White Buffalo Wrestling sends 20 to State
In just its second year, the White Buffalo Wrestling Club made a thunderous statement.
The Anderson County-based program produced 20 qualifiers for the AAU state championships and saw 12 wrestlers earn medals at the tournament, held Feb. 27-March 1 at the Williamson County Ag and Expo Center in Franklin.
White Buffalo, which features athletes from across East Tennessee and Kentucky, had 24 wrestlers advance to the regional championships at Daniel Boone High School.
“We had those 24 wrestlers qualify for the region championships two weeks ago and we’re in our second year,” White Buffalo Coach Clint Wolfley said. “We had 19 compete in the state tournament. We had one who was sick and couldn’t make it.
“We couldn’t be happier percentage-wise,” Wolfley said. “We had 24 make the regionals at Daniel Boone High School and then we had 20 state qualifiers. Of the 19 that competed, we had 12 medalists, six wrestlers make the finals, two state championships and one grand champion, who won the regional, the state and the Top-100 Meet.”
The club’s grand champion was Charlee Wolfley in the girls middle school 100-pound division.
“She was White Buffalo’s first-ever grand champion awardee,” Wolfley said. “She won the state, the region and the Top 100 meet and that’s a very hard thing to do.”
White Buffalo’s other state champion was Josie Braden in the middle school girls’ 155-pound weight class.
Other medalists included: Wilder Machette (6U, 45 pounds, fifth place); Theo Chapman (8U, 125 pounds, fourth place); Keaton Owens (10U, 85 pounds, sixth place); Thunder Curry (10U, 90 pounds); Lorelei Coffey (girls, 91 pounds, fourth place); Christian Wolfley (middle school, 100 pounds, runner-up); Alessia Paoletto (middle school girls, 93 pounds, runner-up); Kaidance Mooney (girls, 83 pounds, third place); Kaylee Matchette (girls, 145 pounds, runner-up); and Brooks Reid (middle school, 120 pounds, sixth place).
State qualifiers also included Barrett Townsend (10U, 75 pounds); Dakota Hahn (12U, 80 pounds); Canon Matchette (12U, 100 pounds); Wyatt Holloway (12U, 105 pounds); Zavier Slone (12U, 112 pounds); John Seiber III (middle school, 85 pounds); Hadley Harrell (girls, 65 pounds); and Page Reed (girls, 84 pounds).
The club’s coaching staff includes Clint Wolfley, Shane Machette, Tyler Hillard and Trevor Hillard.
Many White Buffalo wrestlers are expected to continue their careers at Anderson County High School, but the club remains open to athletes from across the region.
“The good thing about our club is that we’re not affiliated with any school,” Wolfley said.
“We welcome anybody who wants to compete and wants to get better.
“Most of our athletes will go to Anderson County, but we have kids from Clinton, Kentucky, Halls and Seymour. We partner with Halls and Seymour and we have a dedicated girls coach.”
White Buffalo operates year-round.
This spring and summer, its athletes will transition to freestyle and Greco-Roman competition after completing the folkstyle season, the format used in Tennessee high school wrestling.
