Whitwell coach John Weiss gestures as he instructs his wrestler John King Friday night in the opening rounds of the Region A/AA wrestling tournament at Signal Mountain High School.There must be something Garrick Hall and his Hixson wrestlers relish about Signal Mountain.
Twice they've won region titles on the mountain, including an incredible pre-A/AA region victory by a half-point over Soddy-Daisy.
The region is back at Signal and the Wildcats are at it again, taking a 12-point lead after the first day of the A/AA competition. They had 44 points after the quarterfinals and two consolation rounds.
Hixson got outstanding performances from 126-pound Jordan Lewis, who won an overtime match, and 152-pound Bryan Waggoner.
"He really went after the kid to come from behind and got it into overtime before winning it," Hall said of Lewis. "As he came off the mat I told him that's why we run every day.
"Our 152-pounder beat the kid from Notre Dame. We didn't get to wrestle Notre Dame (during the season), so I didn't know how we'd match up with them."
Pre-tournament co-favorite Notre Dame is tied for fourth place with Whitwell, each with 24 points. Red Bank is second with 32, followed at 26 by Boyd-Buchanan, which entered only six wrestlers but moved five into this morning's semifinals, which begin at 10.
Red Bank is without 170-pound Ashton Tubbs, who fell on hard times three weeks ago.
"I didn't expect the 32 (points,) but I like where we are," Lions coach Ulric Winesburgh said. "Having our 170-pounder sick and having to scratch was still on my mind. He had the flu three weeks ago, then got strep throat and then got the flu again. The semifinals, though, are where the big (placement) points start."
Notre Dame has two top-seeded wrestlers with byes into the semis, thus contributing no points Friday.
"Tomorrow's the day it starts separating. Hopefully we'll be separating and moving into the finals," Whitwell coach John Weiss said.
Whitwell has never had five semifinalists, which they achieved Friday.
The host Eagles scored 19, Chattanooga Christian 14, Central 13.5, Sequatchie County 11, East Ridge and Sale Creek 10 apiece and Tyner 6. Brainerd and Howard failed to score.
The major quest this weekend, though, is to qualify as many as possible for the state tournament.
Hixson is the only team with double-digit semifinalists, and the Wildcats managed 10. Notre Dame and Red Bank are next with seven. Signal Mountain has six, Boyd-Buchanan, East Ridge and Whitwell five each, Central and CCS four apiece, Sequatchie County two and Sale Creek one.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him on Twitter @wardgossett.