Hixson hosts A/AA state wrestling qualifier

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

REGION 2-A/AA PAIRINGS• Legend--Boyd-Buchanan (BB), Brainerd (Br), Central (Cen), Chattanooga Christian (CCS), East Ridge (ER), Hixson (Hix), Howard (How)Lookout Valley (LV), Notre Dame (ND), Red Bank (RB), Sale Creek (SC), Sequatchie County (Seq), Signal Mountain (SM), Tyner (Ty), Whitwell (Whit).• 106--Trent Comeaux (RB) bye; Devon Sandefer (How) bye; Stanton Grisham (CCS) bye; Spencer Groves (Hix) bye; Ded Warwick (ND) vs. Gary Wayne Smith (SC), LaDedrick Lane (Br) bye; Andrew Weaver (BB) bye; Robert Owens (ER) bye.• 113--Luke Mullin (ND) vs. Cornelius Woodruff (Br); Jarrod Smith (BB) vs. Blake Reichel (RB); Warren Weaver (SM) vs. Jason Langston (how); Logan McDonald (ER) vs. Cedrick Harris (Hix).• 120--Trent Walliser (LV) vs. Cody Davis (Whit); Gavin Gardner (Seq) vs. Konnor Zeigler (Hix); Jared Nelson (ND) vs. Hunt Drennan (SM); Josh Williams (ER) vs. Cody Baugh (RB).• 126--Brandon Whitley (ER) vs. Kenny Diaz (BB); Isaac Coffman (Cen) vs. David Hodges (ND); Carter Thomas (CCS) vs. CaDarius Harris; Daidrick Dunham (How) vs. Isaac Yates.• 132--Packy Mullin (ND) bye; Steven Davoren (BB) bye; Grayson Layne (Hix) vs. Slade Dickerson (SB); Andrew Fite (CCS) bye; Spencer Griffy (ER) bye; Matt Lewis (Seq) bye; Domonique Rahman (How) bye; Bryson Lemons (Cen) bye.• 138--Gabe McDuffie (RB) vs. justin Hitchcock (ER); Casey Brock (ND) bye; Justin Wheeler (CCS) vs. Michael Minnick (LV); Zane Williams (BB) bye; Jacob Newman(SM) vs. Kyle Gross (SC); Hans Casseus (Cen) vs. Chaysen (Ty); Cameron Thomas (How) vs. Jerrick Daniel (Seq); Jovarrus Stegall (Hix) bye.• 145--Alonso Heyward (Cen) vs. Mark Warren (BB); Alex Hundley (Cen) bye; David Johnson (RB) vs. Cordaro Cummings (Br); Ronny Huff (Hix) bye; Hunter Daugherty (Ty) vs. John Pendergrass (How); Jalyn Allen (ER) bye; Greg Lane (Whit) vs. Jarred Keener (Seq); Noah Bankston (ND) bye.• 152--Landon Goforth (Hix) vs. Dakota Silvers (Seq); Grant Williams (SB) bye; Avery Shrum (Whit) vs. Jacob Anderson (SC); Kain Kell (RB) bye; Xavier Norwood (Cen) vs. Jonathan Griffs (ND); Kobeia Ford (Br) bye; Brandon Spurling (BB) vs. Zach Peters (ER); Neijel Billingsley (How) vs. Chase Daugherty (Ty).• 160--Sam Morgan (SC) bye; Juan Camacho (Ty) vs. Matthew Mapp (ER); Daniel Mikel (Whit) bye; Richard Daniels (Seq) vs. Robert Perry (RB); Kiyler Kayanek (SM) vs. Michael Quatrano (ND); Jayson Smith (BB) bye; Kenzall Robinson (Br) bye; Ryan Turner (Hix) vs. Jaylen Stinson (Cen).• 170--DeAngelo Johnson (ER) vs. James Beckett (Ty); Denzell Robinson (Br) vs. Chris Nicholson (Hix); Seth Petarra (SM) vs. Hayden Foster (Seq); Kell Stott (BB) vs. Devin Crawl (RB).• 182--Cale Shelton (SM) bye; Matt McCulley (SB) bye; Charles VonCanon (Seq) bye; Nakota Culver (ER) vs. Marcus McMillan (Br); Eddielee Joseph (Ty) vs. Michael Nelson (Cen); Jeremiah Parker (How) bye; Calvin Conn (BB) bye; Dylan Bargerstock (Hix) bye.• 195--Truman Martin (Cen) vs. Doug Salvador (ER); Gabe Smith (RB) bye; Kevin Cortes (Ty) vs. Seth Cumby (Whit); McKenzie Martin (Hix) bye.• 220--Micah Pressley (SM) bye; Juliah Capehart (SC) vs. Curtis Noiseaux (Cen); Gulliane Palacio (Hix) bye; Chris Hornsby (ND) bye.• 285--C.J. Baker (ER) bye; Anthony Ottinger (RB) bye; Jared Lesie (Ty) bye; Hunter Whiting (ND) vs. Sedric Jordan (Br); Brody Gregory (Hix) bye; Charles Shamblin (SB) bye; Andrew Calloway (How) bye; Sam Stephenson (Cen) bye.

