Morganton- At the start of Christmas break, all four Burke County wrestling teams gathered at Patton HS for the annual Burke Brawl.

This year’s format was an individual round-robin tournament dividing all the different weight classes.

Freedom came out on top as this year’s team champions with 87.5 points, followed by East Burke (78), Patton (64.5), and Draughn (46).

The Cavaliers were represented by four weight-class champions, starting with senior Grayson Phillips going 3-0 in the 132 lb division by pinning all three of his county opponents.

Freshman Daniel Cook won the 144 lb division by only winning two matches via pinfall.

East Burke followed by dominating the 215 lb and 285 lb divisions won by Patrick Hernandez and Joshua Hess respectively each having two pinfalls each.

The Cavaliers also gained four runner-up finishers including Nathan Martin (113), Hue Xiong (126), Connor Mobley (138), and Chase Bingham (157).

Senior Hampton Blackwell was the top cat for Draughn winning the 190 lb division by pinning his two county opponents and raising his win total to 20 for the 2023-24 season.

The Wildcats were also represented by runner-up finishers Landon Clark (165) and Connor Brinkley (215) and third-place finishers Mackenzie Barrett (120), Gaston Garrison (126), Issac Kirk (132), and Bryson Seagle (150).

Draughn will compete in a tournament at RJ Reynolds next weekend while East Burke opens the Catawba Valley Athletic Conference season by hosting Newton-Conover on January 2nd.