McCallie did not have a champion Saturday in the McCallie Invitational high school wrestling tournament. Yet collectively, it was the champion.
The Blue Tornado totaled 223 points and defeated the 26 other teams it hosted over the weekend. Union Grove, from McDonough, Ga., edged out Cleveland for second, 196 to 186.5.
Georgia schools occupied the fourth through 12th spots in the team standings with area schools Northwest Whitfield (ninth at 123) and Heritage (11th at 102) among them. Soddy-Daisy was 13th with 99.5 points.
Even though McCallie didn't have a winner in any of the 14 weight classes, it did have finalists in James Westbrooks at 126 pounds and Brock Herring at 132. The Blue Tornado also had third-place finishers in Ethan Dendy (138), Will Patton (160) and Jay Roberts (220). Addison Connell at 120, Brian Phillips at 195 and River Henry at 285 also competed in matches for third.
"The consolation semifinals was pretty much the difference in the tournament," McCallie coach Mike Newman said. "Those guys wanted to be in finals. They were a little disappointed. But they came back and helped the team out. It was definitely a total team effort.
"We didn't even have a champion and won the tournament. But we had two seconds, a bunch of kids qualify for thirds and we placed nine guys. There was some great competition. It was a good weekend."
Cleveland was up 163-161.5 over Union Grove heading into the finals and consolation finals. The Blue Raiders had three in championship finals with Ezra Taylor winning at 145.
The runners-up for the Blue Raiders were Aaron Oliver at 160 and John Gaither at 220. The others getting medals were third-place Colton Landers (126), fifth-place Cody Mathews (113) and fifth-place Jonathan Martin (170).
"Going into the finals we didn't have nearly enough people for us to catch them for first place," Cleveland coach Jake Yost said of the Blue Tornado. "Union Grove must have had a whole bunch in the wrestle-backs. We only had three. To win it, or finish in the top two, you've got to have more than six guys on the podium.
"We're just trying to get better. That's why we're in a tournament like this. We've got to get ready for February."
Not only did Cleveland's Taylor win, but his 18-16 decision over Cody Cochran, from Woodland in Stockbridge, Ga., featured several takedowns and escapes both ways and was chosen best match by the referees.
The only other area wrestler to claim an individual title was Heritage 120-pounder Charles Thurman, who earned a 15-10 decision over Brentwood Academy's Justin Becci.
The other individual champions were also from Georgia schools. Pin winners were Alexander's Roman Boylen (138), Cambridge's Devin Kane (160), Carrollton's Taylor Lujan (182) and Cass's Tyjuan Jett (285). Lujan was voted the tournament's most outstanding wrestler.
Woodland had champions in Jahvar Lewis at 113 and Logan Sims at 126, and Union Grove had champions in Justin Ruffin at 132 and Anthony Spencer at 195. The other winners were Lambert's Peyton Mitchell at 106, Pope's Jake Adcock at 152 and Cambridge's Brock Nielson at 170.
Thomas Sullivan, from Hillcrest, S.C., had the most pins in the least amount of time in the tournament with five in 10:29. He finished third at 285.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him at twitter.com/KelleySmiddie.