Baylor in Division II duals final

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

FRANKLIN, Tenn. - The Cleveland and Soddy-Daisy wrestling teams are in the Class AAA state duals semifinals while Baylor gained the Division II championship match.

The rest of the Chattanooga-area group, McCallie in Division II and Hixson and Central in Class A/AA, were relegated to their respective losers brackets. Hixson lost a heartbreaker to Pigeon Forge in an A/AA semifinal.

In a repeat of a match from a week ago, Baylor held on for its 11th straight win over the Blue Tornado, which beat Christian Brothers in the toughest first-round Division II matchup. The Red Raiders left no room for doubt this time and took a 39-24 win. They'll face Father Ryan at 8 EST tonight for the DII championship.

In AAA, Cleveland will wrestle Ravenwood while Soddy-Daisy will be in a repeat of a 2013 semifinal against Wilson Central. Those meets are to begin at 2 p.m. EST.

The Blue Raiders rolled in both of their matches but forfeited out after securing their win over Knoxville Halls.

"I thought we looked good," Cleveland coach Jake Yost said. "I was particularly proud of our 120-pounder (Taylor Bishop). He lost a close one in the first match, got down 5-0 in the second match but came back to win in overtime."

Rebounding from a mediocre first-round performance, Soddy-Daisy also forfeited out in a victory over Brentwood.

"We looked different. They might be having fun now. They cause you to scratch your head at times," Trojans coach Jim Higgins said. "That second match I saw a lot more fight, excitement and enthusiasm."

Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.