With the 2019-2020 state wrestling championships looming just under one month away, the Chattanooga-area appears poised to do well once again in most weight classes across all three classifications. The 2018-2019 championships saw the area return from Franklin with 15 individual champions across 10 different weight classes.
This year’s championships are set for February 20-22, once again at the Williamson County Agricultural Expo Center in Franklin.
The most recent state rankings from TN-Pin.com have multiple area wrestlers listed in almost every weight class across both divisions.
Division I
Class A/AA: Looking at individual rankings, it would appear that Signal Mountain could be poised to improve on its second place finish from last season. The Eagles placed second to champion Pigeon Forge by 17.5 points.
Currently Signal Mountain has six wrestlers ranked in the top five in their respective weight classes. Five of those hold number one rankings. Brothers Caleb and Daniel Uhorchuk are tops in their respective weights, 106 and 120.
Teammate kale Albritton holds down number one at 132, Preston Worley is atop the 160 weight class, while Mason Hilke is number one at 285. Kevin Muschel is ranked third at 145.
Hixson 10 grapplers ranked, with 220-pounder Parrish Pacetti highest at number one. Others ranked are Connor Leffew (number two at 113), Trevor Lewis and Caleb Miller (numbers two and five at 120), Jeremiah Shackleford (number four at 132), Charles Burton (number three at 138), Kaleb Myers (number four at 152), and Kobie Smith (number four at 160).
Other ranked Wildcats include Logan Woodall (number five at 195) and Devotis McCurdy, last year’s silver medalist in the 285-pound class, currently ranked number three.
Whitwell three ranked wrestlers, including, Brice Barton, ranked number four at 126; Jacob Roberts, ranked fourth at 170; and James Headrick, currently fourth at 285.
Red Bank’s Caden Cline is ranked second at 170. Cline was the silver medalist in 2019 at 160-pounds.
Class AAA: Cleveland is currently ranked number one in AAA and it shows in the number of individual wrestlers it has ranked in the top six across the state.
Holding down number on spots for the Blue Raiders are Jackson Bradford at 120, Trae McDaniel at 126, and Ashton Davis at 220.
Additionally, Bentley Davis is number two at 106, while Zach Brezna is fourth at 170. A pair of Raiders hold down number four spots, Cael Laxton at 152 and Nate Schilling at 160. Arlo Laxton is ranked sixth in the 113 class.
Number two Bradley Central has a number one in Ethan Wilson at 106, while also placing five other Bears in the latest rankings. Luke Belcher is number five at 120, Taron Patterson number five at 126, Gavin Hughes is number three at 132, Tyrone McDonald is fifth at 170 and Austin McClure is sixth at 285.
East Hamilton’s TeNario Thomas is ranked fifth at 113 and Soddy Daisy’s Hayden Maynor is third at 182. Walker Valley has a pair of wrestlers ranked, as well. Kallum Lowe is sixth in the state at 195 and Jadon Langford is second at 285.
Division II: Between last year’s champion Baylor and runner-up McCallie, the two schools placed 24 wrestlers in the current rankings.
At 106, Baylor’s nick Corday is number one and McCallie’s Ellis Haney is number three. In the 113 classification, McCallie’s Jack Branan is first, while the Red Raiders’ Kade Hartline is ranked fourth.
The Blue Tornado’s Taylor Emory is ranked number one at 126 and Baylor’s Micah Tisdale is number three. Looking at the 132-pound class, Baylor’s Noah Hurst is ranked at the top, while Ian Herring of McCallie is number four.
Baylor has another number one in the 138 class with Garrison Dendy. McCallie’s Lance Ward is number four. The numbers four and five at 145 are Baylor’s Chase Radpour and McCallie’s Rand Holtzclaw.
At 152, the two schools are again at number four and five. The Red raiders’ Anthony Manella is four and McCallie’s Frank Zahrobsky is five.
McCallie has the number one ranked individual at the next two weight classes, Alex Whitworth at 160 and Gavin Cagle at 170. Baylor’s Omaury Alvarez and Connor Garriques are the number two in each of those classifications.
At 182, Baylor’s Connor Duffy holds down the top spot and McCallie’s Chase Looper is number three. The Red Raiders’ David Harper is ranked number one at 195.
Baylor’s Barrett Chambers is ranked number two at 220, while teammate Sam Christenson is number four at 285. McCallie’s James Howard holds down the top spot in the heavyweight classification.
(Contact Assistant Sports Editor Dennis Norwood at dennisnorwood56@gmail.com; follow him on Twitter at @DennisENorwood)