East Ridge's 132-pound wrestler Harrison Ward takes down Boyd-Buchanan's Dominick Coker early in their match at the Region 2-A/AA championships being held at Signal Mountain High School. Coker came back to win the match by a fall at 5:08 and then advanced to the championship semifinals by defeating Red Bank's Zachary Gee by a fall at 2:55. The wrestling resumes Saturday morning.
photo by Dennis Norwood
There still a lot of wrestling to be contested at Signal Mountain High School on Saturday, but the Hixson Wildcats have a slim lead following Friday’s action in the Region 2-A/AA wrestling tournament.
Hixson, which finished second to Red Bank last year after winning the previous two years, advanced 10 of 13 wrestlers to the championship semis Saturday morning and finished the day with 44 points.
Red Bank had a pretty good first day as well as the Lions scored 32 points by advancing seven to the championship round.
The Boyd-Buchanan Buccaneers may have had the best day of all the 14 teams as they advanced five of six and stand third with 26 points.
Notre Dame and Whitwell are tied for fourth with 24 points apiece.
It’s always nice to win a region title as a team, but to every coach involved, it’s all about advancing as many individuals to next week’s traditional state tournament, which begins Thursday afternoon at the Williamson County Agricultural Exposition Center in Franklin.
Hixson had a less-than-memorable trip to the State Duals last weekend where they got beat by two pretty good teams and got sent back home without a win, but that’s in the past and the Wildcats showed up Friday evening with a positive outlook and hopes of doing much better next time.
“We’ve had a pretty good day as we only lost three matches,” said Hixson coach Garrick Hall after Friday’s action had concluded.
“We wrestled with a lot of heart and desire today and that’s what we’re looking for, so I’m really proud of our effort to this point.
“We won a tough match at 152 where Brian Wagoner beat a Notre Dame kid in a close match. I was also really happy for Jordan Lewis, who really stepped it up at 126 and beat a kid from Sequatchie County in overtime after losing to him earlier in the season,” Hall added.
Shane Turner is now the head coach at Boyd-Buchanan after leading the Lions to the region title a year ago. The Buccaneers only have six entries, but five of them advanced to the championship semis and the veteran coach was smiling from ear to ear as he watched.
“We did alright as we have five of six in the semifinals,” Turner said later.
“I’m really not surprised as all of these guys did what we asked in preparing for this tournament. We have a small group, but they work their tails off. I feel like we’ve been holding our own so far and I’m really happy with the way we wrestled tonight,” he added.
As has always been the case in a tournament like this, there were quite a few byes on Friday, including four top-seeded individuals who didn’t wrestle a single match. Those included Notre Dame’s Cade Holloway at 106, Central’s Isaac Coffman at 145, Chattanooga Christian’s Alex Hundley at 170, East Ridge’s Darian Smith at 182 and Boyd-Buchanan’s Will Watkins at 195.
Notre Dame’s Doogan Boyd, seeded second at 195, also received a bye and hasn’t scored a point yet.
There were no upsets on Friday, at least none involving the top two seeds in each weight class.
Hixson’s 10 include Greg Marquez at 106, Tucker Gill at 113, Jacob Newman at 120, Lewis at 126, Jonas Shackleford at 132, Cederick Harris at 138, Wagoner at 152, Jerrold Higginbotham at 160, Truman Ross at 220 and Guilano Palacio at 285.
Red Bank’s seven representatives include Chris Cagle at 113, Caden Cline at 120, Zach Gee at 132, Jonah Bird at 145, Jackson Hash at 182, Devon Suddeth at 220 and Jeremiah Welch at 285.
Boyd-Buchanan’s five include Scott Weaver at 113, Dominick Coker at 132, Zane Williams at 152, Kell Stott at 182 and Watkins at 195.
Notre Dame’s seven include Holloway at 106, Grant Speer at 126, Ned Warwick at 138, David Hodges at 145, Daniel Hodges at 160, Boyd at 195 and Kobe Bragg at 285 while Whitwell’s five include Jaren Thames at 120, Allen Ashworth at 170, Daniel Mikel at 182, William Carter at 195 and T.D. Argo at 220.
LEGEND AND TEAM SCORES FOLLOWING FRIDAY ACTION: 1. Hixson (Hix) 44; 2. Red Bank (RB) 32; 3. Boyd-Buchanan (BB) 26; 4. Notre Dame (ND) and Whitwell (W) tied with 24; 6. Signal Mountain (SM) 19; 7. Chattanooga Christian (CCS) 14; 8. Central (Cen) 13.5; 9. Sequatchie County (Seq) 11; 10. East Ridge (ER) and Sale Creek (SC) tied with 10; 12. Tyner (Ty) 6; 13. Brainerd (Bra) and Howard (How) failed to score.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS IN CHAMPIONSHIP ROUNDS
106 POUNDS
QUARTERFINALS: Cade Holloway (ND) advanced with a bye; Greg Marquez (Hix) dec. Ethan Madaris (CCS), 5-0; Haiden Dill (Cen) advanced with a bye; Daniel Uhorchuk (SM) pinned Hunter Swanson (Ty), 1:32.
