It was Holy War II.
Four decades removed from the classic Father Ryan-Notre Dame Holy War battles for state supremacy of the late 60s and early 70s, the new millennium has newly crowned D-II state duals champion Christian Brothers who defeated Ryan, 41-22, Saturday night at the Williamson County Ag & Expo Center in Franklin.
In the battle of the purple-clad Catholic prep schools, the Purple Wave from Memphis road a wave of emotion and inspired wrestling to shake off past demons – runner-up finishes the past two years – and the monkeys on their backs and carried the school’s first state wrestling title back to the Bluff City.
“Our guys have done everything right this year from lifting weights to training hard to stepping up and winning the big matches,” said Christian Brothers coach Chris Lewis.
“Before tonight’s match, I told the guys that last night (27-26 win against defending state champion Baylor) was pressure and tonight should be fun.”
And fun it was, as pins from All-American Tate Robinson (132), Luke Parish (145), Drayke Armstrong (220) and Sam Thomas (285) sparked the victory.
“They are a better team than us and they proved it tonight,” said Father Ryan coach Pat Simpson. “We had our five big guys do their job, but we couldn’t get wins from anyone else."
Led by the talented 3M Boys – Mark Marchetti (pin, 145), Cole Moseley (decision, 160) and Michael Hooker (pin, 170) – the Purple Irish gained 22 points from the talented trio along with a major decision by T.J. Holmes (182) and a regular decision by Ricky Fisher (195).
But in the end, the Purple Wave had too many weapons.
Christian Brothers won four of the first five matches to lead 19-6, only to see Ryan rally and lead 22-19 on Fisher’s decision at 195.
But starting with a dramatic first period pin (20 seconds) by Drayke Armstrong at 220, the Brothers won the final five matches for the 19-point win and the title was theirs.
Respect and Friendship: Minutes after the final match, one could find the two head coaches sitting side-by-side one another on the Ryan bench. Lewis, a Father Ryan alum (1984), and who did not wrestle in high school or college (Rhodes College), played prep football for Simpson (a Ryan assistant coach) in the early 1980s.
First For West Tennessee: Christian Brothers title is the first for a team from West Tennessee.
Childhood Friends: Tennessee Titans play-by-play announcer Mike Keith was in the stands cheering for Christian Brothers and his friend, Chris Lewis. The nearly fiftysomething friends grew up together and were classmates at Franklin Junior High before Keith went to Battleground Academy and Lewis to Father Ryan.
And how appropriate that as Lewis and Keith walked out of the Ag Expo together that over the p.a. system played Tina Turner’s song “Simply the Best.”
And tonight, the Purple Wave was exactly that. Simply, the best.
Christian Brothers 41, Father Ryan 22
126 – Brandon Oliver (CBHS) dec. Ryan Simpson, 4-0 …. CB, 3-0 +3
132 – Tate Robinson (CBHS) pinned Mike Akers, 1:51 … CB, 9-0 +9
138 – Mark Marchetti (FR) pinned Matt Johnson, :38 … CB, 9-6 +3
145 – Luke Parish (CBHS) pinned Patrick Cosgrove, 1:28 … CB, 15-6 +9
152 – Kaleb Baker (CBHS) major dec. Steven Nolan, 13-4 … CB, 19-6 +13
160 – Cole Moseley (FR) dec. Brandon Hataway, 7-3 … CB, 19-9 +10
170 – Michael Hooker (FR) pinned Michael Isom, 1:14 ... CB, 19-15 +4
182 – T.J. Holmes (FR) major dec. Barrett Walthall, 8-0 … 19-19 tied
195 – Ricky Fisher (FR) dec. Corbin McOlgan, 12-5 … FR, 22-19 +3
220 – Drayke Armstrong (CBHS) pinned Garrett Laguttuta, :20 … CB, 25-22 +3
285 – Sam Thomas (CBHS) pinned Brandon Christy, 3:46 … CB, 31-22 +9
106 – Elijah Oliver (CBHS) major dec. Mike Eckhart, 15-5 … CB, 35-22 +13
113 – John David Santi (CBHS) dec. Chris Wesnofske, 10-8 OT … CB, 38-22 +15
120 – Nick Gray (CBHS) dec. Hal Fisher, 5-2 … CB, 41-22 +19
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net