Bradley Beats Cleveland For AAA State Duals Mat Title

Ed Elkins Clinches 35-24 Win With Late Takedown For Key 3-1 Win At 195

  • Saturday, February 4, 2017
  • John Hunt

FRANKLIN, Tenn. – The third time was the charm for the Bradley Bears.

Cleveland had prevailed by a single point twice during the regular season, but when the chips were on the line and for the biggest prize here at the Class AAA State Duals wrestling tournament, the Bears won for the second straight year.

It really wasn’t close as the Bears improved to 23-2 with the 35-24 victory.

“First of all, kudos to Cleveland as they have an outstanding program and some really classy coaches,” said Bradley coach Ben Smith shortly after the final match had ended.

“I’m just glad that our region was represented on both sides tonight.  It’s been a really difficult week for us as we’ve been battling illness, but we dug deep and found something within themselves.

“We had guys stay off their backs that didn’t happen before and it was Ed Elkins win at 195 that sealed it for us.  But we really challenged these guys this week and they responded,” Smith nodded with a smile.

Cleveland coach Josh Bosken didn’t dodge any bullets with his post-match comments.

“We don’t measure who we are by wins and losses, but we put 14 guys out there tonight who fought their tails off.  Bradley just came out and won key matches as they wrestled really well,” he began.

“We’ll keep our heads up, but it’s been a real battle with these guys all year and it was another one tonight.  One of the biggest keys for us tonight was losing some key swing matches that we had won earlier, but it is what it is,” Bosken concluded.

Wes Devaney got the Bears off and running with a first-minute pin at 106 and the Bears never trailed a single time.

T.J. Hicks and Trey Hicks followed with regular decisions before Colton Landers broke the ice for the Blue Raiders with a major decision at 126.

Ryan McElhaney had a first-period pin for a 17-3 Bradley lead before Cody Mathews cut it to 17-6 with a 5-3 decision at 138.

Knox Fuller then recorded a pin at 145 before Austin Mathews and Caleb Adkins posted back-to-back decisions as the Bradley lead was a commanding 29-6 at that point.

Cleveland had a brief rally with back-to-back pins from Dylan Jones and Jack Hicks, but it was a takedown from Ed Elkins with seven seconds remaining that gave the Bradley senior a 3-1 victory and clinched the match for the Bears with the 14-point lead.

D.J. Gibson then put a little icing on the cake with a 6-0 decision at 220 before Bradley forfeited to Titus Swafford for the final 11-point margin.

Cleveland had improved to 29-0 with a 35-30 win over Science Hill while Bradley had no trouble whatsoever defeating Tennessee High by a convincing 71-6 final.

CLEVELAND 35, SCIENCE HILL 30: These two teams swapped pins at the start and that was the only time the score was tied as Cleveland won the next four matches with two pins, a technical fall and a regular decision for a 26-6 lead following the tech fall by Colton Landers at 132.

Dylan Jones posted a 13-7 decision at 182 to clinch the match for the Blue Raiders as the lead was 35-18 at that point.  The Hilltoppers won the final two matches with a pin and a forfeit to make the final margin as close as it was.

“Just one more,” said a happy Cleveland coach Josh Bosken after his team had won for the 29th time without a defeat.

“I’m a little emotional right now, but we did what we’ve done all year long and that’s fight for each other.  We got some key bonus points, but we just have to do it one more time.

“We have several superstars on this team and a good bunch of tough dudes.  We beat Science Hill worse earlier in the season, but today it didn’t matter what the final score was as long as we advanced,” the first-year head coach concluded.

Titus Swafford, Garrett Bowers and Jayce Mullin all had pins for Cleveland.

BRADLEY 71, TENNESSEE HIGH 6:  Those guys from Bristol came to this tournament feeling pretty good about themselves after entering with a gaudy 24-1 record, but the Bears brought them crashing back to earth with their lopsided victory.

Chris Cash gave Bradley an early lead with a hard-fought decision at 285, but the Bradley heavyweight was penalized a team point for unsportsmanlike conduct.

T.J. Hicks got a pin at 113, Trey Hicks added an 11-8 decision at 120 before Ethan Anderson, Ryan McElhaney and Andy Robinson posted successive pins for Bradley.

