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David Makupson

Wheatmore girls soccer Summer Bowman reacts June 2022

Championships help define 2022 for Randolph County sports

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Summer Bowman of Wheatmore reacts after scoring a goal against Clinton in the Class 2-A state championship game. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

Here’s a recap of notable Randolph County-related sports stories for 2022:

** Asheboro’s summer collegiate baseball team undergoes a rebranding that includes a name change. The new name is the Asheboro ZooKeepers in a switch from Asheboro Copperheads.

Randleman’s girls’ basketball team under the direction of coach Brandon Varner had a stellar season a year ago and the Tigers are off to another strong start this season. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

** Randleman’s girls’ basketball team goes through an undefeated regular season and completes a 25-1 season. The lone loss came in the Class 2-A West Region semifinals to Shelby.

** David Makupson of Trinity captures a state championship in Class 2-A wrestling at 138 pounds to cap a remarkable high school career. Uwharrie Charter Academy underclassmen Aldo Hernandez (132 pounds) and Grayson Roberts (160 pounds) are Class 1-A state tiltists.

Also, UCA reaches the Class 1-A dual team state final, where it lost to Avery County in Greensboro.

** Steve Luck leaves his position as athletics director at Asheboro High School. Later in the year, he becomes commissioner for the Mid-Piedmont Conference.

** Eastern Randolph’s Connor Carter is the Class 1-A state runner-up in Class 1-A boys’ golf.

** Providence Grove’s softball team racks up an incredible season, going all the way to the Class 2-A West Region’s fourth round before suffering a defeat. The Patriots finish with a 24-1 record.

** Wheatmore’s girls’ soccer team turns in a perfect season with a 25-0-0 record that culminates in a Class 2-A state championship. The Warriors defeat Clinton 4-1 in the title game in Cary.

** Randleman’s baseball team repeats as Class 2-A state champion with a dominating regular season and postseason. The Tigers are stocked with college prospects and churn out a 33-1 record, sweeping Whiteville in the best-of-3 state finals in Burlington.

** McCrary Park undergoes numerous changes at the beginning of a massive renovation project for the baseball facility in Asheboro. The project is off schedule causing Asheboro High School to play at an alternate site and the Asheboro ZooKeepers to begin the season with extra road games.

Off the field, there are changes announced after the 2022 season, including Melissa Godwin joining the club as general manager for the Coastal Plain League team, which is a summer circuit for college players.

** Randleman catcher Brooks Brannon is a ninth-round draft choice of the Boston Red Sox. So he steps away from a baseball scholarship at North Carolina to launch a professional career.

Randolph County Post 45’s Tyler Parks slides home during an American Legion Southeast Regional game vs. Rock Hill, S.C., in Asheboro. It was one of the games at McCrary Park, where a new field surface was in place this year. Parks is a Southwestern Randolph standout. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record).

** American Legion baseball is a hot summer topic.

Eastern Randolph Post 81 has a breakthrough season and emerges as a contender in Area 3. Randolph County Post 45 is the host team for the Southeast Regional, but its bid to reach the national tournament is foiled on the second-to-last day of the regional tournament so the club finishes with a 31-13 record.

** Asheboro’s boys’ soccer program has unprecedented success, but falls one victory shy of reaching the Class 3-A state championship game. The Blue Comets post a 23-2-2 record.

** Eastern Randolph’s football team goes undefeated in the PAC for the second year in a row. The Wildcats reach the Class 1-A West Region semifinals before falling to eventual state champion Mount Airy.

** Tot Hill Farm Golf Club in Asheboro is sold from its original ownership group to a man who runs courses in the Charleston, S.C., area.

** Football coach Calvin Brown directs Providence Grove to another winning season. That includes the school’s first-ever football victory in the state playoffs by winning at McMichael. Weeks later, Brown accepts the coaching position at Asheboro High School.

David Makupson reacts title

David Makupson gears up for next challenges

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David Makupson of Trinity reacts to winning the Class 2-A state title at 138 pounds during the past season in a match vs. Will Nix of Bandys. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

Trinity’s state champion built powerful prep career

TRINITY — In order for Trinity’s David Makupson to become a high school state champion in wrestling, he took a path of nonstop pursuit of that goal.

He thought he worked hard to attain that. Now, he’s aiming even higher.

“I just know I have to work that much harder if I want to be on the D-I level,” Makupson said. “I got a good feel on how that next level is going to be.”

Makupson is heading to Queens University of Charlotte after a stellar high school career that was capped with a 138-pound title in Class 2-A.

