It was a two team race for the championship, but when all the dust had settled, the host Purple Pounders prevailed in the annual Central Invitational wrestling tournament as they tallied 166 points to beat runner-up East Hamilton by 15 points.
Signal Mountain was a distant third with 107 while Boyd-Buchanan finished fourth with 89.5 and Christian Academy of Knoxville fifth with 82.5.
Central trailed East Hamilton for much of the day, but the Purple Pounders started the move to the top once the consolation finals began.
Central won four of six matches for third place while the Hurricanes were winless in two matches. It was still close when the championship finals began, but Central was able to maintain its lead and even stretch it a little bit as four of their five finalists claimed first place.
East Hamilton had seven in the finals with three taking the top prize, including 113-pound champ Briar Potter, who had a first-period pin in the final round and was voted the Outstanding Wrestler for the tournament.
Potter's pin was one of eight in the championship round. Central's Alonzo Heyward won the 145-pound title in 49 seconds for the quickest in that group.
Other winners for Central included Bryson Lemons at 126, Xavier Norwood at 160 and Sam Stephenson at 285. Additional winners for East Hamilton included Liam Golden at 132 and Drew Locklear at 138.
The remaining champions included two from Signal Mountain and CAK and one each from Tullahoma, Tyner and Union County.
Signal Mountain's two included Isaac Tate at 106 and Cale Shelton at 182 while the two for CAK included Michael Long at 170 and John Zavracky at 220. Tullahoma's Jovahny Sanchez won at 120 while Tyner's Chaysen Patrick was victorious at 152 and Union County's Cole Durbin first at 195.
Central coach John Lennon is hoping to make this tournament -- the oldest invitational tournament in Tennessee -- as strong and prestigious as it once was.
"We just try to get better every time we wrestle and I felt like we did that in most spots today. It's all about technique and fundamentals, but when they follow the game plan, things go well most of the time. We've had a good day because of the environment we're trying to create, but my proudest moment is the job my parents have today today to help make it run so smoothly.
"I'm hoping to make this a signature event for A-AA teams across the state, but I thought our guys came on when they had to and they performed well under pressure," Lennon commented.
East Hamilton coach Ryan Cooper felt pretty good about what his team accomplished as well.
"I thought we wrestled well for the most part as we showed up and wrestled well in spots. Based on the seeds, I felt like we had the ability to have seven in the finals, but a tournament like this is just helping us get ready for the Region. It's all preparation for the upcoming final exam," he said.
The championship match at 126 pounds between Central's Lemons and Matthew Meeks of East Hamilton was voted Best Match by the referees after Lemons prevailed by a 7-4 decision.
Another dandy in the finals was the 182-pound battle between Shelton and East Hamilton's Chuck Sanders. Shelton was a winner by pin in 4:31, but it was a real donnybrook up to that point.
Sanders got the initial takedown and put the defending state champ on his back at the start before Shelton rallied to tie the score at 7-7 when the first period ended.
Shelton got a takedown with 24 seconds left in the second before Sanders escaped 11 seconds later and the difference was 9-8 with one period remaining.
Sanders got an uncontested escape to start the final two minutes before Shelton took him down. The same thing happened again, but the strapping Hurricane senior wasn't able to escape the last time as the match ended with 1:29 remaining.
Defending champion Blackman from Murfreesboro did not return to defend its title.
FINAL TEAM SCORES: 1. Central 166; 2. East Hamilton 151; 3. Signal Mountain 107; 4. Boyd-Buchanan 89.5; 5. Christian Academy of Knoxville 82.5; 6. Tullahoma 62; 7. Tyner 60; 8. Union County 57.5; 9. Howard 36; 10. Sale Creek 20.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
106 -- Isaac Tate (Signal Mountain) pinned Roderick Bonds (Howard), 2:58'
113 -- Briar Potter (East Hamilton) pinned Scott Weaver (Boyd-Buchanan), 1:59;
120 -- Jovahny Sanchez (Tullahoma) pinned Grant Lundy (East Hamilton), 1:45;
126 -- Bryson Lemons (Central) dec. Matthew Meeks (East Hamilton), 7-4;
132 -- Liam Golden (East Hamilton) dec. Isaac Coffman (Central), 2-0;
138 -- Drew Locklear (East Hamilton) dec. Daniel Dawson (Signal Mountain), 8-3;
145 -- Alonzo Heyward (Central) pinned Andrew Sturdivant (East Hamilton), :49;
152 -- Chaysen Patrick (Tyner) pinned Niejel Billingsley (Howard), 3:41;
160 -- Xavier Norwood (Central) dec. Phillip Nichols (CAK), 13-8;
170 -- Michael Long (CAK) won by technical fall over Seth Petarra (Signal Mountain), 4:44;
182 -- Cale Shelton (Signal Mountain) pinned Chuck Sanders (East Hamilton), 4:31;
195 -- Cole Durbin (Union Co) dec. Deonta Tyson (Tyner), 5-3;
220 -- John Zavracky (CAK) pinned Will Watkins (Boyd-Buchanan), 2:58;
285 -- Sam Stephenson (Central) pinned John Sewell (Boyd-Buchanan), 1:55.
CONSOLATION FINALS FOR THIRD PLACE
106 -- Austin Biddy (Central) won by forfeit;
113 -- Clay Maynard (Union Co.) won by technical fall over Jimmy Herrera (Central);
120 -- Manuel Bernal (Central) won by forfeit;
126 -- Jerry Myers (Union Co) pinned Jordan Sanchez (Tullahoma), 4:40;
132 -- Hunt Drennan (Signal Mountain) dec. Domanique Rahman (Howard), 7-4;
138 -- David Davis (Union Co.) dec. Hank Warren (Boyd-Buchanan), 8-7;
145 -- Will Davis (Signal Mountain) dec. Matthew McDonald (Boyd-Buchanan), 6-2 in overtime;
152 -- Jay Coop (Tullahoma) pinned Tyler Green (East Hamilton), 1:59;
160 -- Brandon Spurling (Boyd-Buchanan) pinned Juan Camacho (Tyner), 3:49;
170 -- Skylar Sivley (Central) pinned Kaleb Parcel (Tyner), :58;
182 -- Brian Sledge (Central) pinned Coey Fox (Sale Creek), 2:22;
195 -- Calvin Conn (Boyd-Buchanan) pinned Jonathon Alston (Central), :58;
220 -- Akil Hicks (Tullahoma) pinned Ethan Logue (Signal Mountain), :37;
285 -- James Vandersteeg (CAK) pinned Ethan Greenwood (East Hamilton), 2:03.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@Comcast.net)