CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- The Cleveland/Bradley County wrestling coalition was well represented at the Region 3-AA Saturday at Cleveland High School as Cleveland, Bradley Central and Walker Valley finished one, two, three when the final points were tallied.
The Blue Raiders picked up their seventh consecutive region title with a total of 299.5 points while the Bears walked away with second with 207.5. The Mustangs finished third in the region after posting 141.5 points.
The Blue Raiders now boast 10 region champions after sending 13 wrestlers to the championship finals.
Jose Corderro (106 pounds), Chase Walker (113), Colt Maughon (120), Zac Bosken (126), Cy Fowler (157), Logan Fowler (165), Dylan Harrold (175), Lucas Szymborski (190), Gabe Moore (215) and Tyson Russell (285) all earned gold medals for the Blue Raiders.
Kaden Rice finished second at 132 while Blake Robinson wrestled to a second-place finish for Cleveland at 138 and William Schutt took second at 150. Roman York took home the third-place medal at 144.
“It's not bad. A good day here at Raider Arena,” said Head Raider Joey Knox. “Next week will be the sectionals at Warren County. We're sending 14 guys to the substate so that's a good day. We had some scares there, but they found a way and pulled it out. It's a good job to have us in the region and the state.”
The Bradley saw eight Bears battle for region titles with Kyle Hogg picking up the first-place medal at 150 pounds and and Brandon Harris winning by forfeit at 132.
Miguel Bennett (126), Trent Crisp (157), Kaid Falls (165), Caden Williams (215) and Aadyn Hubbard took home silver for the Bears.
In the consolations, Landon Goins (120) and Jake Cox took third-place finishes. Houston Davenport (138), Jacob Gentry (144) and Isaac Akins (190) ended the tournament in fourth place.
“Overall I thought we performed pretty well. We put eight in the finals and three in for third and fourth and we finished second as a team. Obviously, you want all 14 going, but 11 was kind of what I thought and what we needed,” Bears head coach Bryant Blackmopn stated. “I feel like we're in a good spot moving into next week. At this point of the season it's about advancing, punch your ticket, get to the state tournament then let it fly from there.”
The Mustangs' Asher Easley made the most of his appearance in the championships as the lone Walker Valley representative with a win at 144.
Walker Valley picked up five third-place finishes with Parker McCartney (106), Christian Wilson (138), Chris Dempsey (157), Troy Dyskiewicz (215) and Jeremiah Townsend (285) earning hardware. Isaac DeCampo (120), Elijah Offrinfga (126), Bryden Swisher (150), Michael Ivanov (165) and Eli Robinson (175) all headed to the sectionals with fourth-place finishes.
“We had some tough spots in the road, but we also had some good ones. Now it's all about advancing,” said Mustangs head wrangley Al Morris. “We are sending eight to the sectionals. We kind of looked at that as a possibility. But, the way it happened it was a lot different that what we thought. Now we'll get ready for the sectionals, fine tuning and getting ready for next weekend.”
All three teams will return to the practice mat Monday in preparation for next week's sectionals at Warren County.
(Email Richard Roberts at richardvol55@yahoo.com)