Tony Wilson of Soddy Daisy scored a pin against Ooltewahs’s Mykkel Banks at 145 to take 3rd place.
photo by M. A. Locke
If you don’t think points in the consolation finals are important to winning a high school wrestling tournament, then you should have been at Soddy Daisy Saturday afternoon.
The host Trojans won four out of five matches in the championship finals, but more importantly, won eight of 10 in the consolation finals to pull away from Downer’s Grove South for the team title.
It had been a see-saw affair all day between these two teams and the Mustangs had five champs to four for Soddy Daisy, but in the consolation finals, the Trojans were able to pull away after winning eight of 10 matches while the Mustangs lost all three of theirs.
Soddy Daisy finished the one-day event with 269 points while the team who came here from just outside Chicago was the runner-up with 209.5 points.
Gibbs was third with 109 while Dobyns-Bennett and Farragut were fourth and fifth with 84.5 and 73 points, respectively.
Jacob Allen (106), Hayden Maynor (160), Curtis Settles (182) and Ty Boeck (220) all won in individual titles for the winners while Matt Straus (120), Robert Major (132), Dylan Knoch (138), Jeff Nugent (145) and Sergio Villalobos (195) were all champions for the Mustangs.
Other individual winners included Farragut’s Tyler McKeefery at 113, South Walton’s Ethan Pickren at 126, Rhea County’s Jay Graham at 152, Gibbs’ Isaiah Brooks at 170 and Anderson County’s Thomas Roberts at 285.
This tournament had been scheduled for early January in years past, but coach Jim Higgins decided to move it up so teams might be able to attend who were coming to town for the Southern Scuffle at UTC on Jan. 1-2. That’s exactly why coach Sean Lovelace brought his team down South for a few days to escape the bitter cold in Illinois.
There were several teams that withdrew at the last minute, but the tournament still had 10 teams and it turned out to be a beneficial day for all who participated.
Soddy Daisy’s Higgins was more concerned about getting his guys some time on the mat against some good competition. Winning the team title was simply icing on the cake.
“We’ve had a pretty good day as we wanted to start strong and finish strong. We were able to do that. We’re about midway through our season and we still have a lot of ground to cover, but I’m happy for the kids. We’ve come close a couple of times this season, but this is the first tournament we’ve won.
“I’m also glad the guys came down from Downer’s Grove. They have a great group of kids with several outstanding individuals, so we’re glad they were able to fit us into their schedule. This tournament was called off last year for the threat of snow, so I’m glad to get it in without any bad weather. It seemed like everything ran pretty smooth from what I could tell,” Higgins nodded.
The Mustangs always try to schedule at least one big out-of-town tournament to attend. They were wanting to attend at least part of the Scuffle, so coming to Chattanooga a couple of days early made all of that possible.
“We were hoping to find a tournament close so we could do both and we were able to do just that,” said Lovelace afterward.
“We had a couple of goals in mind for this trip and being part of this tournament was a big part of that. We only brought a dozen scoring wrestlers, but we had some really good matches and we got to see a style we normally don’t get to see back home, but we battled hard. It was nice to have nine in the finals and we would have liked to win it, but we also know that Soddy Daisy has an outstanding program.
“We’d love to stay for the entire tournament at UTC, but we’ll have to leave after Monday as we have to get back home. I’m glad we got to come as we had a really good day,” he added.
The championship match at 132 pounds where Major scored a 5-1 decision over Farragut’s Devin Martin was voted as the Outstanding Match while Farragut’s McKeefery and Soddy Daisy’s Boeck earned Outstanding Wrestler honors for the lower and upper weights, respectively.
Soddy Daisy returns to action next Thursday with a key match at Cleveland.
FINAL TEAM SCORES: 1. Soddy Daisy 269; 2. Downer’s Grove 209.5; 3. Gibbs 109; 4. Dobyns-Bennett 84.5; 5. Farragut 73; 6. South Walton 69; 7. Anderson Co. 60; 8. Ooltewah and Rhea Co. tied with 59; 10. Dickson Co. 54.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
106 – Jacob Allen (Soddy Daisy) pinned Kuba Diggory (Downer’s Grove), 1:16;
113 – Tyler McKeefery (Farragut) major dec. Gabe Hawkins (Dickson Co.), 11-2;
120 – Matt Straus (Downer’s Grove) pinned Austyn Dunsmore (Anderson Co.), 3:38;
126 – Ethan Pickren (South Walton) pinned Zachariah Garabrandt (Farragut), :44;
132 – Robert Major (Downer’s Grove) dec. Devin Martin (Farragut), 5-1;
138 – Dylan Knoch (Downer’s Grove) dec. Landon Lewis (Soddy Daisy), 1-0;
145 – Jeff Nugent (Downer’s Grove) pinned Dillon Lemons (Dobyns-Bennett), 1:41;
152 – Jay Graham (Rhea Co.) pinned Jesus Juarez (Downer’s Grove), 1:43;
160 – Hayden Maynor (Soddy Daisy) pinned David Stefansvski (Downer’s Grove), 4:00;
170 – Isaiah Brooks (Gibbs) dec. Harris Barton (South Walton), 13-6;
182 – Curtis Settles (Soddy Daisy) pinned Michael Myers (Gibbs), 2:49;
195 – Sergio Villalobos (Downer’s Grove) won by technical fall over Elijah Lawson (Gibbs), 5:32;
220 – Ty Boeck (Soddy Daisy) won by technical fall over Joel Griffin (Gibbs), 3:29;
285 – Thomas Roberts (Anderson Co.) pinned Nick Newell (Downer’s Grove), :36.
CONSOLATION FINALS FOR THIRD PLACE
106 – Brennan Watkins (Dobyns-Bennett) dec. Charles McKee (Dickson Co.), 6-0;
113 – Cole Prestwood (Soddy Daisy) major dec. Joe Straus (Downer’s Grove), 8-0;
120 – Jacob Pratt (Soddy Daisy) dec. Corbin Bumgarner (Dobyns-Bennett), 4-2;
126 – Seth Weinthal (South Walton) dec. Briston Hatfield (Soddy Daisy), 7-5;
132 – Jacob Kilgore (Soddy Daisy) won by forfeit over Wyatt Stumbo (Rhea Co.);
138 – Easton Norris (Ooltewah) dec. Tre Morrisette (Dobyns-Bennett), 8-7;
145 – Tony Wilson (Soddy Daisy) pinned Mykkel Banks (Ooltewah), 3:42;
152 – Bobby Vincent (Soddy Daisy) dec. Marek Banks (Ooltewah), 7-6;
160 – Gunnar Nebel (South Walton) major dec. Noah Addison (Soddy Daisy), 12-1;
170 – Thomas Faires (Soddy Daisy) major dec. Michael Garza (Downer’s Grove), 14-3;
182 – Josh Moles (Anderson Co.) dec. John Thomas White (Dickson Co.), 12-11;
195 – Brent Settles (Soddy Daisy) pinned Michael Dugger (Rhea Co.), 2:26;
220 – Blake Wright (Ooltewah) pinned Andres Lopez (Downer’s Grove), 1:56;
285 – Addison Roberts (Soddy Daisy) won by forfeit over Justin Watson (Soddy Daisy).
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)