113 POUNDS
ROUND OF 16: Isaac Tate (SM) major dec. Josh Elliott (CCS), 12-4.
QUARTERFINALS: Scott Weaver (BB) pinned Javonte Ervin (Bra), 1:27; Chris Cagle (RB) dec. Jesus Juarez (ER), 5-0; Tate (SM) dec. Aaron Smith (Cen), 8-2; Tucker Gill (Hix) pinned Amado Gomez (W), :29.
120 POUNDS
QUARTERFINALS: Jacob Newman (Hix) pinned Jack Neely (Cen), :26; Logan Silvers (Seq) dec. Kevin Muschel (SM), 6-1; Jaren Thames (W) pinned Charley Waters (SC), :30; Caden Cline (RB) pinned Harrison Nichol (ND), 3:03.
126 POUNDS
ROUND OF 16: Grant Speer (ND) pinned Gage Swanson (Ty), 5:29; Jimmy Herrera (Cen) pinned Mike Green (Bra), 1:59; Jay Brock (Seq) pinned Clay Gallant (SM), 1:43; Alexander Coker (BB) pinned Affion Horton (How), 1:12.
QUARTERFINALS: Speer (ND) won by technical fall over Chase Burton (SC), 4:09; Herrera (Cen) dec. Gage Evans (RB), 5-1; Jordan Lewis (Hix) dec. Brock (Seq), 14-12 in overtime; Kashawn Cosey (ER) pinned Coker (BB), 4:25.
132 POUNDS
ROUND OF 16: Preston Worley (SM) dec. Will Keener (Seq), 8-2; Dominick Coker (BB) pinned Harrison Ward (ER), 5:07.
QUARTERFINALS: Jonas Shackleford (Hix) pinned Jacob Wright (Cen), :51; Worley (SM) dec. Nathan Connor (CCS), 8-7; Zach Gee (RB) major dec. John King (W), 14-5; Coker (BB) pinned Malik Hendley (How), 2:55.
138 POUNDS
QUARTERFINALS: Ned Warwick (ND) pinned Zachary Morgan (Seq), :21; Lachlan Brandt (CCS) dec. Oliver Goodgame (SM), 10-3; Steven Davoren (ER) advanced with a bye; Cederick Harris (Hix) pinned Addison Cordell (W), 1:39.
145 POUNDS
QUARTERFINALS: Isaac Coffman (Cen) advanced with a bye; David Hodges (ND) dec. Bruce Wilson (Hix), 3-2; Cameron Weaver (Seq) advanced with a bye; Jonah Bird (RB) pinned Daidrick Dunham (How), 1:50.
152 POUNDS
QUARTERFINALS: Justin Wheeler (CCS) pinned Colton Bobbin (ER), 1:02; Brian Wagoner (Hix) dec. Alex Spraker (ND), 5-4; Zane Williams (BB) pinned Anthony Parker (SC), :28; Daniel Dawson (SM) pinned Wyatt Belvins (Seq), :41.
160 POUNDS
QUARTERFINALS: Alonzo Heyward (Cen) won by technical fall over Gavin Lee (Seq), 3:10; Will Davis (SM) advanced with a bye; Jerrold Higginbotham (Hix) pinned Jared Lamar (SC), 2:12; Daniel Hodges (ND) pinned George Hutchinson (CCS), 1:19.
170 POUNDS
QUARTERFINALS: Alex Hundley (CCS), Lloyd Pinheiro (ER) both advanced with byes; Jake Woodlief (SM) dec. Jake Ivey (Hix), 5-2; Allen Ashworth (W) pinned Evan McGill (Seq), :52.
182 POUNDS
QUARTERFINALS: Darian Smith (ER) advanced with a bye; Jackson Hash (RB) dec. Deven Baker (Hix), 11-5; Daniel Mikel (W) pinned Adam Truelove (CCS), 2:39; Kell Stott (BB) pinned Barrett Buffington (SM), 1:58.
195 POUNDS
QUARTERFINALS: Will Watkins (BB) advanced with a bye; Chase Poole (SC) pinned Michael Nelson (CCS), 2:59; William Carter (W) pinned Pedro Bautista (ER), 2:52; Doogan Boyd (ND) advanced with a bye.
220 POUNDS
ROUND OF 16: T.D. Argo (W) pinned Aaron Sand (ER), :36.
QUARTERFINALS: Truman Ross (Hix) pinned Kaleb Penny (SC), 2:38; Griff Wheeler (CCS) pinned Shaylan Bailey (Ty), :52; Argo (W) pinned Donavyn Walker (Cen), :39; Devon Suddeth (RB) pinned Jacob Brigman (ND), 2:22.
285 POUNDS
QUARTERFINALS: Guilano Palacio (Hix) pinned Michael King (ER), :18; Jeremiah Welch (RB) pinned Seth Turney (CCS), 1:33; Charles Jones (Cen) pinned Steven Goff (SM), 3:27; Kobe Bragg (ND) pinned J.J. Headrick (W), 1:02.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)