WEST LINCOLN––West Lincoln High School wrestling star Mason Avery has a bright future pinned down.
According to proud dad David Avery, a noted coach and also the school’s athletic director, his son recently won the 2-A Wrestling State Championship in the 182-pound weight class at the North Carolina State Wrestling Tournament in Greensboro. The coach added that young Avery––who recently turned 18 and has college on his mind––qualified for the N.C. High School Athletic Association State Tournament by winning the 2-A West Wrestling Regional tournament at West Lincoln on Feb. 10. Avery, an all-around athlete who has also excelled in football, baseball and track at WLHS, finished his wrestling year with a remarkable record of 46 and two.
His matches at the state-level tournament and scores are––
- Champ. Round One: Mason Avery won by a major decision over Lee Chambers of Anson High (MD 14-two);
- Quarterfinal: Avery won by a decision over Jordin Moore of North Johnston High (Dec 8-2);
- Semifinal: Avery won by a decision over Eli Becker of East Surry High (Dec 6-3);
- And a first-place match: Avery won by a decision over Nicholas Harris of Webb High (Dec 12-5).
Coach Avery listed further credits for this stellar stand-out.
“During his wrestling career, he was a four-time all-conference wrestler,” he said.
Young Avery was also a two-time N.C. High School Athletic Association Regional Tournament placer (third last year and first this year) and a two-time NCHSAA State Tournament placer (fifth last year and first this year). And he finished with a career record of 119 and 30, despite only having 14 matches in total during the 2021 season, which was shortened due to State-mandated, flu-related restrictions.
With his leonine locks, blond rock-star good looks and muscular arms the size of small trees, Avery looks ready for NFL stardom. Indeed, his pigskin prowess has led him to Wingate University, as his father informed.
“He has accepted a football scholarship to Wingate University and will be a Bulldog in the fall,” Coach Avery added.
Shattering records
In football, Mason Avery was the Catawba Valley Athletic Conference Co-Offensive Player of the Year and the Defensive Player of the Year. He was selected to the 2022 Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas and the East-West North Carolina Coaches Association All-Star Game. He broke the Lincoln County single-game rushing record, with 397 yards against Newton-Conover; the single-season rushing record with 2,622 yards; the single-season rushing touchdown record with 38; and the career rushing record with 4,726 yards.
Avery was a two-time all-state selection; twice an All-(Charlotte) Observer selection; twice an All-(Gaston) Gazette selection; thrice an all-conference player; a one-time team defensive Most Valuable Player; and a two-time team MVP.
Plus, Avery not only shines on West Lincoln’s athletic fields, but he also does so in the classroom. With a 4.64 grade-point average, he is ranked fifth in the class of 2023.
Friday, Avery told The Herald more, and he praised his father for his diligent and dedicated efforts as well.
“He checks up on me constantly,” the young athlete observed with a chuckle.
A veteran of the wrestling mat since childhood, Mason Avery said he has striven for long years for ever-greater improvements, always working to be faster, stronger and just-plain better.
And winning that scholarship and the big championship, too? That feels great, he added, and he’s deeply grateful for the support of his family, his school and his community.
It’s all, he said, “just amazing!”
