GASTON, Ind. — Walking around Wes-Del's gym with red marks on his face Cowan senior Garrett Smith was looking for the Delaware County wrestling trophy that was being passed around among his teammates.
Smith started wrestling at Cowan when he was in eighth grade, the first year the team fielded a varsity squad since the program disbanded in 1995. Back when Smith first began, the Blackhawks didn't have enough wrestlers to fill out an entire varsity squad. Now — for the first time in school history — Cowan can call itself Delaware County wrestling champions.
The Blackhawks scored 234 points Thursday night, edging out Daleville (191), Yorktown (178), Delta (118), Wapahani (69) and Wes-Del (43) for the championship.