Stuart Doster, top, of Baylor, wrestled and beat Lopez Aaron,of Cleveland High School, 4 to 3 in the finals of the 140-pound weight class at the McCallie wrestling invitational Saturday afternoon.Coach Mike Newman wasn't at McCallie in 1992 - the year someone told him was the last time the Blue Tornado won their own McCallie Invitational high school wrestling tournament. That is, until this weekend.
McCallie left no doubt which team was best in this year's tournament. The Blue Tornado's 212.5 points outdistanced Baylor, runner-up in the 23-team field, by 43 points.
On the contrary, the Red Raiders' margin over fifth-place Father Ryan (164) was 5.5 points. Pope, from Marietta, Ga., and third-year program Heritage (Ga.) finished third and fourth with 168.5 and 166 points, respectively.
Despite the lengthy drought between championships, McCallie has continued to try to put together a collection of strong teams in its tournament.
"That's what makes it great," Newman said of the victory. "It was a pretty good team effort. I think everybody won a match."
Saturday's championship finals began with Adam Connell, freshman son of McCallie co-coach Gordon Connell, winning a major decision at 103 pounds. Later the Blue Tornado's Adam Hooker scored a pin at 145. T.J. Duncan (160) and Chase Martino (171) added decisions with Duncan's being a major.
Baylor went 3-1 in championship bouts. No other team had more than three wrestlers make it that far.
"In a tournament like this, with so many good teams, you've got to have some guys make it to the finals," Newman said. "You need four or five to get there to help the team. We had four champions."
The Red Raiders' first winner was Zach Watson, who won a 12-0 major decision in the 125-pound final and was voted the tournament's most outstanding wrestler. Alex Manley (135) and Stuart Doster (140) won 4-3 decisions in their title matches, each taking the lead with a reversal with about one minute remaining before handing over a late escape.
The only other team with multiple individual champions was Father Ryan. The Irish's 130-pounder Cole Moseley and 189-pounder T.J. Holmes won decisions.
The 119-pound final between Heritage's Madison Martin and Murray County's Joshua Webb was chosen the tournament's best match. Thanks to Martin's preparation and determination, it certainly had the most exciting finish.
Martin, a transfer from Red Bank, was in the middle of the mat in the down positon, trailing by two points with eight seconds left. Made aware by the official that Webb was going to allow Martin an escape, the junior contemplated times he'd spent in practice readying himself for this type of predicament.
"I knew I had to get up quick and try to get on him as quick as possible," Martin said. "I kind of went into a little bit of desperation mode. I was looking for anything and everything."
Once upright, Martin swiftly executed the move he tried, and the impending takedown enabled him to win 9-8.
The tournament's other individual title winners were Pope's Cameron Munsey (112), Kennesaw's Jonathan Rivera (152), Allatoona's Bryson Brindle (215) and Hillcrest's Preston Pickens (285).
McCallie's Tye Youngblood, who finished in fifth place at 285, had the most pins in the tournament in the least amount of time with five totaling 5:12.