The annual Soddy Daisy Showdown attracted some of the best high school wrestling talent from Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama, but nobody was any more talented than the Eagles from Collins Hill.
These guys from Suwanee, Ga. have had great wrestling teams for years and the 2012 version appears to be no different.
They've won four straight Class 5-A state titles in Georgia and they showed why after putting seven individuals in the championship finals before winning five times.
The format for this event was unique in that the field was divided in half.
There were actually two tournaments going on at the same time where the winners from each faced each other for individual titles.
The second-place guys wrestled for third place and so on down the line.
Collins Hill claimed five individual champions while two finished second. They also had a third and a fourth-place finisher as they headed home with the first-place award after scoring 234.5 points.
Host Soddy Daisy finished a strong second with 195 points and three champions while McCallie scored 160 points to finish third in the 25-team field.
Bradley was fourth with 134.5 while Grissom and Independence tied for fifth with 119.5
Collins Hill has dominated competition at the Cleveland Duals for many years, but the Eagles chose to attend another tournament the same weekend.
Saturday was their first visit to the Showdown.
Josh Stephen has been the head coach for the last two years. He has a lot of coaching friends in this area, so it's a win-win situation for him.
"I love coming to Tennessee for wrestling tournaments as I have a lot of friends in this area and it's always good to renew old friendships.
"There's also always great competition and that's really why we come, but it went pretty well for us today as we did great by winning five of seven in the finals.
"We had a couple of tough losses at 126 and 170, but it was about what I expected. I'm real happy with Spencer Rickman at 138 as he beat a real good kid from McCallie.
"We've been out of town a lot this season and we're looking forward to staying at home next weekend and hopefully dominating our state duals again," he added.
Joining Rickman as winners for the Eagles were Sean Russell at 106, Ryan Millhof at 113, Drew Ferguson at 120 and Matthew Connell at 160.
Steven Bradtmueller finished second at 126 while Andrew Krawulski was the runner-up at 170.
McCoy Newberg of Independence beat Krawulski by a 6-5 final in double overtime and the two shared the Best Match award for their effort.
While Collins Hill had five champions, Soddy Daisy won all three of its matches in the finals.
Turbo Smith was victorious at 145 while Billy Swanson and Alex Seeley finished the tournament off on a positive note for the Trojans with wins at 220 and 285.
Seeley's win was especially gratifying as he beat Bradley's Patrick Benson, who is the defending state champion at that weight.
Other individual winners included Notre Dame's Jack Boone at 126. He was involved in a tight match with Bradtmueller, but used a cradle for a pin 23 seconds into the final period.
It was the only pin in the finals.
McCallie's Tim Westbrooks was the winner at 132 while Reagan Matlock of Maryville Heritge was first at 152.
Bryson Begley of Dobyns-Bennett and Nick Coffey of Brentwood claimed titles at 182 and 195 pounds, respectively.
While Collins Hill had nine finishers in the top four, Soddy Daisy also had nine while McCallie and Bradley had six each.
In addition to their three champions, Jacob Stevens (113), Gage Richmond (132), Campbell Lewis (138) and Brett Ervin (195) all finished third for Soddy Daisy.
Josh Deckelman (126) and Blaike Henry (170) both claimed fourth.
Tim Westbrooks was McCallie's only winner while Alex Ward was the runner-up at 138.
Adam Connell (120), Eliot Berz (170) and Nathan Hoodenpyle (182) were all third while James Westbrooks was fourth at 106.
Tyler Schuch (152) and Benson both finished second for Bradley while Toribio Navarro (106) and Jericho Crutcher (126) were both third.
Dakota Bromley and Jacob Bailey were fourth at 120 and 160, respectively.
Soddy Daisy coach Steve Henry was one of the happiest guys in the gym when the tournament ended.
It was hard to say if he was more pleased with his team's second-place finish or the fact that it was all finally over.
"We had some outstanding teams here today, maybe the best for a tournament in the state of Tennessee this year," Henry began.
"I'm so glad that Collins Hill came. They have a great program and another strong team. They're legit," he continued.
"I don't think I heard any complaints from anyone today and we have everyone on their way home before 9. We had 25 teams here today and they were all here for some great competition.
