Parker, Russo, Hicks, Goforth, Duhm among state's undefeated wrestlers

Soddy-Daisy's Tucker Russo, top, wrestles Northeast's Delrico Bowen in their TSSAA state wrestling championship A-AA 145 lb bout Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015, at the Williamson County Agricultural Expo in Franklin, Tenn.
Soddy-Daisy's Tucker Russo, top, wrestles Northeast's Delrico Bowen in their TSSAA state wrestling championship A-AA 145 lb bout Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015, at the Williamson County Agricultural Expo in Franklin, Tenn.

The competition is the stiffest they will have seen, and the targets pasted on more than a dozen wrestlers loom even larger as Tennessee's high school state championships begin a three-day stand Thursday in Franklin.

Baylor senior Ryan Parker doesn't dwell on being the target or the future competition, although he is 48-0 and also seeking to become the state's 12th wrestler to attain at least four individual championships.

"It's an honor to be undefeated, but it's also like a curse. You always have that on your back," said Parker, the nation's 19th-ranked 195-pounder. "It freaks me out more than it makes me happy."

His approach or that of other wrestling Top Guns never changes.

"It doesn't matter - record or reputation. I go out with the same frame of mind for every match," said Parker, who has signed to play football for Army. "I want to beat the living daylights out of whomever I happen to be wrestling."

That seems to be the mindset also for junior 113-pounder T.J. Hicks of Bradley Central, who'll be risking a 39-0 record as he seeks his second state title.

"I hate losing at anything. I'm really competitive and one of my goals was to go undefeated, but it's nothing special to me and I don't beat my chest," Hicks said.

"He believes he's the biggest, baddest, toughest guy in the gym. He has a bullet-proof mentality," Bradley coach Ben Smith observed. "He's not the prettiest wrestler out there, but he goes out and takes what he wants most of the time. He fears losing so much that he wins, and he's strong between the ears. He has an intangible you can't coach - that level of competitor factor that a lot of kids just don't have."

Soddy-Daisy's Tucker Russo (37-0) has gotten used to being a reputed gunslinger. He's going after his third state title, but there is another twist this year. The senior has yet to give up either a takedown or back points.

Trojans coach Jim Higgins can relate. He went 47-0 as Soddy-Daisy's first undefeated wrestler on his way to a state championship in 1998.

"Succeeding comes from not paying attention to (the streak)," Higgins said. "It's wrestling one match at a time and living up to your own expectations. When I did it, I didn't even know I was doing it."

Higgins compared Russo with current Army coach Kevin Ward, a three-time champ for the Trojans.

"If Tucker isn't the best takedown wrestler our program has ever seen, then he'd be in the top two with Kevin," the coach said. "Brad Laxton, one of our coaches, talks about being a mat general - being in control of the competition, knowing the score, body position and position on the mat. Tucker has great mat awareness."

The same could be said for McCallie junior Judah Duhm and Hixson senior Landon Goforth, who hold respective 36-0 and 28-0 records.

Goforth had three losses a year ago, all to eventual two-time state champ Packy Mullin, and came back with a vengeance this season. He earned the outstanding wrestler award at the Father Ryan Invitational, where he was seeded seventh.

"I don't think he even thinks about it. He just takes every match one at a time and moves on," Hixson coach Garrick Hall said.

Duhm had to sit out last year, recovering from a sophomore season injury, and it's almost like he's making up for lost time.

"It was really hard on him when he couldn't wrestle, but he kept studying the sport, watching video and technique tapes," McCallie coach Mike Newman said. "Nowadays he's the last one out of the (practice) room every day by at least an hour. He doesn't take it for granted."

Few, if any talk about the past, unless there is a loss from a previous year that goads them into the extra practice. Those are the ones the Top Guns most often remember.

Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him on Twitter @wardgossett.

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