FRANKLIN, Tenn. – They wrestled the first two championship rounds in the TSSAA Class A traditional state wrestling tournament here at the Williamson County Agricultural Exposition Center Thursday night and it appears to be a close race for first place among the top five teams.
There are some key rounds scheduled for Friday, including the ever-exciting championship semis at noon local time and the consolation semifinals at 6:30. We’ll separate the men from the boys in those rounds as the true championship contenders will rise to the top.
But right now, Halls and Pigeon Forge are tied for first place with 59 points while Signal Mountain is a close third with 55. Defending champ Greeneville is currently in fourth with 45 while the Soddy Daisy Trojans are still within striking distance as they hold fifth place with 42.5 points.
The second day of the state tournament is always the best as young men are battling for all they’re worth for a chance to wrestle for a title on Saturday. There will be lots of tears, those of joy and happiness for achieving those goals and those of heartbreak for those who came up a little bit short.
The Halls Red Devils won their first-ever state duals title three weeks ago and coach Shannon Sayne would like nothing more than to add a traditional title this weekend.
“There have been a bunch of tough matches and some of these guys are really hard to beat, but we’re right in the thick of it so far,” he said after his 220-pounder lost by technical fall in the quarters.
“The key for us is to put guys in the finals, but we just want everyone to be put in the best position possible. There will be a bunch of big points scored tomorrow,” the 1998 Halls graduate and head coach for the past 17 years nodded.
Pigeon Forge coach Greg Foreman can so relate to what all the other coaches have said about Friday’s matches being so important.
“All in all, I’m really pleased as everything went well and we even had a few who exceeded our expectations," he said after Caleb Wolfe had advance to the semis with a big 1-0 decision.
“If we can have another day tomorrow like we had today, we’ll be in the hunt. But I thought we wrestled better than expected today,” he added with a smile.
Signal Mountain is hoping to rebound after finishing second to Halls in the duals and second to Greeneville in the traditional tournament last year. The Eagles brought nine individuals to the tournament and they had a tough first round as only five of those nine won.
However, those same five won in the second round and coach Houston Clements may have been the happiest guy present after Jacob Winchester advanced at 220 with a 23-second pin.
“I thought we wrestled well as a group, but I hated that Luke Higdon lost by a point in his match at 106. The other guy was just a little bit better,” he began following Winchester’s second pin of the day.
“We have five in the semis, but I can promise you it will be tight all the way through. We didn’t wrestle our best today, but it’s tough to win it on the first day.
“I think we’re in a good position, but we have to win some big matches on Friday. The match at 152 could be the key, but Jackson Davis is a winner and I’m hoping he’ll find a way to win as he’s facing a really tough kid from Forrest.
“I feel like we’ll need some help from other teams, but it’s going to be fun and I’m really excited about it,” Clements added.
The Soddy Daisy Trojans have an outside shot at winning, but being fifth is a far cry from a year ago when they finished 21st. Coach Ulric Winesburgh has done an amazing job of turning a once-proud program back into a championship contender.
“I really didn’t expect Logan Rawlinson to get beat at 152 as that hurt, but we have four in the semis and are guaranteed at least four medals after only having two last year,” he said after Tucker Ross had lost a tough decision at 170.
“We just need to dig deep and find a way. Even the guys that lost today can come back and medal if they only win two more matches. We have some tough matches in the semis, but I just hope we can do what we’re capable of doing.
“If we’ll just wrestle to our potential, I won’t have anything to complain about,” the bearded fellow concluded.
Signal Mountain’s five semifinalists are led by the three Uhorchuk brothers, including JoJo at 113, Ethan at 126 and Caleb at 132. Ethan is looking for his third state title while Caleb is looking for his fourth straight after finishing second as an eighth grader.
Signal’s other two include Davis at 152 and Winchester at 220.
Soddy Daisy’s four in the semis include Zander Duncan at 120, Andrew Lewis at 126, Braylen Cosper at 138 and Elijah Turner at 160.
Red Bank, Whitwell and Polk County all have one still alive in the championship round.
Kobe Smith is Red Bank’s hope at 182 while Bennett McDougall is hoping to win a crown at 170 for Whitwell. Oleksaudr Warner is doing the same at 145 for Polk.
There are at least three other individuals still in the championship hunt who have won at least one state title.
Sycamore’s Logan Heckert is in the hunt at 182 and has two titles to his credit while Fairview’s Kendrick Curtis is looking to win at 195 after taking first last year at 182. And Trousdale County’s Robert Atwood is hoping to win at 220 after taking first at 195 a year ago.
While the championship semis and the consolation semis are the big rounds on Friday, the consolation finals for third and fifth place will start the action on Saturday at 10 local time while the championship finals wrap things up starting at 2.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)