Bradley Runs Away With Another AAA State Crown

Bears' Knox Fuller Named Outstanding Wrestler After Winning Fourth Title

  • Saturday, February 18, 2017
  • John Hunt
Bradley Central's Knox Fuller defeated Tony Williams of Soddy Daisy by a fall at 2:49 to win his fourth championship at 145-pounds in Class AAA Saturday evening at the Williamson County Ag/Expo Center in Franklin, Tenn. The Bears also repeated as the state champions, finishing far ahead of the second place Cleveland Blue Raiders. Complete results are here in Sports.
Bradley Central's Knox Fuller defeated Tony Williams of Soddy Daisy by a fall at 2:49 to win his fourth championship at 145-pounds in Class AAA Saturday evening at the Williamson County Ag/Expo Center in Franklin, Tenn. The Bears also repeated as the state champions, finishing far ahead of the second place Cleveland Blue Raiders. Complete results are here in Sports.
photo by Dennis Norwood

FRANKLIN, Tenn. – Bradley’s Ben Smith may be one of the most excitable wrestling coaches on earth, especially when his Bears are in the middle of a tough tournament.

Such was the case here at the Williamson County Agricultural Exposition Center this weekend as the Bears successfully defending their traditional title at the TSSAA State Meet as they finished the three-day event with three champions and 236 points.

Runner-up Cleveland had one champ and finished well behind the Bears with 171 points while Tennessee High was third with 135.5.  Independence was fourth with 119 while Mt. Juliet completed the top five with 109 points.

While Bradley had three champions, Mt. Juliet was the only other team with more than one and they had two.  Blackman, Halls, Gibbs, Independence, Riverdale, Beech, William Blount, Franklin and Cleveland all had one apiece.

Bradley’s three included Knox Fuller, who finished 58-0 for the season with his fourth straight state title.  Appropriately, he was honored as the Outstanding Wrestler.

T.J. Hicks was the winner at 113 as he notched his third title while Austin Mathews won his first at 152.

Zackrey Wilkins won at 138 and Nathan Walling at 195 for Mt. Juliet.

Other individual champs included Noah Horst of Beech at 106, William Blount’s Calvin Martin at 120, Franklin’s Jack Shrader at 126, Cleveland’s Colton Landers at 132, Blackman’s Matthew Sells at 160, Halls’ Colton McMahan at 170, Hunter Fortner of Gibbs at 182, Isaiah Demello of Independence at 220 and Riverdale’s Nick Boykin at 285.

While Fuller was a unanimous pick as the Outstanding Wrestler, Shrader’s 5-4 decision over Daniel Fowler of Independence at 126 was voted the Best Match.

Bradley’s Smith finds it hard at times to relax and enjoy the moment, but he was able to do that somewhat on Saturday as his team had a comfortable lead with five in the finals to Cleveland’s one.

“We had a nice lead to begin the day, so I just tried to kick back and enjoy the experience,” Smith said after the tournament had wrapped up.

“We had four who did well in the consolation rounds this morning and all will be back and then we won three of five in the finals tonight.  I couldn’t be any more happy as we put it all together in the last three weeks.

“Knox winning his fourth title was special as you might expect and it was neat that his match was the first one up.  He had a nice warmup and was ready to go and then they had all of that Celebration of Finalists which took about 35 minutes.  He was completely cold by the time his match began.

“He gave up the first takedown and I think that woke him up, He has certainly earned his spot on the Bradley Wall of Fame.

“I was also really happy and proud for T.J. Hicks.  He beat a really good kid in the finals named Brayden Palmer who entered the finals unbeaten.  I think several folks wrote T.J. off after he lost to Garret Bowers, but he had a lot of pressure to win again and there aren’t many who have won three state titles,” Smith added.

Cleveland coach Josh Bosken felt much better on Saturday than on Friday when his Blue Raiders only had Landers as a winner in the semifinals.

Landers had been a state runner-up for the past two years and had faced Bradley’s Ryan McElhaney three previous times this season.  Saturday’s 9-4 win for the Cleveland senior evened the score at 2-2 for the season.

“We had a really good day today as we won all but two of the 11 matches we wrestled,” Bosken said later.

“I was really happy for Colton.  After being the runner-up for the last two years, one of our main goals this weekend was getting a state title for him and I’m happy he finally got it.

“And I was really proud of Titus Swafford at 285.  He lost his first match to Wilson Central’s Michael Kramer on Thursday before winning his last seven and finishing third.  I’m not sure that’s ever been done, but what a special weekend for that young man,” Bosken added.

Bradley finished the tournament with nine medalists, including McElhaney and Caleb Adkins (160) with seconds, Kevin Gentry with a third at 195, D.J. Gibson fourth at 220, Andy Robinson fifth at 138 and Wesley Devaney, sixth at 106.

While Landers was the only champ for the Blue Raiders, Garret Bowers, Bryce Pond and Swafford all claimed third while Cody Mathews was fourth and Seth Garcia fifth.

Soddy Daisy had two medalists, including Tony Wilson’s runner-up finish at 145 and Landon Wheaton’s third at 126.

Walker Valley’s Mikel Gregory was fourth at 160 while Rhea County’s Jay Graham was fifth at 152.

CLASS AAA FINAL TEAM SCORES: 1. Bradley 236; 2. Cleveland 171; 3. Tennessee 135.5; 4. Independence 119; 5. Mt. Juliet 109; 6. Wilson Central 106; 7. Beech 104; 8. Halls 101.5; 9. Arlington and Blackman tied with 99; 13. Soddy Daisy 79; 23. East Hamilton 42; 30. Walker Valley 32; 38. Rhea Co. 19; 58. McMinn Co. 8; 62. Ooltewah 6.

