FRANKLIN – Could Cleveland and Bradley be headed for their third match of the year against each other?
Both are just one win away here in the Class AAA State Duals wrestling tournament as both won with ease in Friday’s opening two rounds.
Two-time defending champ Cleveland whipped Summit by a 57-15 final in the opening round before sending Arlington to the losers bracket by a 45-15 final.
The Blue Raiders will meet Beech in the first semifinal on Saturday at 1 (CST).
The Bears are on a mission as well.
Bradley has more state duals titles than anyone with a dozen, but the Bears haven’t been here in the last three years and they’re not ready to stop fighting.
Bradley rolled past McGavock by a 48-27 in its first match while whipping an outmanned Siegel squad by 71-6 in the quarterfinals. The Bears will have a tougher test in the semis as they face Wilson Central, a team that has finished second to Cleveland for the past two years and is looking for a little respect as well.
“I think we looked ready tonight as I thought we did a good job of competing hard and getting a bunch of wins,” said Cleveland coach Jake Yost following the second win, Cleveland’s 17th against four defeats for the season.
“I think we wrestle better when we’re relaxed, but we’re not taking anyone lightly. That boom box I bought them helps them keep a good attitude, but we need to enjoy an experience like this.
“We can have fun and still be intense, but we had a really hard workout yesterday before we slept in a little bit today. I think we’ll be ready to compete again tomorrow,” he added.
Seth Garcia got things rolling against Summit with a pin while teammates John Gaither, Cody Matthews, Tristan Blansit, Colton Landers, Christopher DeBien, Robert Hicks and Aaron Oliver followed with falls as well.
John Simpson and Joseph Bowers joined teammates Gaither, Blansit, DeBien and Taylor with pins in the romp over Arlington with Taylor’s being the quickest in just 15 seconds.
Ed Elkins got the Bears off and running against McGavock with a major decision in the first match at 182 pounds. Brett Brown followed with a 29-second pin at 195.
David Adams had a major decision at 285 before the Bears got consecutive pins from T.J.
Hicks, Toribio Navarro, Ryan McElhaney, Knox Fuller and Hunter Parker to extend that early lead to 44-6.
Tyler Wallace added a major decision at 160 as the Bradley subs finished the match.
Brown, Adams, Hicks and Fuller all had pins in the win against Siegal while Navarro and Joshua LaCoe both had technical falls and Stephen Scott a major decision.
Bradley is now 21-3 for the season with losses to Baylor, Archer and Cleveland.
Bradley coach Ben Smith just hopes the best is yet to come for his team on the second day.
“We didn’t get after it like I would have wanted, but we got to use some backups against McGavock and they did pretty good as they got some valuable experience in this setting,” Smith said after the second match had ended.
“We got up big and decided to forfeit and were planning the same against Siegel before they started forfeiting to us. It was about what I expected, but tomorrow’s match with Wilson Central should be a battle as they think they can beat us.
“But we’ll be just fine as long as we stay off our back and win where we’re supposed to win. I’m eager to see how we’ll respond in a tight situation, but it just feels right for us to be back here. We really want to win it all, but this surely beats sitting at home,” Smith smiled.
Beech advanced to the semfinals with a 44-28 win over Heritage while Wilson Central struggled early with Knoxville Halls before prevailing, 46-29.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@comcast.net)