The state’s biggest meet of the year is a day away.
Unbeaten Bradley Central drives around the corner to tackle Cleveland on Tuesday night.
Bradley Central-Cleveland is big in Bradley County regardless of the sport. But this is Bradley Central-Cleveland wrestling, and it’s the high-and-mighty Bears hoping to fend of a challenge from the up-and-coming Blue Raiders.
Needless to say, a capacity crowd of about 2,000 spectators is expected and Cleveland stands to clear more than $10,000 from the event. The Blue Raiders athletic department was smart to move the match from the swank but small Allan Jones wrestling center to the school’s primary gym. Then they got smarter by setting aside 100 center-mat seats on either side that they’re hawking for $20 apiece. The $20 ticket includes all the soda one can drink and all the popcorn and hotdogs one can eat.
More important, though, Cleveland stands to make $4,000 from the $20 tickets alone. That leaves approximately 1,800 seats at $5 per person, which would mean an additional take of $9,000 excluding concessions.
On top of that, it could be a close meet, although the unbeaten and defending state champion Bears will be favored. Bradley Central is the state’s top-ranked Division I team and Cleveland is ranked second.
Looking elsewhere, it appears that Soddy-Daisy is close to regaining its form as a state title contender. The Trojans blew through their own tournament although the field included Blackman, Independence and Brentwood from the midstate area and Ooltewah, Notre Dame and Walker Valley among the local contingent.
They’re still juggling a couple of weight classes but the Trojans managed five championships Saturday.
Two big wins came from119-pound Dustin Stewart, who posted a major decision over 2008 state tournament runner-up Josh Overmyer, and 130-pound Taylor Witt, who defeated Ooltewah’s Cody Hood by major decision. The win over Hood, a third-place finisher in last year’s state, earned Witt the tournament’s outstanding wrestler plaque. And while he had his hands full in the finals against Blackman’s Mike Kennedy, it’s hard to see anybody beating Brentwood’s Cameron Croy, the state’s defending champ 189 pounds.
The day, although two hours longer than anticipated, belonged to Soddy-Daisy.
“Nobody’s thinking about Soddy-Daisy, which is fine,” Trojans coach Steve Henry said. “Everybody’s thinking about Bradley and Cleveland.”
In addition to the Bradley-Cleveland match Tuesday, Ooltewah goes to Baylor on Thursday afternoon. Don’t expect much out of the Owls, though, who have been hamstrung all season by injuries. And Baylor is loaded and looking for more Division II dual and traditional state championships.
The Hixson duals are scheduled for Saturday, and Alan Morris’ Walker Valley team, a disappointing sixth-place finisher, at Soddy-Daisy, will be the favorite.
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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