"That was a huge win for Alex Seeley. Ever since he was elected our team captain, he's been a different wrestler. He's my go-to guy when I need something, but I'm really proud of him today.
"It was different this year, but I liked the new format. Carol Goss and Brad Jackson did a great job making it work, but I'm just happy it's over," Henry added.
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Collins Hill 234.5; 2. Soddy Daisy 195; 3. McCallie 160; 4. Bradley 134.5; 5. Grissom and Independence tied with 119.5; 7. Science Hill 117.5; 8. Notre Dame 113.5; 9. Hewitt-Trussville 108; 10 Maryville Heritage 98.5.
11. Pigeon Forge 97; 12. Gibbs 85.5; 13. Walker Valley 83.5; 14. Brentwood 81; 15. Cordova 80; 16. Beech and Cookeville tied with 57; 18. Tullahoma 46; 19. Bolton 38; 20. Ooltewah 21.
21. Jefferson Co. 20; 22. Oakland 9; 23. Knoxville Central 7; 24. Dobyns-Bennett 4; 25. Rhea Co. 3.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
106 -- Sean Russell (Collins Hill) major dec. J.D. Henderson (Grissom), 22-11;
113 -- Ryan Millhof (Collins Hill) dec. Tate Dalrymple (Bolton), 8-3;
120 -- Drew Ferguson (Collins Hill) dec. Alex Kaferie (Tullahoma), 4-1;
126 -- Jack Boone (Notre Dame) pinned Steven Bradtmueller (Collins Hill), 4:23;
132 -- Tim Westbrooks (McCallie) major dec. Caleb Langford (Walker Valley), 16-3;
138 -- Spencer Rickman (Collins Hill) dec. Alex Ward (McCallie), 7-2;
145 -- Turbo Smith (Soddy Daisy) dec. Grayson Mullin (Notre Dame), 8-2;
152 -- Keagan Matlock (Heritage) major dec. Tyler Schuch (Bradley), 13-4;
160 -- Matthew Connell (Collins Hill) major dec. Killian Holt (Grissom), 11-2;
170 -- McCoy Newberg (Independence) dec. Andrew Krawulski (Collins Hill), 6-5 in double overtime;
182 -- Bryson Begley (Dobyns-Bennett) dec. David Kieta (Pigeon Forge), 8-3;
195 -- Nick Coffey (Brentwood) major dec. Brian Walker (Grissom), 14-6;
220 -- Billy Swanson (Soddy Daisy) dec. Raul Leyva (Gibbs), 5-4;
285 -- Alex Seeley (Soddy Daisy) dec. Patrick Benson (Bradley), 6-2.
CONSOLATION FINALS FOR THIRD PLACE
106 -- Toribio Navarro (Bradley) dec. James Westbrooks (McCallie), 9-6;
113 -- Jacob Stevens (Soddy Daisy) dec. Byron Smith (Cordova), 9-7;
120 -- Adam Connell (McCallie) major dec. Dakota Bromley (Bradley), 12-4;
126 -- Jericho Crutcher (Bradley) dec. Josh Deckelman (Soddy Daisy), 5-3;
132 -- Gage Richmond (Soddy Daisy) dec. Tyler Knowles (Science Hill), 5-2;
138 -- Campbell Lewis (Soddy Daisy) won by technical fall over Caleb Little (Independence), 4:50;
145 -- Nate Croley (Pigeon Forge) dec. Steven Goldstein (Science Hill), 9-6;
152 -- Reginald Adams (Cordova) dec. Fred Denson (Hewitt-Trussville), 6-3;
160 -- Kevin Elmore (Hewitt-Trussville) pinned Jacob Bailey (Bradley), 1:30;
170 -- Eliot Berz (McCallie) won by injury default over Blaike Henry (Soddy Daisy);
182 -- Nathan Hoodenpyle (McCallie) dec. Jordan Davis (Cordova), 8-6;
195 -- Brett Ervin (Soddy Daisy) dec. Tommy Venuti (Independence), 5-3;
220 -- Elijah Wellington (Collins Hill) dec. Damien Hayes (Science Hill), 6-5;
285 -- Jamison Hicks (Hewitt-Trussville) dec. Zach Carmin (Collins Hill) 5-3.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@comcast.net)