No more Soddy-Daisy or Ooltewah wrestlers but the competition figures to be just as stiff in the Region 2-A/AA tournament Friday and Saturday at Hixson.

With the TSSAA finally agreeing to split the state public school tournament into two divisions, Soddy-Daisy and Ooltewah moved into a Class AAA regional with Cleveland, Walker Valley, Bradley Central, East Hamilton, McMinn County and Rhea County.

It means the rest of the Chattanooga area's public school teams will battle in the first A/AA state qualifier at Hixson on Friday and Saturday. It's a field that includes Boyd-Buchanan, Brainerd, Central, Chattanooga Christian, East Ridge, Hixson, Howard, Lookout Valley, Notre Dame, Red Bank, Sale Creek, Signal Mountain and Tyner.

"What you have is six or seven of the top A/AA teams in the state in our region," Red Bank coach Shane Turner said.

The tournament will begin at 6 p.m. Friday and include two championship rounds and two consolation rounds. Saturday's wrestling begins at 10 a.m. with championship semifinals and continues through 2:30 championship finals with the top four in each of the 14 weight classes advancing to the A/AA state Feb. 14-15 at the Williamson County Agricultural Expo in Franklin. Price of admission is $7 per person each day with children age 9 and under getting in free.

Host Hixson might have the edge -- 12 of the 14 Wildcats received no worse than a No. 4 seed -- but Red Bank and East Ridge are mentioned in the same breath.

Six of Hixson's wrestlers are expected to reach the finals although only one (Landon Goforth/152) is projected to win a championship.

"Are we in the running? Sure," Hixson coach Garrick Hall said. "Is East Ridge? Yes. Signal Mountain has some horses that can score some points and Red Bank has some horses that can score some points. The team championship may come down to whose kids wind up getting pins in the consolations."

East Ridge (Brandon Whitley/126, DeAngelo Johnson/170, C.J. Baker/285) has three No. 1 seeds and Central (Alonso Heywood/145), Truman Martin/195), Red Bank (Trent Comeaux106), Gabe McDuffie (138), Signal Mountain (Cale Shelton/182, Micah Pressley/220) and Notre Dame (Luke Mullin/113, Packy Mullin/132) two each.

Other top seeds include Lookout Valley's Trent Walliser (120) and Sale Creek's Sam Morgan (160).

"If we execute, it's going to be interesting," first-year East Ridge coach Chris Bird said. "We had a few hiccups during the season, and that's on me, but the guys are wrestling well toward the end of the season. Top to bottom, Hixson is the best team, but I think it's a four- or five-team race between Hixson, East Ridge, Notre Dame, Red Bank and Signal. Signal has four or five kids that are buzzsaws."

Red Bank doesn't have a full team but of the 10 they entered nine were seeded.

"I think we should exceed expectations for this team this year," said Turner, another of the region's first-year head coaches. "We're not where we want to be but we're light years ahead of last year when just two wrestlers had winning records."

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

photo First year wrestling head coach Shane Turner, right, helps Darius Wallace and Cody Baugh, facing away, with their technique at Red Bank High School.
photo Hixson High School head wrestling coach Garrick Hall

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