Brett Brown (top) of Bradley Central, shown in an earlier match, took the championship in the Class AAA 195-pound division. The Bears added the traditional trophy to the duals hardware they won earlier this season.
photo by Dennis Norwood
FRANKLIN, Tenn. -- Unlike the A-AA traditional state tournament, the AAA battle was decided long before the championship finals here at the Williamson County Agricultural Exposition Center Saturday night.
After taking a few years to regroup and rebuild, the 2016 state wrestling title will again go back to Cleveland where the Bradley Bears added another title to their long list of championship teams.
Oh, it wasn't close.
Bradley finished the weekend with 244.5 points and five champions.
Runner-up Tennessee High from Bristol was a distant second with 121 points while three-time defending champ Cleveland finished in a tie for third with Beech as both finished with 117 points. Soddy Daisy rounded out the top five with 98.5 points.
Bradley's five winners included T.J.
Hicks at 113, who capped off an unbeaten season after winning at 106 a year ago. Ryan McElhaney was the winner at 120 while Knox Fuller claimed his third-straight title, this time at 138 pounds. Donnie Beyer and Brett Brown were also the victors at 152 and 195, respectively.
Beech had two winners while Soddy Daisy, Heritage, Walker Valley, Blackman, Wilson Central, Science Hill and Riverdale all had one apiece.
The two champs for Beech included brothers Trevor Rippy at 145 and Kaleb Rippy at 182.
Other champions included Soddy Daisy's Landon Wheaton at 106, Juan Hernandez of Heritage at 126, Walker Valley's Joseph Munoz at 132, Blackman's Matthew Sells at 160, Wilson Central's Zach Linton at 170, Hunter Bagley of Science Hill at 220 and Riverdale's Nick Boykin at 285.
Walker Valley's Munoz was honored as the Outstanding Wrestler after posting a 9-5 decision over Cleveland's Colton Landers.
The 152-pound final between Bradley's Beyer and Ravenwood's Chris Rowland was voted the Best Match after Beyer prevailed by a 3-2 margin over the number-one seed in the class.
Bradley's Ben Smith has been around a lot of state titles the Bears have won in recent years, but this is his first as the head coach for the traditional tournament. He won his first State Duals title two weeks ago.
"I feel pretty good and we had a pretty good three days," Smith said as his team was boarding the bus and heading back to Cleveland.
"Winning is one thing and always nice as we did what we were supposed to do, but we had very few spots where we had a letdown or got outfought. We went above and beyond our potential and it was a great team effort as all 13 of our guys scored points.
"We doubled the score on the second-place team as this was a great way to finish our season. And winning with five champs is sort of an exclamation point for the kind of season we had," Smith added.
There were only two pins in the championship round with Riverdale's Boykin getting the quickest in just 39 seconds.
FINAL TEAM SCORES: 1. Bradley Central 244.5; 2. Tennessee High 121; 3. Beech and Cleveland tied with 117; 5. Soddy Daisy 98.5; 10. Walker Valley 80; 19. Ooltewah 55; 29. East Hamilton 36; 47. Rhea County 16.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
106 -- Landon Wheaton (Soddy Daisy) dec. Brayden Palmer (Beech), 4-2;
113 -- T.J. Hicks (Bradley) major dec. Calvin Martin (William Blount), 11-0;
120 -- Ryan McElhaney (Bradley) dec. Kyle Burns (Bearden), 7-2;
126 -- Juan Hernandez (Heritage) dec. Joshua LaCoe (Bradley), 6-3;
132 -- Joseph Munoz (Walker Valley) dec. Colton Landers (Cleveland), 9-5;
138 -- Knox Fuller (Bradley) dec. Dewey Pendley (Tennessee), 2-1;
145 -- Trevor Rippy (Beech) dec. Michael Diemer (Heritage), 3-0;
152 -- Donnie Beyer (Bradley) dec. Chris Rowland (Ravenwood), 3-2;
160 -- Matthew Sells (Blackman) dec. Alex Jeffers (Dobyns-Bennett), 9-3;
170 -- Zach Linton (Wilson Central) dec. Tate Holmes (Anderson Co), 8-4;
182 -- Kaleb Rippy (Beech) pinned Josh Booker (Jeferson Co), 3:37;
195 -- Brett Brown (Bradley) dec. Tyler Reid (Ooltewah), 5-2;
220 -- Hunter Bagley (Science Hill) dec. Tyler Barber (Stewarts Creek), 2-1 in overtime;
285 -- Nick Boykin (Riverdale) pinned Logan Townsend (Jefferson Co.), :39.
CONSOLATION FINALS FOR THIRD PLACE
106 – Rodney Nelson (Tennessee) dec. Bryce Pond (Cleveland), 4-2;
113 – Tolliver Justice (Halls) dec. Jon Kost (Rossview), 8-3;
120 – Logan Whiteside (Cleveland) dec. Chase Brown (Halls), 4-2;
126 – Triston Blansit (Cleveland) dec. Jack Shrader (Franklin), 6-2;
132 – Hunter Parker (Bradley) major dec. Brady Ingram (Independence), 8-0;
138 – Zack Wilkins (Mt. Juliet) major dec. Matt Meeks (East Hamilton), 12-4;
145 – Austin Mathews (Bradley) dec. Angel Leyva (Gibbs), 4-2;
152 – Mikel Gregory (Walker Valley) dec. Jay Graham (Rhea Co.), 6-3;
160 – Tucker Russo (Soddy Daisy) dec. Colton McMahan (Halls), 5-1;
170 – John Olivieri (Stewarts Creek) dec. Nolan Kennedy (William Blount), 7-5 in overtime;
182 – Hunter Fortner (Gibbs) dec. Jeremy Spangler (Tennessee), 3-1;
195 – Justin Johnson (Mt. Juliet) major dec. Eric Cornelius (West Creek), 9-0;
220 – Victor Bednarski (Ooltewah) dec. Isaiah Demello (Independence), 7-3;
285 – Jonathan Davis (Gibbs) dec. Michael Kramer (Wilson Central), 6-1.
CONSOLATION FINALS FOR FIFTH PLACE
106 – Luke Dezember (Lawrence Co) dec. Michael Cannon (Arlington), 7-4;
113 – Job Dooley (Franklin) dec. Graham Brothers (Brentwood), 7-2;
120 – Adam Fuller (Centennial) won by forfeit over Landon Adzima (Gibbs);
126 – Tristan Roa (Brentwood) dec. Travis Arthur (Houston), 7-0;
132 – Corbin Hurley (Tennessee) dec. Esteban Remillard (Summitt), 4-2;
138 – Ian McNitt (Hardin Valley) dec. Cole Iler (Centennial), 3-2;
145 – Bryson Henley (Tennessee) pinned Arthur James (Science Hill), 5:36;
152 – Adrian Gonzalez (Rossview) pinned Jason Johnson (Tennessee), 2:07;
160 – Damon Smith (Wilson Central) dec. Dawson Satterfield (William Blount), 3-0;
170 – Jack Hicks (Cleveland) dec. Kyle Smith (Beech), 7-4;
182 – Ty Boeck (Soddy Daisy) dec. Jaterius Graham (Bolton), 5-3 in overtime;
195 – Dylan Pearson (Tullahoma) dec. Dylan Carney (Northwest), 8-3;
220 – James Parker (Overton) won by injury default over Chester Peden (Smyrna);
285 – D.J. Adams (Bradley) pinned Landen Patterson (Siegel), 1:49.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)