lot of work in. He didn't make the team last year, but he went home, and he put a lot of time into it. He shot it every day. He came back this year, and he wanted it," Edwards said.

Additionally, Cainan Ledbetter finished third individually in the state in the shotgun.