CLEVELAND -- It's been one of those weeks coach Jim Higgins will never forget.
His wife Stacie presented the 33-year-old Soddy Daisy first-year head wrestling coach with their second son on Tuesday. His Trojans then beat the top-ranked public school team Cleveland soundly in a dual meet on Thursday.
Then early on Saturday night in a spirited Jim Smiddy Arena here at Bradley Central High School, Higgins earned the first tournament title of his young career as his team became the first team other than the host Bears to win the annual Bradley Invitational in more than a decade.
Please forgive him if he doesn't answer his phone on Sunday because he's probably taking a nap or doing something with his family.
But oh, what a show they put on as they beat 27 other teams with 193 points and two champions. The Scottsboro Wildcats, a team that's the defending Alabama Class 5-A state champions, was second with 184 while Walker Valley was third with 168.
Bradley and Maryville Heritage completed the top five with 166.5 and 166 points, respectively.
Scottsboro had led the way from Friday's first match, but Soddy Daisy closed the gap and trailed by just two points entering the championship and consolation finals.
While the Trojans won six of their seven in that last round, the Wildcats took a bath and only prevailed twice in seven opportunities. That was the difference in the tournament as Soddy Daisy outscored the runners-up 19-12 in those last 42 matches.
"I didn't know that we won as I haven't been paying attention to the team scores," Higgins said as the individual awards were being distributed.
"I guess we'll celebrate a little bit, but I'm really proud of these guys. We had a good weekend, but they can take that trophy and do whatever they want with it since they earned it. I'm just the noise-maker and motivator," he continued after taking a break to present the medalists in the 126-pound class.
"It's been an incredible week for me and one that I'll never forget, but I'm ready for a nap. We didn't know we were coming up here until earlier in the week, but we just wanted to see some different faces. It was a good chance for us to see some good competition from others across the state. I'm happy for my guys," Higgins added quietly.
Jake McClure finished second at 106, but he was the only Trojan who didn't win his last match.
Tucker Russo and Turbo Smith both claimed titles at 126 and 152, respectively, with Smith earning the MVP after soundly defeating Scottsboro's Chase McClure, a defending state champ who was the MVP here last year.
"It was just another win for me," Smith said nonchalantly after receiving his award.
"I was kind of nervous at the start, but I cut loose after the first period," he added, noting that his record for the season is now 15-1 with the only setback against Kelly Baker of Christian Brothers.
Austin Williamson (138), Gage Richmond (145) and Garrett Alexander (170) all finished third while Christian Dean was fifth at 182.
Richmond also received the award for Most Pins with a total of five in 7:24.
The 132-pound final between Whitewater's Max Sultan and Hoover's Jackson Hall was voted the Best Match after Sultan scored a late takedown for the 6-5 decision.
Soddy Daisy was joined by Bradley and Walker Valley as teams with two champions. Whitewater, a team from South Georgia, three.
Bradley's two included Toribio Navarro at 106 and Dakota Bromley at 120 while Walker Valley's two included Caleb Langford at 138 and Billy Raulston at 195. Whitewater's trio included Max Sultan at 132, Austin Penland at 145 and George Harris at 285.
Other individual winners included Tullahoma's Devan Cyree at 113, Blackman's Tyler Sells at 160, Maryville's Chad Solomon at 170, Dalton's Sydney Wheeler at 182 and William Blount's T.J.
Satterfield at 220.
Scottsboro coach Daryl Qualls was a high school teammate of Bradley athletic director Turner Jackson at Huntsville Butler. It's obvious they both know just a little bit about amateur wrestling.
"We have high expectations as we're the defending 5-A state champion in Alabama," Qualls said after Matt Franko lost by major decision in the championship match at 220.
"I was hoping we could win this tournament, but it didn't turn out that way. I think we had the lead the entire time, but Soddy Daisy caught us in the last round. We lost three in the championship semis that maybe we should have won, but we aren't used to this kind of competition.
"Stuff like this will make us better on down the road and that's why we come up here every year," Qualls added.
Walker Valley coach Allan Morris headed home on Saturday night with renewed enthusiasm after his Mustangs posted their best finish in this tournament.
"Our goal is to win it, but third is our highest finish ever. As a coach, we always feel like we could have done better, but we had two champions and four other medalists. This is a nice step forward for our program," Morris said.
Nine teams had at least one champion while 24 of the 28 teams had at least one medalist. South Doyle was the only team that didn't score a point.
While Soddy Daisy had seven medalists, Scottsboro also had seven.
Brett Clark, McClure and Franko all finished second while Brandon Womach was third. Arick Shankles and Titus Worthen both claimed fourth while Nick Boyett was fifth.
McClure, Shankles and Worthen are all defending state champs while Womach is a four-time state champ and a three-time state tournament Outstanding Wrestler.
FINAL TEAM SCORES
1. Soddy Daisy 193; 2. Scottsboro 183; 3. Walker Valley 168; 4. Bradley 166.5; 5. Heritage 165; 6. Whitewater 130.5; 7. Maryville 117; 8. Hoover 11; 9. East Ridge 106.5; 10. Gordon Lee 99.
