Hitting the mark: Young people flock to Tuscola sportsman's club

Jun. 26—When Brandon Sutton started the sportsman's club at Waynesville Middle School and Tuscola High School eight years ago, he could have never imagined the number of kids participating would outnumber many of the organized sports teams at those schools.

Back in 2015, Sutton, a retired veteran, noticed that the Waynesville side of Haywood County was lacking in its organized sportsman's club.

"I thought this side of the county needed it because Pisgah had a team," he said.

Since then, the sport and Waynesville's clubs have grown exponentially.

"There's probably 30 to 40 high school teams and 30 to 40 middle school teams that compete at the state level," Sutton said. "It's very competitive, and it's a growing sport."

Both Waynesville Middle and Tuscola have thrived in attracting kids who may not play sports otherwise.

"I had 49 kids come out this year at the middle school level, and 36 come out at the high school level," Sutton said.

To put it into perspective, it would take combining Tuscola's varsity baseball (16 kids), softball (13) and boys' tennis (8) teams to match the number of kids competing in the sportsman's club this year.

Sutton said the middle school pipeline that developed over the past eight years is a big part of that growth. The ability to participate at a young age entices middle school-aged kids.

"At the middle school level, you can't play organized sports in sixth grade, but this is even available to sixth graders," he said.

But success doesn't come easily. The club starts practicing in December and hosts a practice event every Saturday. The team shoots .22 caliber rifles at the test farm, and Sutton built a shotgun range in his backyard.

The season runs all the way until May, when regionals and state competitions occur.

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the coaches and kids, Waynesville Middle and Tuscola's clubs have been successful.

This year, Tuscola placed fifth overall in the state, second in archery, second in hunter skills and 10th in rifle. Despite narrowly missing out on first place overall, the Mountaineers crowned two state champions: senior Riley Noland, who won first place in archery, and senior Luke McHenry, who won first place in the hunter skills competition.

Sutton said the competition these kids face at the state level is fierce.

"State champion is a state champion," he said. "They work very hard."

Noland is state's top archer

Riley Noland, a 2023 Tuscola graduate, won first place in archery. He estimated over 300 kids competed in archery at the state competition.

"I was expecting to win. That was my goal," he said. Noland said he used to shoot an Elite bow but switched to a Matthews TRX 38, which retails for $1,800 after he saw a lot of archers win with that model. It's done just that for him.

After placing in the top three during the regional competition, Noland said he felt like he "had a chance."

When Noland stepped up to take his shots on the five-spot bale target, the pressure forced him to focus on his experience.

"I'm really nervous every time," he said. "Then I get in my zone."

Archery scoring is broken down into five shots at four distances (15, 20, 25 and 30 yards), with each arrow offering a maximum of 10 points.

"I was not so hot at the beginning, but I started tearing it up at the end," said Noland, who finished with a 199 with 7x's. "X's" means Noland's arrow touched the circle around the X on the target, a near-perfect shot. Whether or not his score was enough to win the state was unclear to Noland.

"It was close, and nobody knew," he said. "I found out when the score was read on the kid that got second." Noland described the experience as overwhelming.

"That's been my goal for the whole time I've been shooting," he said. "I practice pretty much every day.

Sutton said Noland was very dedicated.

"He would shoot his bow every day after school," Sutton said of Noland. "I have a lot of kids that are not as dedicated. This being his senior year, he took the time, really focused and he deserved it."

Noland's archery skills have been honed by years of practice.

"My dad bowhunted when I was little, and I thought it was cool. I picked up a recurve bow when I was 4 or 5 years old," he said. Since then, he's hunted turkey and deer with his bow. "It takes a lot of time and practice to hunt with a bow."

Noland joined the sportsman's club when he was in 8th grade.

"I just wanted to go compete and see how well I could do," he said.

Noland plans to continue to compete at target shoots and 3D tournaments, driving as far away as Kentucky and Alabama to compete. In the end, Noland said, it's all about the experience for him.

"It's a thrill, an adrenaline rush," he said.

McHenry aces hunter skills competition

When you hear "hunter skills competition," you may imagine a group of kids sitting at a table and taking a test on the rules and regulation book. Yes, that is part of it, said senior Luke McHenry, but it's much more than that.

"The hunter skills competition involves a knowledge of how to safely handle a firearm, woodsmanship, survival skills and the game laws and regulations," he said.

So winning first place at the state competition means McHenry is just about as "hunter" as a hunter can get.

"Since I was probably five, I was always hunting and fishing," he said. "I was always outside, so it came naturally for me to know all of that stuff."

But to compete against hundreds of other kids who have spent a lifetime outdoors as you have, McHenry said you really have to buckle down and put in the time.

"You have to sit down and spend a few hours each day studying for it," he said.

The hunter skills competition at the state level also includes a land navigation test, McHenry said.

"They give you a compass and coordinates with a pace count on it, and you use the compass and pace it out. Whoever is closest to the point wins that competition," he said. The hunter skills portion is also much more "hands-on" at the state level.

"They'll have actual things laid out on tables for you to look at and use during the test."

Each member takes part in both sections of the competition. Tuscola's team, including McHenry, Andy Brown, Cameron Caldwell, Stephen Brooks and Jesse Plott, tied for sixth place overall. McHenry was first individually.

"I think we're proficient at both," McHenry said. "We worked hard practicing each part of it, and that's why we did well."

Sutton said McHenry has won hunter skills competitions two years in a row at the regional and state levels.

"That's a very hard thing to win," Sutton said.

A lifelong outdoorsman, McHenry said he plans to pursue an associate's degree in fish and wildlife management at Haywood Community College with plans to become a wildlife technician or biologist after graduation.

"It's a really good program, and it's not far from home," he said.