There will be four prep wrestling teams, two mats and two state tournament berths on the line.
Chances are 50-50 for everybody when Bradley Central, Cleveland, Soddy-Daisy and Walker Valley gather today at Soddy-Daisy - the high school gym rather than the arena - for the Region 4-AAA duals.
They enter with a clean slate and a whole lot of chips on the table.
"You win your first match, you go," Jake Yost, coach of defending state champion Cleveland, said Wednesday. "We put ourselves in the best possible position by taking care of business last night. That being said, you have to continue to take care of business."
While Cleveland was beating Walker Valley to win a district title on Tuesday night, Bradley Central was doing the same at Soddy-Daisy.
Bradley is the top-ranked public school in the latest coaches' poll. The Bears have been there most of the season and will carry the role of favorite tonight.
"You have to call Bradley the favorite because they've beaten everybody else," Yost said, "but I'm not going to sit here and act like we can't beat them. We're capable. But we have to get past Soddy-Daisy before we worry about that."
The first-round matches, which begin at 6, are Bradley vs. Walker Valley and Soddy-Daisy vs. Cleveland. The winners are expected to wrestle at about 8. Admission is $6 per person.
"Based on the results to date, yeah, we would be (the favorite) because we beat everybody that's going to be in the gym, but it's wrestling. Anything can happy anytime," said Bradley coach Ben Smith, whose team has put together a 20-2 record this season. "Two of the three teams that can legitimately win a state title will be in the gym."
Smith said the five best teams in Division I-AAA are his Bears, Soddy-Daisy, Wilson Central, Beech and Cleveland.
"We're not coming in with the mindsets of being favorites," Smith said. "We beat Walker Valley and we'll have punched our ticket to the state, and then we'll wrestle Soddy-Daisy or Cleveland."
Walker Valley has lost to each of the other competitors, and Mustangs coach Alan Morris recalled the first meeting with Bradley.
"We got hammered. I don't know why, but we were so flat," he said. "They're definitely deserving of (being ranked) No. 1 in the state. We're looking to win the battles where we can and see what happens."
There was precious little time for Walker Valley and Soddy-Daisy to regroup after Tuesday duals that had been repeatedly delayed because of inclement weather.
"We're not going to reinvent the wheel," said Soddy-Daisy coach Jim Higgins, who has yet to get the lineup he wants on the mat because of weight descent issues and injuries.
The first task for his Trojans will be focusing on the first challenge.
"We respect Cleveland regardless of what we won," Higgins said, recalling Soddy-Daisy's victory earlier this year over the Blue Raiders. "Our kids understand the process and Cleveland - their staff, their program - they put out a good product."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him on Twitter @wardgossett.