Story and Photos by Rusty Ellis
Upperman wrestler Ellis Haney made Bees history at the State Tournament last week, becoming the first UHS wrestler to medal in school history.
After placing second at the sectional meet, Haney lost in his opening match of the tournament before reeling off three consecutive wins on Friday to earn his spot on the podium at sixth place overall.
After transferring from McCallie and sitting out for the beginning of the season, Haney says it was a really rewarding feeling after seeing all of his hard work pay off.
“It means a lot, it was a long year last year not being able to wrestle,” Haney said. “It meant a lot to come in this year and put in the work I needed to and end up placing.”
The Baxter community welcomed Haney in with open arms, something he said he really came to appreciate during the season. He also believes that the support will lead to more success from the wrestling program.
“Upperman’s a really good community,” Haney said. “I think it’s the first of many medalists to come, and hopefully we can get more people coming in and encourage more people to participate and make it a well-known sport.”
And he also hopes that his performance inspires others to take up the sport and achieve more goals like this in the future.
“I think it’ll help and make people notice that it’s a serious sport,” Haney said. “Not many people know about it, so hopefully this will put it on the map.”
