ATHENS, Tenn. -- If you wanted to see a possible preview of next weekend's champioiship match in the AAA State Duals, maybe you should have been here at McMinn County High School Thursday night.
The Cleveland Blue Raiders are the two-time defending state duals champs and they will be in the thick of the battle for first place next Friday and Saturday in Franklin, but they had to rally to beat Bradley for the Region 4-AAA Duals title.
It all came down to the final match of the evening, but it was Cleveland's Aaron Oliver who turned out to be the hero as it was his third-period pin that secured the win by a 37-31 final against the ever-battling Bears.
Cleveland had beaten Soddy Daisy by a 44-23 final in one semifinal match while Bradley had taken care of Walker Valley by a 48-24 final. Neither of those matches was close as Cleveland built a 44-5 lead before forfeiting the final three weights. Bradley's lead over Walker Valley was 48-6 before doing the same in the last three weights.
The championship match was a dandy and certainly worth the drive and the price of admission.
Starting at 182 pounds, Ed Elkins gave Bradley its first lead with a 5-1 decision while teammate Brett
Brown followed with a 34-second pin to make it 9-0.
John Gaither and Koran Kennedy both earned pins as Cleveland grabbed the lead at 12-9, but four straight wins by the Bears -- including pins from T.J. Hicks and Toribio Navaro -- stretched Bradley's lead to 16 points at 28-12.
Things were beginning to look a little bleak for the Blue Raiders, but Colton Landers got the comeback started with a 12-1 major decision at 132 before Chris Debien made it 28-22 with a first-period pin at 138.
Bradley's Donnie Beyer, who beat defending state champ Tucker Russo of Soddy Daisy last week, shocked state runner-up Ezra Taylor by a 10-5 final as the lead stretched to 31-22, but Cleveland then won the final three matches to clinch the biggest win of the season so far for the Blue Raiders.
Jack Hicks earned a pin at 152 before Jonathan Martin's 3-0 decision at 160 knotted the score at 31-all.
With all the pressure on Cleveland's Oliver and Bradley's Corey Gatlin, Oliver got the pin call with 32 seconds left in the match to clinch the win for his team.
Needless to say, Cleveland coach Jake Yost was most happy after everything ended.
"That was fun, wasn't it?" he began after his team had improved to 14-4 with a win that was a turnaround from Bradley's 39-27 win a couple of weeks ago.
"This is a stepping stone for us, but this isn't the end by any stretch. Things just went our way tonight. We had a lot of kids step up tonight, but we're looking forward to next week. It will be hard for anyone to beat that team and I'm just happy that we'll be in the bracket opposite Bradley and Wilson Central.
"Aaron loves situations like the one he was in and I was comfortable with it as I have all the confidence in the world when he's out there. I never really felt like we were out of it and I wasn't expecting Ezra Taylor to get beat, but kudos to the Beyer kid as he beat Russo last week and he's a stud," Yost added.
Bradley coach Ben Smith is just happy that his Bears will be going back to the state after a three-year stretch when they didn't qualify.
"That was a fun match, but the best thing is that we're both heading to Franklin next week with everyone healthy. That was my biggest concern. We both won seven matches, but they got more bonus points. But our main goal was to get back to the state and I think we've proven that we can go with them," Smith said with a smile.
"I think that we're one of the top two teams in the state, but we answered the call. I thought that Beyer's win at 145 was huge as it kept us in it, but the best team won tonight. We're just hoping that we'll get to have round three next Saturday night," Smith nodded.
Bradley is now 19-3.
CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
CLEVELAND 37, BRADLEY 31
(Match began at 182 Pounds)
106 -- T.J Hicks (Brad) pinned Cody Mathews, :36;
113 -- Toribio Navarro (Brad) pinned Jayce Mullin, :44;
120 -- Ryan McElhaney (Brad) dec. Tristan Blansit, 4-2;
126 -- Knox Fuller (Brad) major dec. Victor Barbosa, 19-6;
132 -- Colton Landers (Clev) major dec. Joshua LaCoe, 12-1;
138 -- Chris Debien (Clev) pinned Stephen Scott, 1:38;
145 -- Donnie Beyer (Brad) dec. Ezra Taylor, 10-5;
152 -- Jack Hicks (Clev) pinned Caleb Adkins, 2:55;
160 -- Jonathan Martin (Clev) dec. Jack Bandy, 3-0;
170 -- Aaron Oliver (Clev) pinned Corey Gatlin, 5:28;
182 -- Ed Elkins (Brad) dec. Riley Stevison, 5-1;
195 -- Brett Brown (Brad) pinned Samuel Garcia, :34;
220 -- John Gaither (Clev) pinned Timothy Lawson, 1:00;
285 -- Koran Kennedy (Clev) pinned David Adams, 5:52.
SEMIFINAL RESULTS
CLEVELAND 44, SODDY DAISY 23
(Match began at 170 Pounds)
106 -- Lance Wheaton (SD) won by technical fall over Cody Mathews;
113 -- Jayce Mullin (Clev) dec. Jacob Kilgore,k 4-0;
120 -- Tristan Blansit (Clev) pinned Chase Payne, 3:18;
126 -- Colton Landers (Clev) pinned Jacob McClure, 3:22;
132 -- Chris Debien (Clev) won by technical fall over Austin Houser;
138 -- Emory Holcomb (SD) won by forfeit;
145 -- Tucker Russo (SD) won by forfeit;
152 -- Joshua Stiles (SD) won by forfeit;
160 -- Double forfeit;
170 -- Jonathan Martin (Clev) won by forfeit;
182 -- Samuel Garcia (Clev) dec. Gavin Hubbard, 3-2;
195 -- Riley Stevison (Clev) dec. Jared Fowler, 4-3;
220 -- John Gaither (Clev) pinned Elijah Cartwright, 1:19;
285 -- Koran Kennedy (Clev) pinned Jesse McNew, 2:29.
BRADLEY 48, WALKER VALLEY 24
(Match began at 170 Pounds)
106 -- T.J. Hicks (Brad) pinned Chandler Davis, :40;
113 -- Toribio Navarro (Brad) pinned Gitapun Jur, :57;
120 -- Ryan McElhaney (Brad) pinned Zane Smith, 1:35;
126 -- Knox Fuller (Brad) pinned Edward Johnson, 2:36;
132 -- Joshua LaCoe (Brad) dec. Joseph Munoz, 10-5;
138 -- Austin Gregory (WV) won by forfeit;
145 -- Mikel Gregory (WV) won by forfeit;
152 -- Dionte Richardson (WV) won by forfeit;
160 -- Double forfeit;
170 -- Corey Gatlin (Brad) pinned Justin Rowland, 1:02;
182 -- Brett Brown (Brad) pinned Matt Pankey, :28;
195 -- Ed Elkins (Brad) dec. Jaylon Martin, 9-4;
220 -- Ric Kennett (WV) pinned Timothy Lawson, 1:56;
285 -- David Adams (Brad) pinned Clay Pankey, :31.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@Comcast.net)