Members of the Bradley Central wrestling team pose with their 2017 Region Champions plaque after winning the Region 4-AAA title for the third straight year. The Bears advanced 13 wrestlers to next week's state tournament in Franklin, Tenn.
photo by Dennis Norwood
You can always expect a knockdown, drag out battle any time Bradley and Cleveland compete in anything, especially when it’s a region wrestling tournament.
Such was the case at East Hamilton High School Saturday where the two-time defending Region 4-AAA Bears went to war with the Blue Raiders and six other teams.
These two teams have had some classic matches already with Cleveland winning the first two dual meets by a scant one-point margin both times before Bradley turned the table with a victory last Saturday night at the State Duals.
The Bears evened the score a bit more on Saturday with a five-point victory, finishing the day-long event with 220.5 points to 215.5 for their cross-town rivals.
Soddy Daisy was a distant third with 146 points while East Hamilton was fourth with 91 and Walker Valley fifth with 69. Rhea County, Ooltewah and McMinn County rounded out the field with 41, 33 and 32.5 points, respectively.
The Bears led from the opening match Saturday morning, but things got interesting in the championship finals as you might expect.
Bradley entered the final round with 190 points while Cleveland was hanging close with 180.5. Bradley had advanced 11 individuals to the championship round while Cleveland sent eight and these two had head-to-head matchups in six of the 14 finals.
The Blue Raiders got within a point after Jack Hicks pinned Ed Elkins in the title match at 182 before Kevin Gentry locked down the team title with a 5-1 decision at 195.
Cleveland still had a shot at that point, but Soddy Daisy's Ty Boeck prevented a possible comeback with a 6-3 decision over Cleveland's Seth Garcia in the next-to-last match of the day.
They both won three, but the Bears came out ahead with six individual winners while Cleveland countered with four.
Bradley’s champs included T.J. Hicks at 113, Ryan McElhaney at 132, Knox Fuller at 145, Austin Mathews at 152, Caleb Adkins at 160 and Gentry at 195.
Cleveland’s winners included Bryce Pond at 120, Cody Mathews at 138, Dylan Jones at 170 and Hicks at 182.
Other individual champions included Walker Valley’s Chandler Davis at 106, Soddy Daisy’s Landon Wheaton at 126 and Boeck at 220. Ooltewah’s Victor Bednarski was the winner at 285.
Cleveland advanced all 14 wrestlers to next week’s traditional state tournament in Franklin while Bradley will be sending 13.
The one Bradley individual who will not be going is Henley Headrick at 170, who was disqualified for flagrant misconduct in his semifinal match with Soddy Daisy’s Hayden Maynor.
With Headrick trailing by a 3-2 margin toward the end of the match, Headrick bit Maynor’s arm and was promptly disqualified. Not only was he tossed from the tournament, but the seven points he had scored for his team to that point were taken away and he won’t be able to compete next weekend.
Bradley coach Ben Smith certainly didn’t make any excuses for Headrick, who had entered the tournament as the second seed at 170 with a record of 37-9.
“I love Henley as much as anyone on my team and he’s a great kid, but wrestling can be an emotional sport and he got caught up in it,” Smith began his post-tournament comments.
“He’ll have to pay the penalty by missing next weekend and it hurts to be losing the points he had the potential to score, but he just reacted wrong and he’ll have to pay the price.
“I was really proud of Chris Cash at 285. He’s really come on in recent weeks and he scored some big points today. And I’m really proud of Ryan McElhaney, Austin Mathews and Caleb Adkins as they all beat returning state medalists. That will be huge when they start seeding the tournament next week.
“We’ve had a long week with all the illness and stuff and I’m really not happy with the way we wrestled today as there was a lack of fight on our part. We had 13 in the final two rounds and only won seven, so we still have some work to do.
“That was a super job by Kevin Gentry. Last year, he didn’t even qualify for the state, but for him to come back this year and win a region title was huge. And to think it was his win that clinched it for us is even bigger,” Smith concluded with a smile.
