Just how good is Bradley Central wrestling? The target got bigger Tuesday following the visiting Bears' dismantling of Hixson.
The lopsided loss has to have Hixson coach Garrick Hall wondering if the Wildcats' nine-year run to the Class A/AA state duals tournament is in serious jeopardy of a screeching halt.
Class AAA member Bradley improved to 7-1 in head-turning fashion, capturing 12 of 14 bouts on its way to a 65-12 victory. The win included a pair of somewhat unexpected pins at 132 and 138 pounds.
"Coach Hall and his guys always put together a good product, and that's why we keep coming down to wrestle them and inviting them up to wrestle us," Bradley coach Ben Smith said. "They fight, and whether the score shows it or not, there were a lot of good fights within that big fight."
Garrick HallHall, meanwhile, wasn't disappointed but rather hoping the loss served as an eye-opener to a team that's been hard hit by injury and defections.
"I told the kids before the match I didn't care what the team score was, that I was looking for people to go out and fight and scrap," Hall said. "That's why they wrestle us every year, because we don't lay down. We give them everything we have. We come up short sometimes, and sometimes we don't. Our biggest problem right now is giving three forfeits. It's hard to beat anybody doing that."
The Bears may find an answer to the quality question Saturday when they compete in Cleveland's power-laden one-day duals tournament. It will definitely be a step up in competition from their championship showing at Ooltewah (six champs, two runners-up) and might be on par with the early-season Archer Duals where the Bears were runners-up to the hosts.
"The things that we focused on and needed to improve on coming off the Ooltewah Invitational, like our intensity and our pinning abilities, I saw improvement. That's a bonus," Smith said. "Taking the mat like the Bradley of old - with some confidence - I saw a little bit more of that; overall, a good effort."
Much of Hixson's limited experience is in the lower middle weights, and Bradley got pins there from Hunter Parker (132) and Knox Fuller (138) and a 5-2 decision from Joshua LaCoe (126).
"LaCoe to Parker to Fuller, they had quality opponents - I think at least two of them were state medalists - and we came away with two pins and a decision," Smith said.
Bradley's Donnie Beyer had hoped to avenge an earlier loss to Hixson 152-pounder Landon Goforth, but the Wildcats' 2015 state finalist took just 67 seconds to earn his pin.
"Landon Goforth's a stud, heck on wheels," Smith said. "People in our area know him, but outside of our area he's going to hurt some people. I hate it for Donnie, but the good news is maybe we'll see him again at the Bradley Invitational (Dec. 18-19)."
Goforth lost only three matches all of last season - all to Luke Mullin, the eventual state champion. One loss came in their teams' dual meet, another for the region championship and the third for the state title.
Hixson's only other victory Tuesday came from Brody Gregory, a 2015 state runner-up at 285 pounds who has dropped to 220 this season.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.