Haywood middle schools on target at state sportsman club tournament

May 6—Haywood County was well represented by middle school hunters during statewide competition. All three of the county's middle schools competed in the Youth Hunter Education Skills Tournament State Championship, facing off with hunters from 24 other schools across the state. Bethel and Waynesville Middle each finished in the top four of the tournament overall, while Canton earned an individual state title.

Bethel finishes on podium The Blue Demons came away from the state meet with a third-place finish overall. But that was after a slow start. The day began with the shotgun, something that Bethel Coach Chad Franklin described as "starting the day on a real low note" with Bethel's worst-performing discipline.

Despite that, the Blue Demons came storming back up the leaderboards with strong performances in the other three disciplines. Bethel came away with first-place finishes in both the rifle and hunter skills test — the first time the team had taken home the win in either discipline. "I was really pleased with how they finished that day, how they just had short memories and just finished that day strong," Franklin said.

Franklin gave a shoutout to the Haywood Homeschool Sportsman's Club and Roger Thomas for their help with the skills test — a category the homeschool team has dominated in its two years of existence. "He's taken those studies and the hunter education part of it to another level, and kind of brought us along with it and helped us study," Franklin said. As for the rifle team, Franklin said it was all about hard work and talent.