Thursday, October 1, 2026
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Cherryville, NC (WNN) - The Lady Ironmen tennis team was off this week; however, several other teams were on the pitch, on the course, and on the court representing Cherryville High School. The cross-country teams had another excellent showing, while the soccer and volleyball teams are showing great determination and grit as they continue to improve each week. All these athletes are performing well and demonstrating the true character of what it means to be Ironmen and Lady Ironmen. Even though they are not winning every week, they fight to the very end and refuse to back down or give up.
Coaches Antonio Griggs and Callie Cooke are seeing their rosters begin to fill out. Several runners have returned to action, and a few more are still nursing minor injuries but are expected back at full speed soon. Both coaches see improvement each week, and their runners are placing well against much larger schools, in some cases, 5A and 6A schools. The event this week was held in Gastonia, NC, on Tuesday, September 1, and hosted by Forestview High School. Thirteen schools competed in this meet, and Cherryville finished fourth for the men and third for the ladies. Both teams will be back in action on September 8 in a meet hosted by Lincolnton High School at South side park in Newton, NC.
The team scores for the men were: in 1st Kings Mountain 29 points, 2nd Forestview 83 points, 3rd South Point 93 points, 4th Cherryville 123 points, 5th Highland Tech 142 points, 6th Stuart W. Cramer 146 points, 7th East Gaston 159 points, and 8th Crest 178 points. Out of the 86 male runners, the Ironmen placed 3 runners in the top 30. The individual results were; 12th Geovanny Martinez 22:00.12 - 11 points, 13th Mason Powers 22:14.20 - 12 points, 29th Bryson Yarbro 24:30.24 - 24 points, 42nd Charlie Morgan 25:38.57 - 34 points, 57th Dylan Hughes 29:53.24 -42 points, and 71st Phoenix Poulter 32:38.42 - 46 points.
Team scores for the Ladies division were 1st Forestview 22 points, 2nd South Point 44 points, 3rd Cherryville 66 points, and 4th Kings Mountain 97 points. Coach Cooke’s girls had four runners place in the top 30. The individual results for the Lady Ironmen were; 5th Clara Skamarock 25:27.86 – 5 points, 13th Laighna Snider 28:38.00 – 10 points, 24th Ella Rayfield 31:42.45 – 15 points, 29th Lydia Skamarock 32:34.76 – 17 points, 32nd Ava Jones 33:53. 42 – 19 points, 39th Grace Brown 35:55.79 – 23 points, 50th Myla Parnell 41:27.26 – 26 points, and 52nd Angelina Detrinidad 41:30.32.
Cross Country at Forestview High School - Gastonia, NC - September 1, 2026
Mason Beam
The Ironmen hit the pitch this week looking for that elusive second win and first conference win of the season. They came close in the first of two matches of the week but fell just a little short at Lincolnton against the Wolves on August 31. This would have been a major upset, with the Wolves holding a 6-1-1 overall record and 2-0 in the conference. Defensively, the Ironmen were tough, but couldn’t get enough shots to hit their mark. Cherryville’s goalkeeper, Ethan Johnsen, continued to be a defensive force, making 16 saves and allowing 2 goals on 18 opponent shots on goal. Alex Alvarez scored the Ironmen’s goal, and Cole Kelly added an assist. Leading the way for Lincolnton were Joel Jaramillo-Arredondo and Ariyon Allen, each scoring 1 goal. Justin Blanco had 5 shots on goal and had 1 assist, while Diego Abarca and Josue Diaz each had 3 shots on goal.
