It is such a familiar story in the state wrestling community. When there's a Division II trophy to be had, Baylor and Father Ryan probably are lurking nearby.
Over the years, the two programs have combined for 27 state championships, and they rank first and third in individual champions produced -- Baylor with 96 and the Irish with 83.
The two have been both contenders and rivals since Baylor's Red Raiders joined the TSSAA more than 40 years ago, and they're expected to be in leading roles when the Division II wrestling tournament gets under way on Friday in Franklin.
Each program qualified 14 from its respective region, but Baylor has enjoyed the upper hand this year.
The Red Raiders beat the Irish in the Cleveland Duals and at McCallie in a double-dual that also included Montgomery Bell Academy and the host Blue Tornado. Baylor's most important win over Ryan to date, though, came 11 days ago for the state duals championship, and it was by two points.
They'll begin the traditional state tournament with quarterfinals at 11 a.m. EST Friday as DII and Class A/AA wrestlers join AAA wrestlers, who start Thursday afternoon. Championship semifinals in all three divisions begin at 4 p.m. EST at the Williamson County Agricultural Expo.
Saturday's wrestling begins at 11 a.m. with consolation semifinals and medal rounds. Championship finals in all divisions begin at 6 p.m.
Father Ryan is the DII traditional defending champion, and now it may have the upper hand on the Red Raiders.
"We have 14 (qualifiers) but so does Ryan, and McCallie has everyone that showed up for the region," Baylor coach Ben Nelson said.
However, Ryan came out of the West region with nine champions and a runner-up among its 14 while Baylor finished with six champions and five runners-up.
"It should be an interesting weekend," Nelson said. "We have to wrestle all of our matches as hard as w can like everyone else. Everyone is at the same starting point: Go and prove yourself."
The TSSAA realigned the regions and revamped the qualifiers so each would send four from every weight class to the state. Last year when Father Ryan and Brentwood Academy still were counted with the East teams, their region qualified six at each weight and the West qualified three with one wrestle-in per weight class.
"Father Ryan was able to perform better in its region. That's all I'm going to say," Nelson replied when asked if there was a disparity between the two. "It's year to year. You can't say at the beginning of the year who's going to be tough and who isn't. You go with what you think is an equitable division, and I think that's what DII coaches did."
He wasn't going to ignore McCallie, either, and made that clear when asked if the DII battle was a two-team race.
"McCallie has shown in the past couple of yours that you can't overlook them in an individual tournament. Mike (Newman, the Blue Tornado coach) has done a great job of getting his guys to wrestle in the individual state," Nelson said. "It would be silly to overlook McCallie."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.