Knox Fuller’s forfeit at 145 made it 35-6 and Austin Mathews made it 41-6 with a pin at 152 before the Vikings forfeited the final five matches as the outcome had been determined by that point.

Bradley coach Ben Smith was a bit concerned over the physical well-being of his team following Friday’s action, but he was feeling much better after Saturday’s romp over the Vikings.

“This just gives us a shot at another state title and that’s what we’re looking for, but we feel a whole lot better now than we did yesterday,” Smith expressed afterward.

  “Tennessee High has a tough team and we have a lot of respect for them, but they tried to bump up on us and we took it personally.  I thought we responded well as we were ready to wrestle today.

“We had the match locked up and we wanted to give some of our younger guys some match experience, but they forfeited out in hopes of saving something for their next match,” the Bradley coach nodded.

AAA CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL

BRADLEY 35, CLEVELAND 24

106 – Wes Devaney (BC) pinned Garrett Stevenson, :56;

113 – T.J. Hicks (BC) dec. Garret Bowers, 5-1;

120 – Trey Hicks (BC) dec. Bryce Pond, 6-5;

126 – Colton Landers (Clev) major dec. Ethan Anderson, 13-1;

132 – Ryan McElhaney (BC) pinned Jayce Mullin, 1:19;

138 – Cody Mathews (Clev) dec. Andy Robinson, 5-3;

145 – Knox Fuller (BC) pinned Caleb Eachus, 2:46;

152 – Austin Mathews (BC) dec. Austin Sweeney, 7-6;

160 – Caleb Adkins (BC) dec. Odin Gallagher, 7-1;

170 – Dylan Jones (Clev) pinned Henley Headrick, 5:52;

182 – Jack Hicks (Clev) pinned Trey Johnson, :30;

195 – Ed Elkins (BC) dec. Logan Strickland, 3-1;

220 – D.J. Gibson (BC) dec. Seth Garcia, 6-0;

285 – Titus Swafford (Clev) won by forfeit.

 

BRADLEY CENTRAL 71, TENNESSEE HIGH 6

285 – Chris Cash (BC) dec. Nathaniel Scott, 7-5;

106 – Rodney Nelson (TH) pinned Wes Devaney, 5:28;

113 – T.J.Hicks (BC) pinned Dillon Pendley, 3:01;

120 – Trey Hicks (BC) dec. Judson McCray, 11-8;

126 – Ethan Anderson (BC) pinned Dominic Fields, :50;

132 – Ryan McElhaney (BC) pinned Nathan Johnson, :12;

138 – Andy Robinson (BC) pinned Logan Ferguson, 2:19;

145 – Knox Fuller (BC) won by forfeit;

152 – Austin Mathews (BC) pinned Jared Harter, 2:26;

160 – William Kaylor (BC) won by forfeit;

170 – Caleb Adkins (BC) won by forfeit;

182 – Henley Headrick (BC) won by forfeit;

195 – Ed Elkins (BC) won by forfeit;

220 – Kevin Gentry (BC) won by forfeit.

 

 CLEVELAND 35, SCIENCE HILL 30

285 – Titus Swafford (Clev) pinned Jesse Cross, :24;

106 – Tyler Seeley (SH) pinned Burns Meagher, 1:28;

113 – Garret Bowers (Clev) pinned Zach Scaggs, :12;

120 – Bryce Pond (Clev) dec. Nathan Wysong, 9-2;

126 – Jayce Mullin (Clev) pinned Garrett Stiltner, 4:28;

132 – Colton Landers (Clev) won by technical fall over Cooper Williams;

138 – Luke Story (SH) pinned Cody Mathews, 2:06;

145 – Caleb Eachus (Clev) dec. Greyson Pridemore, 3-1;

152 – Austin Sweeney (Clev) dec. Arthur James, 3-2;

160 – Isiah Ryans (SH) dec. Zach Brezna, 5-2;

170 – William Diehl (SH) dec. Seth Eachus, 7-2;

182 – Dylan Jones (Clev) dec. Weston Brown, 13-7;

195 – Denzel Medina (SH) pinned Isaah Perez, 5:29;

220 – Demitire Medina (SH) won by forfeit.

(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

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