HIGH SCHOOLS: Newton-Conover rolls, off to 2-1 start in baseball

Hickory’s Nexson throws no-hitter; Draughn freshman drives in 7 runs   By CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com Newton-Conover High is off to a solid start in baseball after beating West Iredell 15-2 on Thursday on the road. Coming off being no-hit by Hickory on Wednesday, the Red Devils had 10 hits from eight different players to down the Warriors. Newton-Conover (2-1) led …

SPORTS MEDIA: Ford buys WLON, brings back SportsTalk on Saturday morning(s)

By CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com LINCOLNTON – Former star football player Lanny Ford — who has worked in local sports since the early 2000s — has purchased WLON 1050 AM. He is returning the weekly sports show SportsTalk to the airways on Saturday morning from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Over the previous three years, the show has aired on sportstalkguys.com, …

HIGH SCHOOLS: Watauga, Hibriten lead All-Northwestern 3A-4A football

By CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com Watauga and Hibriten lead the All-Northwestern 3A-4A football team, taking the league’s top five awards in voting by head coaches. League champion Watauga produced Player of the Year Orlando Leon, Defensive Player of the Year Grant Lawrence and Coach of the Year Ryan Habich. Hibriten quarterback Coby Wilson was named Offensive Player of the Year and …

HIGH SCHOOLS: Gov. Cooper signs bill that makes dramatic changes to how prep sports handled

By CHRIS HOBBS HobbsDailyReport.com RALEIGH — The way high school sports in North Carolina are governed changed on Tuesday when Gov. Roy Cooper signed House Bill 91 into law. The bill places the responsibility for oversight of prep sports to the State Board of Education, mandating it enter into a MOA (memo of agreement) with a non-profit organization for a …