FRANKLIN, Tenn. — As expected, reigning champion Cleveland continued its dominance Saturday at the Tennessee Dual Meet Wrestling Championships in Franklin.
And, as expected, the Blue Raiders returned to Cleveland with their seventh Consecutive duals championship with a 38-36 win over Knoxville Halls in a match that was not nearly as close as the final score.
The Raiders picked up their first win of the day with a 38-26 victory over Summit and punched their ticket to the finals championship match by defeating Brentwood 45-30.
The Bears wrestled to a 36-22 win on their way to the semifinals defeating Dobyns-Bennett 36-22, but were were relegated to the consolation round with a 32-24 loss to Knoxville Halls. Bradley bowed out of the tournament with a 44-31 loss to Summit, but still earned a fourth-place finish with a roster of young Bears.
“I felt like our guys fought hard for the most part. I do feel like we got ought fought in the semis. We had an opportunity to win that and gave up some bonus points we shouldn't have,” said a disappointed Bears head coach Bryant Blackmon.
“At the end of the day most people predicted us to not even be here going through Blackman, we found some positives in that with a group of 11 new starters. But, still the level of expectation was a high level of fight and a high level of effort and we fought in spurts instead of wrestling with consistency. I'm having a hard time swallowing that one a little bit.”
The Bears will be back at work next week in preparation for the traditionals tournament beginning Feb. 22.
“The season's not over. We've got to go back to work Monday,” said Blackmon. “You can feel sorry for yourself tonight, but the goal is get as many people as we can back here three weeks from now and be ready to roll.”
On the girls side, Cleveland rolled to the championship match against Clarksville after taking down Northwest 39-21. The Bradley girls exited the tournament after falling Clarksville 57-12.
In the championship, the Cleveland girls matched the Blue Raiders bringing home their second straight state title with a 36-32 win over Clarksville.
Cleveland 38, Knoxville Halls 36
At the close of the tournament, the scoreboard showed a two point win for the Blue Raiders. In reality Cleveland picked up its seventh consecutive state duals wrestling title by shutting out Knox Halls 38-0 in the first eight matches making it mathematically impossible for the Red Devils to keep alive any hope of overtaking the Blue Raiders and snapping their 141 consecutive duals winning streak.
Cleveland picked up pins in four of the eight bouts while scoring two major decisions and two conventional decision wins.
“Every year is a new year, that's the way we look at it. I understand we've got records and we're on streaks and stuff, but we look at every year like it's a fresh, new year. We try to win it every year,” said Cleveland head coach Joey Knox in his usual low key tone. “You can't get caught up in thinking about streaks and stuff like that. It's good to keep up with that stuff and that's fine. The kids like it, I think the most important part is making sure that we don't get over confident. Always be humble. Be humble and take care of business. Let your record and all that do the talking for you.”
Logan Fowler set the final match in motion with a pin at 165 pounds followed by a Dylan Harrold pin at 175. Lucas Szymborski wrestled to a decision at 190 while Gabe Moore continued the winning streak with a major decision at 215. Tyson Russel kept the momentum flowing with a decision at 285.
Jose Cordero stepped on the mat at 106 and scored Cleveland's third pin of the match and Chase Walker put his opponent's shoulders to the mat at 113. Colt Maughon put a cap on the shutout with a major decision at 120.
“Knox Halls, they did a great job moving up from the small school division to the large school division. We didn't really know what to expect,” Knox praised. “Obviously, we started out at a really good weight. We had a two-time state champ starting us off with Logan Fowler who got the ball rolling. The guys followed suit. They wrestled hard and wrestled well the whole tournament.”
The Blue Raiders will take the weekend before preparing Raider Arena for next week's region tournament while getting ready for the state traditionals in two weeks.
“It's not over. We've got to step back, regroup and next week we'll be moving mats and setting up for the region tournament. That's something to look forward to. It's always fun, you win a state championship and come back and have to set up the gym,” said Knox.
Girls
For the second time since Cleveland started putting together a girls wrestling program three years ago, the Lady Raiders have quickly risen to prominence winning their second straight state championship defeating Clarksville in the title match.
The Lady Raiders weren't at their best in the day's opening match according to head coach Josh Bosken, but recovered in a big way to bring home the first-place trophy with a 36-32 win over Clarksville.
“We won. Our first dual today kind of sloppy and we got beat up a little bit and got out wrestled. They responded beautifully,” said Bosken. “They got a little butt chewing after the first dual and we let them know we weren't going to win tonight unless we had better fight and they had fantastic fight. That's what we do.”
Clarksville took the early lead after the first bout, but Cleveland's Adelyn Vanoy quickly turned the tables with a pin at 145. Bella Harris followed suit at 152 with another pin while wrestling powerhouse Piper Fowler was he usual unstoppable self wresting to a quick pin at 165. The Lady Raiders' roll continued as Diamond Young got the pin at 185 in front of the fifth Cleveland pin this time by Shaniayha Wysinger at 235.
Miranda Robles fought to a major decision for the Lady Raiders at 100 pounds and Makya Parker put six on the board for Cleveland with a pin at 107. Senna Grassman put the finishing touch on the Lady Raiders' championship night with a pin at 114.
With the win safely in hand, Cleveland forfeited the final three matches.
“I'm super proud of them,” said Bosken as his Lady Raiders celebrated the civtory.
Boys Championship
Cleveland 38, Knoxville Halls 36
(Match started at 165)
106 — Jose Cordero (C) pinned Tanner Kitts (KH), 3:23; 113 — Chase Walker (C) pinned Brody Moreland (KH), 1:12; 120 — Colt Maughon (C) major dec. Rylan May (KH), 16-4; 126 — David Cook (KH) win by forfeit; 132 — Jordan Sexton (KH) win by forfeit; 138 — Trevor Sexton (KH) win by forfeit 144 — Eli Benton (KH) win by forfeit; 150 — Harlen Hunley (KH) win by forfeit; 157 — Barrett Whaley (KH) win by forfeit; 165 — Logan Fowler (C) pinned Gabe Freeman (KH), 0:52; 175 — Dylan Harrold (C) pinned Gavin Self (KH), 0:49; 190 — Lucas Szymborski (C) Dec.r Benjamin Whaley (KH), 3-1; 215 — Gabe Moore (C) major dec. Matthew Cook (KH), 12-1; 285 — Tyson Russel (C) dec. Caleb Turner (KH), 11-6.
Girls Championship
Cleveland 36, Clarksville 32
(Match started at 138)
100 — Miranda Robles (Cla) major dec. Anna Melton (Cle), 12-2; 107 — Makya Parker (Cle) pinned Angel Robles (Cla), 1:11; 114 — Senna Grassman (Cle) pinned Anete Rodriguez (Cla), 5:06; 120 — Ava Johnson (Cla) win by forfeit; 126 — Ava Ziegler (Cla) win by forfeit; 132 —Malaya Howie (Cla) win by forfeit; 138 — Brooklyn Whiteside (Cla) major dec. Kemoria Turner (Cle); 145 — Adelyn Vanoy (Cle) pinned Ciara Hoye (Cla) Fall 1:52 152 — Bella Harris (Cle) pinned Elizabeth Hailman (Cla), 3:20; 165 — Piper Fowler (Cle) pinned Saniya Whiteside (Cla), 0:50; 185 — Diamond Young (Cle) pinned Emma Husser (Cla), 0:46; 235 — Shaniayha Wysinger (Cla) pinned Madelin Zunun (Cle), 2:27.
(Email Richard Roberts at richardvol55@yahoo.com)