CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- If you take a quick glance at this story and see that Bradley defeated cross-town rival Cleveland by a 51-13 margin, you'll probably assume that it was just another one-sided whipping administered by the top-ranked Bears.

Don't be misled by the final score.

In a classic match where both coaches heaped excessive praise on their respective teams for outstanding effort, Bradley did indeed win again.

And while it's tough for the Blue Raiders to be the top dog in this town when Bradley resides there too, the Blue Raiders have absolutely no reason to hang their heads after Thursday's battle in a spirited Jim Smiddy Arena.

"It was a lopsided point differential and I sort of expected that, but I'm proud of the way my guys got out there and competed," praised Cleveland coach Eric Phillips after his team lost for only the fourth time in 18 matches.

"I know we have a young team, but I'm not going to take anything away from Bradley because they have a great program and they proved it.

"We lost to some real studs tonight, but we had nothing to lose. We had a couple of letdowns at the end, but all in all, I thought we did an outstanding job of getting after it.

"Again, I'm not making excuses as we put our best 13 wrestlers out there. It doesn't look good on paper, but we battled for all we're worth and I'm proud of that," Phillips concluded.

The match began at 103 pounds where Cleveland's Austin Oliver earned a 4-2 decision to give the Blue Raiders a quick 3-0 lead.

Bradley then reeled off eight straight wins as that three-point deficit turned into a 35-3 lead.

Cleveland's Bailey Jones broke that streak with a third-period pin at 160, but Bradley then won three of the final four matches for the final 38-point margin.

Bradley coach Steve Logsdon has been moaning and groaning all season about his team's lack of effort. He's been scratching his head looking for ways to correct the problem.

The head Poppa Bear had nothing to complain about when this one ended.

"That was a great team effort on our part. That's as close to what I've been wanting as I've seen this year," Logsdon began.

"I challenged them to compete tonight like great Bradley wrestlers in the past and they did just that. I really don't want to single anyone out as I'm sure I would forget somebody, but it was just a great team effort.

"We got the first takedown in 11 of the 13 matches as we tried to set the tone from the opening whistle.

"I have a lot of respect for Eric (Phillips) and his team and I'm sure they'll come back even stronger next time.

"Again, it was just a great team effort and that's what I was looking for," Logsdon concluded.

Bradley's wins included three pins, one forfeit, one technical fall, four major decisions and two regular decisions.

Cleveland's wins included Oliver's regular decision at 103, Jones' pin at 160 and Chip Norwood's 16-2 major decision at 189.

Bradley heavyweight Patrick Benson, who has really come on strong in recent weeks in just his first year of wrestling, had the quickest pin for the Bears in 1:41.

Bradley Colbaugh and Matt Roderick had Bradley's other two pins while Chris Aguilar had the only forfeit at 152.

Tyler Schuch got the only technical fall as his 130-pound match ended with 15 seconds remaining in the second period.

Ethan Hames (125), Trevor Herron (135), Vince Aguilar (145) and Tucker Bolton (215) all scored wins by major decision while Jericho Crutcher (112) and Tyler Pitts (119) had the two regular decisions.

Bradley improves to 7-0 in dual meets this year as the Bears win streak extends to 50 matches.

Cleveland is now 14-4.

BRADLEY 51, CLEVELAND 13
103 -- Austin Oliver (C) dec. Jacob Climer, 4-2;
112 -- Jericho Crutcher (B) dec. Joel Simpkins, 9-2;
119 -- Tyler Pitts (B) dec. Haden Hamilton, 4-0;
125 -- Ethan Hames (B) major dec. Brandon Strickland, 20-8;
130 -- Tyler Schuch (B) won by technical fall over Alex Migovich, 3:45;
135 -- Trevor Herron (B) major dec. Aaron Lopez, 12-0;
140 -- Bradley Colbaugh (B) pinned Javier Francisco, 3:39;
145 -- Vince Aguilar (B) major dec. Dre Moore, 15-5;
152 -- Chris Aguilar (B) won by forfeit;
160 -- Bailey Jones (C) pinned Jacob Bailey, 4:53;
171 -- Matt Roderick (B) pinned Will Moreland, 3:28;
189 -- Chip Norwood (C) major dec. Chris Hood, 16-2;
215 -- Tucker Bolton (B) major dec. Jesse Jones, 11-2;
285 -- Patrick Benson (B) pinned Jordan Hines, 1:41.

(Email John Hunt at tnmoose2002@aol.com)