A cupcake started a relentless rally Tuesday and Soddy-Daisy rebounded from 10-3 and 16-9 deficits to post 52-19 victory over seventh-ranked Bradley Central.
Josh "Cupcake" Deckelman was pegged with the nickname by former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga coach Chris Bono, but he's proving he's no pushover. It was the sophomore's 54-second pin that started a three-pin string and the Trojans' rally.
"We were at the NCAA tournament back in 2006 and eating at a restaurant with the Mocs and the waitress kept calling me cupcake, I guess because I was by far the youngest person at the table," Deckelman recalled. "Coach Bono and then Jake Yost picked it up and it stuck."
Yost is a former Moc who wrestled and coached at Soddy-Daisy who now works as an assistant at Cleveland. He would have been proud of the cupcake last night.
"There's a huge difference from when he got here and now," said Campbell Lewis, the second-ranked Trojans' three-time state champion and sometimes Deckelman workout partner. "Our practices are up-tempo and once he got used to those his desire and confidence went through the roof. He's always been a good wrestler but I think it was training that held him back. He's many times tougher than he used to be."
Deckelman started his career at Baylor and moved back to Tullahoma before finding settling at Soddy-Daisy.
"He's found a home with us although this is his first year here, and he continues to improve. He wrestled extremely well this past weekend and he continues to grow," Soddy-Daisy coach Steve Henry said of Deckelman's first match after Science Hill's Fandetti or Brawl Friday and Saturday.
Lewis and Gage Richmond followed Deckelman's effort with first-period pins, propelling Soddy-Daisy to a 27-16 lead that quickly snowballed despite a Bradley victory from 160-pound Jacob Bailey.
The Trojans, who secured the district championship, started the meet with the very pinnacle of their upper-weight strengths and got off to a good start when Alex Seeley scored his third win this season, including a weekend injury default, over Patrick Benson.
By the time Soddy-Daisy got back to 195-pound Brett Ervin and 220-pound Billy Swanson the meet was decided but each added exclamation point pins. Those wins and Seeley's prompted the discussion of where the Trojans are strongest -- up top or in the middle.
"That's a very good question, one which I will point out to the guys tomorrow," Henry said.
What it boils down to is Henry having stoppers and outcome-changers in the middle and at the top.
Soddy-Daisy won six of the 14 bouts by pin, another by forfeit and got another bonus point on a major decision from Turbo Smith, who wrestled up a weight at 152. The other pin came from Jacob Stevens (120).
"We fought hard and the effort was a lot better. I am a lot more pleased than last Thursday [a loss to Cleveland]," Bradley coach Ben Smith said. "We didn't back down. We're in condition and we're willing to fight but you're not going to win giving up six pins."
Bradley's winners along with Bailey were Toribo Navarro (106), Dakota Ream (113) and Jericho Crutcher (126).
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 ...