“He kind of set the standard for what we’re looking for,” Trinity coach Brandon Coggins said. “He’s leaving his mark.”

A 178-21 career record left him short of the school-record 200 wins set by 2017 graduate Tyler Johnson. Makupson likely would have eclipsed the mark had the 2020-21 season not been shortened because of the reconfigured North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s sports calendar during the pandemic.

Makupson, who turned 18 years old in June, did this while lettering in five sports at Trinity. He said he knew wrestling was the sport that allowed him to flourish the most.

But he received all-conference recognition as a football player, playing as a running back, slot receiver, and outside linebacker. At 5-foot-6, he took a fearless approach to the football field.

“Really not being scared to hit somebody,” he said, noting that his quickness also was an asset.

When the pandemic caused an adjusted sports schedule during his junior year, he added cross country and swimming (though the track and field season conflicted with wrestling). His spot on the swimming team in the 50-yard freestyle might have caught some people off guard.

“My dad (David Makupson Jr.) kind of forced me to do it,” he said.

The workload and variety of sports might have made an impression on others, but it didn’t faze Makupson.

“I don’t really see it,” he said. “I just went out there and did it.”

This spring, he became the Piedmont Athletic Conference champion in the 800 meters and took part in Trinity’s league-winning 3,200 relay.

Grappling greatness

The running success came a couple of months after securing that coveted wrestling title. He had the confidence to go with it.

“Go out there and dominate because nobody can keep up with me,” he said. “I had one mission, to go out there and win it all, and that’s what I did. I’ve been preparing since I first got started since I was 5. It was my dream to win one. Just so happened I got it my senior year. It had been a long time coming.”

Trinity’s David Makupson has a grip on Will Nix of Bandys. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

Makupson dominated Will Nix of Bandys with a 10-0 decision in the final after two other major decisions sandwiched around a second-period pin to reach the title bout in February at the Greensboro Coliseum.

All along, the key for Makupson was “being physical in neutral positions and being heavy on the hips” when on top,” he said.

“It really comes down to mental toughness and conditioning,” Makupson said. “I think what won me most of the matches was just wearing guys down.”

His only loss as a senior came in a season-opening tournament by a 7-4 decision to Rolesville’s Frank Bianco in the finals of the Wolverine Challenge. 

“It was really a down-to-earth moment,” Makupson said of the defeat. “To this day, I still think about that one loss.”

By February, Makupson held a 54-1 record.

“Just getting my mind right and going through all the preparation,” he said. “There was going to be pressure being ranked No. 1 (in the weight division) before the season started.”

He placed fourth in the two previous state tournaments. That included defeating Nix in the opening round of the 2021 version.

“I needed to work harder,” he said. “I wasn’t trying to get fourth again.”

Coggins said he’s glad that Makupson is going to have the chance to compete at the Division I level. Queens made the move to Division I this summer.

Makupson chose Queens ahead of Division II Belmont Abbey.

The wrestler said he’ll likely redshirt during the 2022-23 season. Then Makupson said he’ll attempt to take a spot in the Queens lineup at 133 pounds. 

“He fills out pretty good,” Coggins said.

There figures to be no challenge too large for him.

“The main thing I’m really focused on is getting adjusted to the college level,” Makupson said.

Randolph County Sports Council spring banquet 2022

Sports Council honors seniors in spring

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Front row, left to right: Madison Farlow, Kylie Vaughan, David Makupson, Molly Strider, Haley Langley, Haley Hedrick. Back row: Gus Shelton, Brody Gardner, Luke Thomas, Gracie Ballard, Edi Austin, Spencer Hall. (Courtesy photo)

SOPHIA – Area high school athletes were recognized for sportsmanship during the Randolph Sports Council’s spring banquet last month at Snyder Farms Restaurant.

Two senior athletes from seven schools were recipients of the sportsmanship awards, which are accompanied by $500 scholarships. Recipients are selected by each school’s scholarship committee.

The recipients were:

  • Madison Arroyo and Tramir Martin of Asheboro.
  • Haley Langley and Brody Gardner of Eastern Randolph.
  • Edi Austin and Luke Thomas of Providence Grove.
  • Kylie Vaughan and Gus Shelton of Randleman.
  • Molly Strider and Madison Farlow of Southwestern Randolph.
  • Gracie Ballard and David Makupson of Trinity.
  • Haley Hedrick and Spencer Hall of Wheatmore.

Darrell Moody, senior advisor to North Carolina football coach Mack Brown, was the guest speaker. Moody, a former NFL scout and longtime college assistant coach, was on past coaching staffs at Asheboro and Eastern Randolph.