Friday, January 1, 1904
SODDY-DAISY 33, CHRISTIAN BROTHERS 22(Meet started at 160 pounds)106--Elijah Oliver (CB) pinned Austin Houser, 2:37; 113--Jacob Stevens (SD) pinned John David Santi, 1:44; 120--Nick Gray (CB) dec. Brad Peckinpaugh, 7-2; 126--Tate Robinson (CB) major dec. Josh Deckelman, 13-0; 132--Gage Richmond (SD) pinned Matt Johnson, 4:50; 138--Campbell Lewis (SD) dec. Luke Parish, 7-2; 145--Turbo Smith (SD) dec. Kaleb Baker, 2-1; 152--Brandon Hataway (CB) dec. Garrett Alexander, 8-2; 160--Michael Isom (CB) dec. Jonah Smith, 7-1; 170--Blaike Henry (SD) dec. Barrett Walthall, 9-5; 182--Corbin McOlgan (CB) dec. Luke Reno, 7-6; 195--Brett Ervin (SD) pinned Tucker Shaw, 9-6; 220--Billy Swanson (SD) pinned Phillip Nichols, 0:50; 285--Sam Thomas (CB) dec. Alex Seeley, 7-6.Records: Soddy-Daisy 6-0; Christian Brothers 3-1.
Soddy-Daisy put an anchor in its No. 1 state wrestling ranking Friday with a 33-22 victory over second-ranked and visiting Christian Brothers.
However, the Trojans will have a series of challenges today that will determine if they'll remain in the top spot when the new coaches' poll is released Monday afternoon.
They and the second-ranked Purple Wave will be in action today in the Cleveland Duals, which begin at 9 a.m. The championship match is scheduled for 6 p.m. and the contending field is loaded with power teams including Cleveland, Father Ryan, Gordon Lee, Thompson (Ala.), McCallie, Baylor and Marietta Pope.
Soddy-Daisy coach Steve Henry said his team would have to show more today than it did Friday night to have a shot at the Cleveland tournament team title.
"I'm glad we won, but I'm not happy. We didn't use our heads," he said.
The team that looked so polished in a lopsided win over Walker Valley earlier in the week had trouble escaping or reversing.
"We have worked them so hard. Maybe we need to get our legs under us," Henry said. "We have to know where to work."
The Trojans won by outpinning the Wave 4-1, which prompted one of the few compliments the coach had for his team.
"We have to get the pins and keep from getting pinned, and I guess we did a pretty good job there," he said.
The key six-pointer came from 132-pound Gage Richmond.
CBHS had just regained the lead, 22-21 on a major decision from All-American Tate Robinson, and Richmond answered, breaking from a 4-4 tie to get an early third-period stick.
It was the first of three straight Soddy-Daisy wins that put the Trojans' sixth straight victory on ice. Campbell Lewis posted a 7-2 decision at 138, and in the most anticipated match of the night, 145-pound pound Turbo Smith decisioned former All-American Kaleb Baker 2-1. The two went scoreless in the first two periods but Baker grabbed a lead early in the third with an escape before Smith rebounded with a takedown at the five-minute mark and rode Baker out for the win.
"That was huge, and it was a good match to watch," Henry said. "Sometimes with wrestlers of their caliber the matches are boring because the guys don't want to open up. This one was anything but boring."
Christian Brothers went up 6-3 on a one-point decision from Corbin McOlgan at 182, but Soddy-Daisy answered with back-to-back pins from Brett Ervin (195) and Billy Swanson (220) to take a 15-6 lead. CBHS got another one-point win when Sam Thomas decisioned heavyweight Alex Seeley 7-6 and then provided the second team tie of the night on a pin from dominating 106-pounder Elijah Oliver.
Jacob Stevens answered, though, for the Trojans with a pin in 1:44. The Wave rallied again, taking a 22-21 lead on a decision from Nick Gray and the major decision for Robinson, setting the stage for Richmond's heroics, which vaulted the Trojans back into the lead at 27-22.
"The pin at 132 was pivotal," Christian Brothers coach Chris Lewis said. "We knew it would be a battle, but they won the swing matches. We had hopes to win or at least split those, and we gave up too many pins."