Davie County’s Carson Worrick Turns National Success Into Binghamton Pledge

Davie County, N.C.— Carson Worrick is headed to Binghamton, and the timing could not be bigger for one of North Carolina’s top seniors-to-be. The two-time NCHSAA state champion from Davie County High School, who won his first title at Alleghany High School before transferring, said the Bearcats’ belief in him and their system made the decision feel natural even with a full senior year still ahead of him.

“I was wrestling at Nationals and ended up doing pretty well. Got fourth place and after that I kind of got a lot of recognition,” Worrick said. “Coach LeBlanc ended up texting me and telling me he was interested and wanted to get on a call.” On that call, Binghamton head wrestling coach Ryan LeBlanc talked about how much he liked Worrick’s style and “told me a little bit about Binghamton and their program and told me about his time at Citadel and his time at App State.” From there, a visit to campus followed, and that sealed it. “It was awesome. I loved it,” Worrick said. “The wrestlers are cool. Coach LeBlanc and Coach Welch are awesome people. You can tell they invest a lot of their time and the culture was great. I loved it.”

For Worrick, the decision came down to trust and fit. “Their belief in the system that they’ve created and their belief in me was what honestly carried me to make the decision,” he said. “And then Binghamton overall is just a great school. Academically they’re amazing and athletically they’re on the rise for sure.” He admitted he originally planned on taking more visits. “Originally my decision was to take as many visits as I could and explore different opportunities,” he said. “I talked to a bunch of coaches and I could set up a bunch more visits, but once I felt what was at Binghamton and how the coaches treated me, it just felt like I was at home. In my head it was just like every single one of my boxes was checked. And if I can go ahead and make my decision early, I’d love to do that. So I did.”

A major part of that comfort is knowing he will not be the only North Carolinian making the move. Fellow in-state standout and two-time North Carolina state champion Tobin McNair has also committed to Binghamton. McNair is a product of Raleigh Area Wolfpack (RAW), and competes for Wakefield High School also in Raleigh. “Tobin’s a really good friend of mine. We’ve trained a lot together. We’ve wrestled before,” Worrick said. “He actually committed a couple days after his visit as well. He talked about how much he loved it and all those things.” After McNair committed, Worrick said he called to get the full story. “I kind of talked to him and asked him about it and asked him, you know, why he liked it so much and those kinds of things,” Worrick said. “He was like, ‘Yeah, you’re going to love it here, dude.’ We talked about how it would be if we were together. He’s one of my best friends, so getting to go to college with one of your best friends also is just amazing and since I had the opportunity to do it, I was going to take it and I did.”

While McNair comes out of Raleigh Area Wolfpack and Wakefield, Worrick’s development runs through Combat Athletics in Bermuda Run, North Carolina, and Davie County. He also has a regular summer routine that takes him north. “During the summers, I’ve gone every summer since I was like 10 years old, maybe even younger, to Pennsylvania,” he said. He stays with family in Bellefonte for one to two months at a time and trains at the M2 Training Center in Pleasant Gap. He treats those trips as a key piece of his preparation, extra work that supports what he does back home. Being away from his parents and relying on family there, he said, has also helped prepare him for living away at college.

Both Worrick and McNair are part of NC United, a nonprofit organization that helps elevate North Carolina wrestling by bringing many of the state’s best wrestlers together. Worrick lights up when he talks about what NC United has meant. “I think NC United is great. It brings everybody together. It makes wrestling a lot more fun and it brings a culture to the sport,” he said. “It gives people a reason to want to come and see wrestling and get better at wrestling and, you know, go to national teams and those kinds of things. They do practices every weekend where you can go and that kind of stuff and it brings people together and it helps people love wrestling and I think that’s what North Carolina needs. If we have people like them that step up and do that more consistently and at a higher level, I think that North Carolina is going to be really, really good in the next couple years in the future.”

At Davie County and Combat Athletics, Worrick said he is surrounded by coaches he trusts completely. “My coach, Coach Josh (Stanley) and Coach Chad Lewis, they’re just as good as coaches as you’re going to find anywhere,” he said. “I have put belief in their system and I trust the culture that they provide.” He’s just as quick to point out the rest of the staff. “You’ve got Coach Witt (Whitley), you’ve got Coach Timmy (Allen). You’ve got Coach Sperlin and Coach Nolan. And then in Combat, you’ve got Coach Shelton (Sales),” Worrick said. “All of those guys together kind of help you become and see who you are as a person and as a wrestler. You get to have those conversations with those other coaches, talk about things other than wrestling, talk about school, talk about really whatever you want. Those guys are there to help you. They’re there to help you in wrestling and everything in life.”

“Davie has an incredible support system with all these coaches and I agree, I think they should all be recognized more than they are because they’re truly — without them, I wouldn’t be who I am,” he added. “We all work as like a well-oiled machine, right? Everybody complements everybody. Without one of those coaches, it’d be a completely different system. Having those coaches by my side throughout the season is just something that is so beneficial to have. I feel like I could be comfortable with any of them coaching me and that’s something awesome to say. They really tell me how it is and they help me become a better wrestler and better person.”

Now, at the start of the summer before his senior year, Worrick is working back from a foot injury suffered in practice. “It’s definitely hard to see people wrestle and not be able to, but the thing about a foot injury is you can still get the work in even if you’re not able to wrestle,” he said. “I’m working out every single day. I’m just watching film, I’m catching up on wrestling.” He leans heavily on his faith to stay grounded. “In my mind, everything happens for a reason and my foot being broke was Him telling me that I need to take a break and I’m just trusting His plan and going forward with that in my mind,” Worrick said. “I’m still working out every day and getting mental reps, watching practice, helping out with the little kids, and so I’m not away from the sport at all. When I get back, I know I’ll be better.”

He’s learned over time how to handle pressure and expectations. “My freshman year, I was coming in as a freshman stud, as they say, and when you get to high school it’s a lot different than you expect,” he said. “Going into high school, I thought I was going to be some great, great wrestler and go win states all four years and all this kind of stuff and it kind of consumed my mind and I didn’t really enjoy the sport for what it was and I ended up placing third and not getting my goal.” That experience forced him to change. “I decided that I’m just going to take more of a relaxed time. I’m not going to cut as much weight. I’m going to stay as healthy as I can and just kind of go and compete and have as much fun as I can so I can get the best,” he said. “I ended up winning my sophomore year and that was a really big switch for me in my mind. And then this year, I continued to do that in my junior year. I continued to have fun and ended up winning another state title.”

Heading into his final high school season with his college decision already made, Worrick’s plan is straightforward and built around that mindset. “Going into my senior year, something I want to do is just to continue to have fun,” he said. “In practice, make sure you’re having fun always and if you’re not having fun, there’s not really a point in doing it, right? You want to make sure that you’re enjoying what you do, especially since I’m going to the next level. Going into college at a Division I level, it’s a job and I want to enjoy my job so I can perform the best at it. And in order to do that, I have to set a foundation which is going to help me in college. So next year, that’s what I want to do — do the best I can to prepare for college by having fun, working as hard as I can, staying consistent in school and kind of just letting the results speak for itself.”