Cleveland washed over Notre Dame like rain runoff on a low-lying highway Tuesday night, but the Blue Raiders’ wrestling victory was little more than a tuneup for next week’s battle of Bradley County.
The Irish, three-time defending A/AA state duals champions, were no match for third-ranked Cleveland, which improved to 17-2 with its 48-10 decision.
The Blue Raiders, who are unbeaten in meets with Tennessee teams, host second-ranked Bradley Central next Tuesday.
General admission will cost $5 per person but will be limited because the Cleveland gym holds only about 2,000 people. For those who want a good seat and don’t want to stand in line, Cleveland has initiated a fundraiser and set aside 200 gym-center tickets — 100 on each side — for $20 each. Those seats can be obtained through Mike Hatcher at 303-0760 or coachhatcher@gmail.com.
The meet is likely to be a lot closer than Tuesday’s decision in Chattanooga.
“It was a great effort overall. We lost two close matches we could have won,” Cleveland coach Heath Eslinger said. “I knew we could come down here and win, but I also knew we could come down here and leave disappointed. I’m proud of the effort.”
Cleveland won 11 of the 14 matches including forfeit victories for Jesse Jones at 171 and heavyweight Adam Peters. The Blue Raiders got a pin from 130-pound Ivan Migovich and major decisions from Bailey Jones (140), Owen Garcia (160) and Max Ofori (215).
The meet started at 152 pounds, and Will Moreland’s 6-5 decision of Dylan Heath started the Blue Raiders on a 29-0 run.
“He started us out in great fashion,” Eslinger said. “I have really challenged him this year — cut him no slack — and he has done a great job overcoming his diabetes.”
The Blue Raiders extended a 13-0 lead with back-to-back wins from 189-pound Chip Norwood, who edged Brendan Dusevic 4-3 and Ofori, who won 12-4 over Eric Phipps. Both Norwood and Ofori are unranked, while Dusevic and Phipps have been ranked most of the season.
Those wins and Peters’ forfeit victory pushed the lead to 26-0, and Bryan Alvarado clipped Irish 103-pounder Grayson Mullin 3-0 before Notre Dame got a win. That first Irish victory came on Chase White’s 6-5 decision of Brandon Strickland, but Notre Dame’s only other wins came from unbeaten 125-pound Tee Boone, who squeezed out a 1-0 victory over Blake Oakes, and 135-pound Dillon May’s pin of Dre Moore.
“We lost some close matches, but so did they,” Notre Dame coach John Mullin said. “We preach heart and hustle, and Cleveland had more than we did. These guys have to buy into what we’re teaching. These (six) seniors have been part of groups who did that. It’s obvious we still have some teaching to do.”
Ward Gossett is an assistant sports editor and writer for the Times Free Press. Ward has a long history in Chattanooga journalism. He actually wrote a bylined story for the Chattanooga News-Free Press as a third-grader. He Began working part-time there in 1968 and was hired full time in 1970. Ward now covers high school athletics, primarily football, wrestling and baseball and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling. Over a 40-year career, he has covered ...
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