Cleveland coach Josh Bosken knows all too well how competitive things can be between his Blue Raiders and the Bears. Winning the team championship on Saturday wasn’t as important as sending all 14 individuals to the state next week.
“We were hoping to send all 14 next week and we did, so I’m happy,” he said while the individual medals were being distributed.
“We wrestle hard every time we step on the mat, so effort is never a problem, but we did let a few big ones slip away today. Bradley lost a lot of points when Headrick got disqualified and I hate it for him. It’s just unfortunate what happened.
“We just gave ourselves a chance to compete for another state title next week as we took care of business for the most part today. These guys did a good job as we have nine returning state qualifiers,” Bosken nodded.
Bradley’s Fuller, who entered Saturday’s tournament as the only unbeaten individual with a record of 51-0, was honored as the Outstanding Wrestler after winning twice, including by a technical fall in the championship match.
Best Match honors went to Cleveland’s Pond and Bradley’s Trey Hicks after Pond scored a takedown in overtime to prevail, 3-1.
While Cleveland will be sending all 14 and Bradley 13, Soddy Daisy advanced 10 and East Hamilton eight. Walker Valley will be taking four while Rhea County has three. Ooltewah and McMinn County will be taking two apiece.
LEGEND AND FINAL TEAM SCORES: 1. Bradley Central (BC) 220.5; 2. Cleveland (CL) 215.5; 3. Soddy Daisy (SD) 146; 4. East Hamilton (EH) 91; 5. Walker Valley (WV) 69; 6. Rhea County (RC) 41; 7. Ooltewah (O) 33; 8. McMinn County (MC) 32.5.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
106 – Chandler Davis (WV) dec. Te’Nario Thomas (EH), 7-2;
113 – T.J. Hicks (BC) dec. Garret Bowers (CL), 3-1;
120 – Bryce Pond (CL) dec. Trey Hicks (BC), 3-1 in overtime;
126 – Landon Wheaton (SD) dec. Ethan Anderson (BC), 3-1;
132 – Ryan McElhaney (BC) dec. Colton Landers (CL), 9-7;
138 – Cody Mathews (CL) dec. Andy Robinson (BC), 7-3;
145 – Knox Fuller (BC) won by technical fall over Tony Wilson (SD), 2:52;
152 – Austin Mathews (BC) dec. Jay Graham (RC), 8-5;
160 – Caleb Adkins (BC) dec. Mikel Gregory (WV), 5-3;
170 – Dylan Jones (CL) dec. Hayden Maynor (SD), 7-6;
182 – Jack Hicks (CL) pinned Ed Elkins (BC), :26;
195 – Kevin Gentry (BC) dec. Logan Strickland (CL), 5-1;
220 – Ty Boeck (SD) dec. Seth Garcia (CL), 6-3;
285 – Victor Bednarski (O) dec. Chris Cash (BC), 4-2.
CONSOLATION FINALS FOR THIRD PLACE
106 – Wes Devaney (BC) won by injury default over Burns Meagher (CL);
113 – Jacob Pratt (SD) won by forfeit over Conner Thornburg (EH);
120 – Gage Boggess (MC) won by injury default over James Jur (WV);
126 – Jayce Mullin (CL) pinned Cade Meeks (EH), 4:22;
132 – Grant Lundy (EH) dec. Jacob Kilgore (SD), 6-0;
138 – Dillon Clark (WV) dec. Slater Daniel (SD), 8-3;
145 – Caleb Eachus (CL) pinned Liam Golden (EH), 2:16;
152 – Austin Sweeney (CL) major dec. Austin Crowe (SD), 11-3;
160 – Zach Brezna (CL) dec. Tyler Bayless (EH), 3-2;
170 – Tyler Green (EH) pinned Andres Velasco (RC) 2:43;
182 – Caleb Addison (SD) dec. Mathew Sailors (EH), 7-4;
195 – Curtis Settles (SD) dec. Blake Wright (O), 6-4 in overtime;
220 – Garrett Smith (RC) dec. D.J. Gibson (BC), 3-2;
285 – Tyler Varnadore (MC) pinned Titus Swafford (CL), 1:54.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)