11. Blackman 92.5; 12. Halls 81; 13. Hixson 80; 14. Seymour 69; 15. Central 68; 16. Tullahoma 66; 17. Dalton 64.5; 18. Eagleville 60; 19. Signal Mountain 59; 20. William Blount and Huntsville tied with 57.
22. Notre Dame 38; 23. Mount Juliet 35; 24. Rhea County 26; 25. Tennessee High 25; 26. East Hamilton 17; 27. McMinn Central 13; 28. South Doyle 0.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
106 -- Toribio Navarro (Bradley) pinned Jake McClure (Soddy Daisy), 1:40;
113 -- Devan Cyree (Tullahoma) won by forfeit over Jonathan Ragsdale (Gordon Lee);
120 -- Dakota Bromley (Bradley) dec. Casey Dodson (Eagleville), 6-5;
126 -- Tucker Russo (Soddy Daisy) dec. Dakota Ream (Bradley), 8-5;
132 -- Max Sultan (Whitewater) dec. Jackson Hall (Hoover), 6-5;
138 -- Caleb Langford (Walker Valley) pinned Joe Stegall (Central), 3:42;
145 -- Austin Penland (Whitewater) major dec. Brett Clark (Scottsboro), 13-3;
152 -- Turbo Smith (Soddy Daisy) dec. Chase McClure (Scottsboro), 9-5;
160 -- Tyler Sells (Blackman) dec. Larry Dickerson Jr. (Central), 6-5;
170 -- Chad Solomon (Maryville) dec. Blake Solomon (Eagleville), 5-3 in overtime;
182 -- Sydney Wheeler (Dalton) won by injury default over Schuyler Larue (Heritage);
195 -- Billy Raulston (Walker Valley) dec. Corey Jewell (Gordon Lee), 4-2;
220 -- T.J. Satterfield (William Blount) major dec. Matt Franko (Scottsboro), 14-6;
285 -- George Harris (Whitewater) pinned Joey Evans (Heritage), 4:36.
CONSOLATION FINALS FOR THIRD PLACE
106 -- Tanner Justice (Halls) pinned Arick Shankles (Scottsboro), 2:42;
113 -- Nick Crawford (Heritage) won by technical fall over Titus Worthen (Scottsboro), 4:02;
120 -- Brandon Whitley (East Ridge) pinned Blake Clayton (Gordon Lee), 1:39;
126 -- Payton Garrlington (Hoover) dec. Dylan Carlile (Dalton), 3-1;
132 -- Tyrus Hamrick (Walker Valley) dec. Jose Hernandez (Heritage), 6-4 in overtime;
138 -- Austin Williamson (Soddy Daisy) pinned Caven Rogers (Bradley) 1:59;
145 -- Gage Richmond (Soddy Daisy) major dec. Skyler Boring (Heritage), 15-4;
152 -- Kendall Small (East Ridge) dec. Ryan Hager (Walker Valley), 5-3;
160 -- Brandon Womach (Scottsboro) pinned Aaron Alemany (Hixson), :59;
170 -- Garrett Alexander (Soddy Daisy) dec. Conor Rohrbaugh (Halls), 6-1;
182 -- Jevon Brown (Blackman) dec. Harrison Hall (Signal Mountain), 5-3;
195 -- Brandon Cantrell (East Ridge) pinned Clay Strawn (Maryville), 1:56;
220 -- Jeb Davis (Heritage) dec. Zach Miller (Walker Valley), 10-3;
285 -- Robert Wright (Maryville) pinned Austin Wells (Blackman), 4:58.
CONSOLATION FINALS FOR FIFTH PLACE
106 -- Blake Cyree (Tullahoma) dec. Juan Hernandez (Heritage), 4-2 in overtime;
113 -- Evan Huling (Halls) dec. Logan Wesolowski (Whitewater), 7-4;
120 -- Braxton Brewer (Walker Valley) dec. Grayson Lane (Hixson), 6-4 in overtime;
126 -- Packy Mullin (Notre Dame) dec. Michael Diehmer (Heritage), 10-7;
132 -- Alan Frisco (Maryville) major dec. Issiah Hawthorne (Hixson), 9-0;
138 -- Cole Bartlett (Scottsboro) pinned Willie Stooksbury (Seymour), 2:06;
145 -- Michael Frazey (Central) pinned Alex Spires (Gordon Lee), 2:59;
152 -- Tyler Garrison (Blackman) dec. Nathan Wilson (Maryville), 5-4;
160 -- Robbie Clark (Bradley) dec. Michael Labbe (Notre Dame), 4-0;
170 -- Nick Boyett (Scottsboro) pinned Cale Shelton (Signal Mountain), 3:39;
182 -- Christian Dean (Soddy Daisy) dec. J.R. Thomas (Huntsville) 4-2;
195 -- Alec Shunnaraa (Hoover) pinned Taylor Daly (Whitewater), 4:59;
220 -- C.J. Baker (East Ridge) pinned Peyton Demos (Huntsville), 2:35;
285 -- Daniel Cochran (Rhea County) major dec. Drew Cannon (Seymour), 14-6.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@comcast.net)