KING — Trent Lowman and the West Stokes Football program hosted their annual offensive and defensive lineman challenge on July 22.
The two-hour event featured 73 athletes from West Stokes, West Wilkes, North Surry, Starmount and South Stokes.
“I think today went smoothly even though it was hot and humid, and it looked like everyone enjoyed themselves,” Lowman said. “You have several 7-on-7 competitions through the summer, but they are all for quarterbacks, receivers and defensive backs. Today was just for the linemen. Football is won up front with them, so to have a day that is about the linemen is a really neat thing that Coach (Jimmy) Upchurch started a long time ago.”
This year, Lowman changed the name of the event to recognize the Wildcats’ long-time football coach Jimmy Upchurch.
“Jimmy started it and we wanted to honor him with changing the name to the Jimmy Upchurch Lineman Challenge,” Lowman added. “Before coming here, I brought my teams over here to compete and I thought it was a really neat thing for the lineman to have their day and their event. Jimmy started it, he ran it, and he deserves to have his name attached to it.”
The athletes were separated by grade and competed in the farmers carry, an obstacle course, the tire flip and the tire tug. At the end of the challenge the schools competed in a tug-of-war competition.
West Stokes’ Kyle Sellers finished first in the seniors’ farmers carry and obstacle course with times of 8.60 seconds and 23.38 seconds. The Wildcat also finished second in the tire flip with 17 in 45 seconds, then helped West finish second in the tug-of-war event behind North Surry’s A-Team.
North Surry’s Anthony Williams was first in the tire flip with 18, then finished second in the farmers carry and obstacle course with times of 8.63 and 24.60. The Greyhounds’ Uriah Kearse won the tire tug tournament.
In the junior class race, North Surry’s Jaxton Turney was first in the farmers carry, Starmount’s Sam Shore won gold in the obstacle course, and West Stokes’ Jackson Sammons was first in both the tire flip and tire tug competitions.
West Stokes’ Eli Bolejack and West Wilkes’ AJ Childress were first in the farmers carry for the sophomore class with a time of 9.03. North Surry’s Wyatt Hooker won gold in the obstacle course with a time of 25.30, while West Stokes’ Omari Graham won the tire flip with 18 and Hector Alfaro won five one-on-one matches en route to the tire tug tournament championship.
North Surry picked up another individual win in the freshman competition as Mason Cornett posted a time of 26.62 on the obstacle course.
Eleven five-man teams between the five schools participated in the team tug-of-war event; West Stokes, North Surry and West Wilkes fielded three teams each, while Starmount and South Stokes each had one.
West Stokes’ and North Surry’s A-teams easily advanced to the finals, with the Greyhounds winning the tug-of-war event for a third consecutive time. Team members were: Juan Rico, Braxton Montgomery, Anthony Williams, Wyatt Hooker and Uriah Kearse.
Football practices for North Carolina high schools officially begin on Aug. 1.
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