by B.B. Branton
posted December 19, 2009
Led by tournament outstanding wrestler Brooks Climmons, Pope High School (Marietta, Ga.) had three champions and scored a record 285 points to claim the 29th annual McCallie Invitational Wrestling Title Saturday night.
The Greyhounds out-ran and out-wrestled the remaining 27 teams for their first McCallie team title, while Father Ryan (197.50, 2 champs, 9 medalists) took second for the third straight year, while host McCallie (187.50, 2 champs, 6 medalists) took third.
Defending champion Baylor (1 champ, 6 medalists) garnered 128 points for fourth and Northwest Whitfield (1 champ, 4 medalists) was fifth (113.50).
Joining Climmons on the top step of the medal stand for Pope were champions Tommy Nickels (125) and Dexter Bushart (130).
“To win this prestigious tournament means a great deal to us and hopefully this will help us as we prepare for other traditional tournaments later in the year,''said Pope coach Jim Haskins whose team made an impressive showing with 11 medalists in the top three(3 champs, 5 seconds, 3 thirds).
Young OW: Pope's Climmons is only a ninth grader … “He is a product of our youth program and we have a big senior class, but have some real good young ones in our system,'' said Haskins.
Most Points: Pope's 285 team points eclipses the previous high of 252.5 set by Cleveland in the tournaments first year, Dec. 1981.
Turn About is Fair Play: McCallie's Houston Clements lost his round of 16 match to Brady Hart (LaFayette) ... then proceeded to reel off six straight wins in the consolation bracket to place third … In a re-match in the consolation semis, Clements pinned Hart in 4:30 (Hart placed fifth) and then beat No. 4 seed Josh Tolman (Westminster), 5-2, for third.
Second Bad Break: Baylor senior and UTC signee Trey Stavrum broke an ankle in his 145-pound, round of 16 match with Father Ryan's Ali Benito ... Stavrum was leading 8-0 at he time of the injury ... Stavrum also injured ligaments and is out for the remainder of the season ... teammate Zach Watson also is recovering from a broken ankle and could return to the Red Raider lineup in late January.
Faces in the Crowd: Former McCallie tournament winners and Ryan alums Patrick Marchetti (2008) and Raymond Dunning (4-time McCallie winner, 2002 OW) were on hand for the finals … Marchetti is a freshman wrestler at West Point.
No Repeat Champions I: 2008 champion and No. 2 seed Chad Starnes (Alexander) was eliminated in the consolation quarters … 2008 champion and No. 1 seed Alex Manley (Baylor) lost in the finals on disqualification to Dexter Bushart (Pope) … 2008 champ and No. 1 seed Ben Winiarczyk (Pope) lost to Baylor's Cole Hayes in the finals, 8-2.
No Repeat Champions II: There has not been a repeat team champion since Red Bank (1994, 1995)
Overtime: In the 135 final, No. 2 seed Tommy Nichels (Pope) defeated freshman Mark Marchetti (Father Ryan) in overtime, 3-2 …
Championship Finals:
103: No. 1 Haydon Nichols (Ringgold) dec. No. 2 Tucker Coltek (Pope), 11-6
112: No. 1 Blake Thomas (Brentwood) dec. Spencer Rickman (Harrison), 5-4
119: No. 4 Russell Royal (Northwest Whitfield) dec. No. 2 Landon Reed (Heritage), 18-13
125: No. 2 Tommy Nickels (Pope) dec. Mark Marchetti (Father Ryan), 3-2 OT
130: No. 3 Dexter Bushart (Pope) dec. No. 1 Alex Manley (Baylor) by disqualification
135: No. 3 Cole Hayes (Baylor) dec. No. 1 Ben Winiarczyk (Pope), 8-2
140: No. 3 Ryan Maus (Kennesaw) dec. No. 1 Michael Hooker (McCallie), 6-1
145: No. 1 Brooks Climmons (Pope) tech. Fall No. 2 Dalton Lane (Murray County), 21-6
152: No. 1 T.J. Duncan (McCallie) dec. No. 2 Johnathan Rivera (Kennesaw), 3-2
160: No. 1 Chase Martino (McCallie) dec. No. 3 Hudson Power (Pope), 8-2
171: No. 1 Wes Wesley (Father Ryan) dec. No. 2 Brandon Savransky (Pope), 4-2
189: No. 1 Ethan Blackstock (Alexander) major dec. No. 3 Mac Ferguson (Baylor), 20-7
215: No. 1 Cameron Croy (Brentwood) dec. No. 2 Charlie Farr (Pope), 8-2
285 No. 1 Cory Norcross (Father Ryan) dec. No. 3 Brad Noble (Walton), 7-2
Team Standings:
1. Pope (285) 2. Father Ryan (197.5) 3. McCallie (193.5) 4. Baylor(128) 5. Northwest Whitfield (113.50) 6. Brentwood High (111.50) 7. Hillcrest (109) 8. LaFayette (109) 9. Kennesaw (107.50) 10. Franklin (94) 11. Allatoona (90) 12. Murray County (89) 13. Alexander (80.50) 14. Heritage (78) 15. Harrison (70) 16. MBA (64.50) 17. Wesleyan (62) 18. Ringgold (54) 19. Soddy Daisy (48) 20. McEachern (46.50) 21. Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe (40) 22. Walton (37.50) 23. Oakland (36) 24. Westminster (33) 25. Red Bank (25) 26 (tied) Silverdale Academy, Brentwood Academy, East Ridge (23).
Unbeatens: Six wrestlers remained unbeaten after Saturday night … 103 - Hayden Nichols (Ringgold, 28-0), 112 - Blake Thomas (Brentwood High, 20-0), 130 - James Bushart (Pope, 22-0), 140 - Ryan Maus (Kennesaw, 24-0), 189 - Ethan Blackstock (Alexander, 22-0), 215 – Cameron Croy (Brentwood High, 9-0).
Seeds Hold True:
Nine No. 1 seeds claimed titles on Saturday ...
No.1 vs. No. 2 : Four times, the top two seeds met in the finals with the top seed winning three of the four meetings …
No. 1 vs. No. 3 … the one and three seeds met in the finals seven times, with the top seed claiming four of those wins.
Seeding A Year Ago: Using the same point seeding system in 2008 ...
No.1 seeds: Ten of the 14 No. 1 seeds in 2008 reached the finals and four of those won a title … Eight No. 2 seeds reached the finals and five of those won championships.
Kudos To McCallie Tournament Team:
Tournament director Luther Killian and his staff (tournament administration, table workers, hospitality, etc.) ran another excellent tournament ...high praise came from several coaches on the event.
Quick Posting: McCallie tournament software system allowed results to be posted on the school web site on an on-going fashion throughout the tournament.
Complete Stats and Brackets: http://miwt.mccallie.org
Quality Program: Graphic designer (Adam Smith), Trey Tucker (editor) and Jamey Smith (ad sales produced a top-of-the-line tournament program which was given to fans with purchase of a tournament ticket ... The program has national first place awards in 2003-04-05 from Wrestling USA magazine.
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net
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