Wilson Central outlasts Bradley Central Bears for title

photo Ooltewah's Jordan Russell (top) wrestles Wilson Central's John Davidson during a match at the Ooltewah Wrestling Invitational at Ooltewah High School on Saturday afternoon.

Ooltewah InvitationalTeam scores: 1. Wilson Central (WC) 218.5, 2. Bradley Central (BC) 202.5, 3. Walker Valley (WV) 171, 4. Auburn, Ala. (AA) 100, 4. Dickson County (DC) 100, 6. Cookeville (Cook) 95, 7. Ooltewah (Ool) 61, 8. Greeneville (G) 46.5, 9. Rhea County (RC) 38.5, 10. East Hamilton (EH) 35, 11. Howard (How) 34, 11. Tullahoma (Tull) 34, 13. Signal Mountain (SM) 33, 14 Red Bank (RB) 30, 15. Chattanooga Christian (CCS) 15, 16. Sale Creek (SC) 7.MEDAL ROUNDS106 poundsFor 1st: Toribio Navarro (BC) pinned Adelaido Panteleon (DC), 3:22.For 3rd: Briar Potter (EH) major dec. Ronardo Bussey (How), 9-1.113 poundsFor 1st: Dyer Rose (BC) dec. Christian Cerrito (WC), 10-4.For 3rd: Atlanta Fagundes (G) pinned Brandon Still (AA), 1:00.120 poundsFor 1st: Nick Insalco (WC) pinned John Boatman (G), 3:30.For 3rd: Dakota Bromley (BC) pinned Aarn Harris (AA), 2:00.126 poundsFor 1st: Dakota Ream (BC) pinned Jonathan Haynes (WC), 1:00.For 3rd: Jessen Benson (Cook) won by default over Arrie Bramlett (WV).132 poundsFor 1st: Dylan Sparks (AA) dec. Tyrus Hamrick (WV), 3-2.For 3rd: Glen Shoemake (Cook) dec. Taylor Kazy (BC), 4-2.138 poundsFor 1st: Caleb Langford (WV) dec. Austin Richard (WC), 8-6.For 3rd: Beau Badon (DC) dec. Logan Cappelman (AA), 3-2.145 poundsFor 1st: Cody Lane (AA) major dec. Byrson Hutchinson (WC), 18-5.For 3rd: Lawrence Cotton (WV) pinned Kolby Frazier, 1:00.152 poundsFor 1st: Jordan Russell (Ool) pinned John Davidson (WC), 3:00.For 3rd: Jacob Staton (BC) won by default over Ryan Hager (WV).160 poundsFor 1st: Robbie Clark (BC) dec. Luke Humphreys (DC), 4-1.For 3rd: no match.170 poundsFor 1st: Chase Gregory (WV) pinned Jacob Myers (WC), 1:00.For 3rd: Eric Goins (BC) dec. Devon Crawl (RB), 9-6.182 poundsFor 1st: Fletcher Valentine (DC) dec. Jordan Zink (Ool), 5:41.For 3rd: Perry Baltz (WC) pinned Harrison Hall (SM), 3:00.195 poundsFor 1st: Billy Raulston (WV) pinned Darren Houston (Cook), 3:40.For 3rd: Shawn Vincent (DC) pinned Alex Forgey (BC), 5:28.220 poundsFor 1st: John Kramer (WC) pinned Zack Miller (WV), 3:00.For 3rd: Zach McFarland (BC) dec. Christian Jackson (RB), 7-6.285 poundsFor 1st: Daniel Cochran (RC) pinned Antonio Woodall (How), 1:30.For 3rd: Derek Hammons (Cook) dec. Jerry Johnson (BC), 2:19.

Some people were happy as they left the Ooltewah Invitational wrestling tournament late Saturday afternoon, but it's unlikely that coaches were leading any celebratory parades.

A Wilson Central coach was bemoaning the fact that his tournament-winning Wildcats didn't win as convincingly as he'd like. Bradley Central's Ben Smith had made a list of keys to losses before his team ever got out of the gym, and Walker Valley's Alan Morris expressed displeasure to the point of disgust.

Wilson Central won just two of eight finals matches and barely held off defending champion Bradley, which rallied to blow past Walker Valley for second place.

It was the first Ooltewah tournament championship for the Wildcats, who scored 218.5 points to 202.5 for Bradley and 171 for the third-place Mustangs. Auburn, Ala., and Dickson County were the only other teams to reach three digits, each scoring an even 100.

Smith quoted former Bears coaches Turner Jackson and Steve Logsdon.

"The bottom line is that you have to win the close ones and you have to get bonus points," he said. "We lost two in the semifinals by a point, and we lost a couple of close matches in the consolation semis. That would have been enough to make the difference."

Bradley entered 13 wrestlers and got 11 in the medals, including champions Tiribio Navarro (106 pounds), Dyer Rose (113), Dakota Ream (126) and Robbie Clark (160).

"The middle- and upper-weight guys did better, but we still have some guys wrestling at the varsity level with a junior varsity mindset," Smith said. "Wilson Central outhustled us and they put us in a position we're not used to -- fighting for second place."

Walker Valley had eight medalists, including champions Caleb Langford (138), Chase Gregory (170) and Billy Raulston (195), but the Mustangs were outdistanced in the semifinals.

"No, I'm not happy. We finished third last year and our goal is to always improve," Morris said. "We could have done a lot better. We came here to do better and some guys did what we thought they could. Others, though, came up way short."

Other champions were Ooltewah's Jordan Russell (152), Rhea County's Daniel Cochran (285), Wilson Central's Nick Insalco (120) and John Kramer, Auburn's Dylan Sparks (132) and Cody Lane (145) and Dickson County's Fletcher Valentine (182).

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