CLASS AAA CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

106 – Noah Horst (Beech) dec. Trent Nelson (Tennessee), 3-2;

113 – T.J. Hicks (Bradley) dec. Brayden Palmer (Beech), 3-0;

120 – Calvin Martin (William Blount) dec. Sean Sesnan (Wilson Central), 6-0;

126 – Jack Shrader (Franklin) dec. Daniel Fowler (Independence), 5-4;

132 – Colton Landers (Cleveland) dec. Ryan McElhaney (Bradley), 9-4;

138 –Zackrey Wilkins (Mt. Juliet) dec. Dewey Pendley (Tennessee), 9-7;

145 – Knox Fuller (Bradley) pinned Tony Wilson (Soddy Daisy), 2:49;

152 – Austin Mathews (Bradley) dec. Landon Fowler (Blackman), 6-3;

160 – Matthew Sells (Blackman) dec. Caleb Adkins (Bradley), 4-3;

170 – Colton McMahan (Halls) dec. Max Grayson (Bearden), 6-5;

182 – Hunter Fortner (Gibbs) dec. Christian Salter (Siegel), 7-0;

195 – Nathan Walling (Mt. Juliet) dec. Jeremy Spangler (Tennessee), 8-3;

220 – Isaiah Demello (Independence) dec. Javier Salvador (Heritage), 15-10;

285 – Nick Boykin (Riverdale) major dec. Michael Kramer (Wilson Central), 14-4.

 CONSOLATION FINALS FOR THIRD PLACE

106 – Christian Isbell (Clarksville) pinned Te’Nario Thomas (East Hamilton), 2:21;

113 – Garret Bowers (Cleveland) dec. Dillon Pendley (Tennessee), 5-4;

120 – Bryce Pond (Cleveland) dec. Job Dooley (Franklin), 2-1;

126 – Landon Wheaton (Soddy Daisy) pinned Austin Plumlee (Mt. Juliet), 4:13;

132 – Daniel Bradford (Blackman) dec. Chase Brown (Halls), 4-0;

138 – Brady Ingram (Independence) dec. Cody Mathews (Cleveland), 13-9;

145 – Steven Weist (Mt. Juliet) dec. Sean Butler (Summit), 8-2;

152 – Trevor Rippy (Beech) pinned Arthur James (Science Hill), 4:37;

160 – William Diehl (Science Hill) dec. Mikel Gregory (Walker Valley), 5-3 in overtime;

170 – Dawson Satterfield (William Blount) dec. Sawyer Knott (Summit), 6-5;

182 – Aaron Moore (Arlington) pinned Brent Buckman (Halls), 3:11;

195 – Kevin Gentry (Bradley) dec. Dawson Johnson (Bartlett), 6-2;

220 – Alan Roaten (Arlington) dec. D.J. Gibson (Bradley), 3-1;

285 – Titus Swafford (Cleveland) pinned Nate Thacker (Kenwood), 1:21.

CONSOLATION FINALS FOR FIFTH PLACE

106 – Tyler Seeley (Science Hill) dec. Wesley Devaney (Bradley), 8-6;

113 – Michael Cannon (Arlington) dec. Decarlos Allen (McGavock), 11-6;

120 – Nathan Wysong (Science Hill) pinned Jaylen James (Stewarts Creek), 2:21;

126 – Cameron Henderson (Smyrna) pinned Kyle Burns (Bearden), :31;

132 – Nathan Porter (Summit) dec. Gabe Rogers (Stewarts Creek), 8-3;

138 – Andy Robinson (Bradley) pinned Harrison Phillips (Arlington), 2:17;

145 – Joshua Teaster (Heritage) dec. Jason Chambers (Stewarts Creek), 3-1 in overtime;

152 – Jay Graham (Rhea Co.) dec. Bryson Henley (Tennessee), 6-4 in overtime;

160 – Kemale Strong (Hunters Lane) pinned Joseph Garrett (Beech), 1:43;

170 – Damon Smith (Wilson Central) dec. Nick Galbreath (Franklin), 11-9;

182 – C.J. Grissim (Brentwood) dec. Bradley Williams (Clarksville), 4-3;

195 – Dylan Carney (Northwest) dec. Jamal Miller (McGavock), 10-8 in overtime;

220 – Seth Garcia (Cleveland) dec. Jake Harrington (Cookeville), 7-4;

285 – Luke Champion (Tullahoma) dec. Christopher Keller (Independence), 7-3.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

Latest Headlines
Sports
Chattanooga Women Third At Spring Break Shootout
  • 3/18/2024

The Chattanooga Mocs got off to a solid start at the Spring Break Shootout. The ladies are 4 under on Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club’s South Course carding 280 over the opening 18 and 284 ... more

Sweetwater's Keke Norfolk Signs With Cleveland State
Sweetwater's Keke Norfolk Signs With Cleveland State
  • 3/18/2024

Keke Norfolk of Sweetwater High School signed a National Letter of Intent with the Cleveland State women’s basketball team this past week. Norfolk a 5’9” guard/forward, becomes the first signee ... more

Vol Baseball Win Streak Ends At 17 At Alabama
  • 3/18/2024

No. 5/5 Tennessee's 17-game winning streak came to an end with a 6-3 loss to No. 12/14 Alabama on Saturday night at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide (16-3, 1-1 SEC) ... more