Cherryville High School vs Lincoln High School - Lincoln High School Football Stadium - Lincolnton, NC - August 31, 2026
Mason Beam (WNN)
On September 2, Cherryville hosted the East Gaston Warriors. The first half was a defensive battle, with the Warriors sneaking one in near the break for a 1-0 halftime lead. East Gaston scored 2 more goals in the 2nd half for a 3-0 victory, despite another solid performance from Ethan Johnsen, who made 14 saves and allowed 3 goals on 17 opponent shots on goal. Cole Kelly led with 2 shots on goal; the Warriors’ defense was tough and held the Ironmen’s attempts to a minimum. Top performers for East Gaston were Oscar Bonilla, who scored 2 goals; Broc Benson, who made 2 assists; and Marshal Deal, who made 3 saves. Cherryville will have two upcoming conference matches this week. September 8: at home hosting Highland Tech at 6 pm, then traveling to Burns on September 9. Both matches are scheduled to start at 6 pm.
The Lady Ironmen had a busy week with 3 matches. Two of the matches were conference bouts, and the other was a non-conference matchup. Cherryville played well, although they fell a little short in each match. They had some very close sets in two of the matches and had opportunities to win. This team seems to improve each week, and they give it their all each set. Team chemistry takes time; despite so many new faces, they are playing together very well in the early season. This week, Cherryville will be home on September 8 to take on Stuart W. Cramer, then hit the road on September 9 to face Lincolnton. The Lady Ironmen are 2-6 and 0-5.
The first match this week was in Lawndale, NC, against the Burns Lady Bulldogs. This was the toughest match of the week for the Lady Ironmen as they fell 3-0. The set scores were 25-16, 25-11, and 25-14. The Lady Bulldogs took advantage of having a much more experienced team. Top performers for Burns were Karlye Clay with 14 of the team’s 37 kills.
and 11 digs. Kennedy Griffith served 6 aces and made 29 assists, while Jordan Walker added 11 digs. Burns had a total of 44 digs.
Match 2 of the week was a gutsy performance by the Lady Ironmen, with four very exciting sets. Piedmont would eventually win the match 3-1, but Cherryville made it difficult for them along the way. The first set saw PCC jump out to an early lead, yet the Lady Ironmen clawed back to tie it at 9. The score would be tied many times throughout the set, with the last one being 19-19. Cherryville led late by as much as 23-20. The last few points were tough, but Cherryville pulled out a 25-22 win. Piedmont controlled the second set. They led by as many as 15 points. Piedmont won this set 25-12. The third set was another hard-fought battle. Piedmont again took an early lead, and Cherryville again closed the difference. They couldn’t close it out, and PCC won this one 25-22. The fourth and final set was once again a tough battle as neither team gave up easily. The set was tied at 10-10 before Piedmont took the lead. Cherryville got close but couldn’t get enough points in a row to overcome the lead, and Piedmont closed out the set 25-22.
Piedmont served 11 aces during the match and was led in kills by Madelyn Wyatt with 9, and Faith Brown and Emma Ackerman each had 8 kills. Lily Cochcroft added 20 assists, and Kiara Capistran made 10 of the team’s 21 digs.
The Lady Golden Lions of Shelby came into Nixon Gym on September 3. They ran into a Lady Ironmen team hungry for a conference victory. It appeared that this might be the night they achieved their first conference win of the season, but in the end, Shelby prevailed 3-2. It was a shame that either team had to lose after five hard-fought sets. The Lady Ironmen gave Shelby all they could handle. The first set was a preview of what the entire match would be like, as it was close, with back-and-forth leads throughout. The score was tied late in the set at 20-20. Cherryville took the lead and held off a Lady Golden Lions attack to win 25-23. Shelby mostly controlled the second set as they won 25-14.
Set number three was all Cherryville. They led by as much as 8 points before winning 25-18. Set fourth began rough for Cherryville as Shelby held a 10-point lead early. The Lady Ironmen erased that lead to tie it 15-15. The points were well earned from that point on, with Shelby getting the upper hand and winning the set 25-20. Since the match was tied 2-2 after 4 sets, the tiebreaker set was next. In the fifth set, a score of 15 points wins the set and the match. Shelby controlled the net early, building a 9-point lead, and that was just too much for Cherryville to overcome, although they fought hard to get back into the set. Shelby won this set 15-8 and took the match 3-2.
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