Staff Photo by Laura-Chase McGehee/Chattanooga Times Free Press
Referee Jake Sewell, right, officiates a match between Billy Swanson, top, of Soddy Daisy and Jay Rudwall of Ooltewah in the semifinals of the 219 pound weight class at the Soddy-Daisy Showdown Invitational.For more than three years Aaron Hutson has sweated and strained in the Bradley Central wrestling room with no reward beyond knowing he has helped make some state champions and helped keep the Bears on top in Tennessee.
Hutson figures to be a little more visible now, though, after working his way into the lineup at 119 pounds and securing his first tournament championship Saturday at Soddy-Daisy.
"I told him the cat's out of the bag now. People are going to know who you are," Bradley coach Steve Logsdon said he told the previously little-known senior. "It's nice to sneak up on people, but I don't think he's going to be sneaking up on anybody now."
The Bears used a strong championship semifinals performance to slip past Soddy-Daisy and won the championship with 195 points. The host Trojans were second with 163. Science Hill, which was headed back to a half-foot of snow in Johnson City, according to coach Steve Price, was third with 111 points, and Ooltewah took fourth with 103, 10.5 ahead of fifth-place Independence.
Individual champions were Bradley's Hutson, Ethan Hames (125), Tyler Schuch (135), Bradley Colbaugh (152), Tucker Bolton (215) and Patrick Benson (285); Soddy-Daisy's Jacob Stevens (112) and Campbell Lewis (130), Bolton's Chris Dalrymple (103); Ooltewah's Stuart Doss (140) and Goose Manning (171); Independence's Brennan Cox (145) and McCoy Newberg (160) and Pigeon Forge's Cody Davis.
"Jacob and Campbell wrestled well, but I thought we wrestled flat in some spots," Soddy-Daisy coach Steve Henry said. "You'd like to win the championship, but for us at this time of the year it was having quality teams and quality competition."
By the time the tournament was finished, though, Henry was ready to call it a night. The event was delayed for an hour when a transformer blew, and there were some problems with a new tournament-scoring program, but those weren't the worst pieces of news.
The Trojans lost two sets of Tanita weight scales valued at a combined $2,300. If the scales don't turn up, it's likely that an estimated tournament profit will have to go toward new scales. Henry, who offered a $100 no-questions-asked finder's fee, said he has hopes of recovering the scales after reviewing security videos.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765.
Legend and team scores
1. Bradley Central (BC) 195, 2. Soddy-Daisy (SD) 163), 3. Science Hill (SH) 111, 4. Ooltewah (Ool) 103, 5. Independence (Ind) 92.5, 6. Cookeville (Cook), 72, 7. Pigeon Forge (PF) 64.5, 8. Gibbs (G) 51.5, 9. Tullahoma (Tull) 46, 10. Trussville Hewitt (TH) 45, 11. Notre Dame (ND) 42.5, 12. Walker Valley (WV) 42, 13. Bolton (Bol) 34, 14. Cordova (Cor) 30.5.
Championship Finals
103--Chris Dalrymple (Bol) dec. Dekota Bromley (BC), 7-2; 112--Jacob Stevens (SD) dec. Jacob Climer (BC), 11-6; 119--Aaron Hutson (BC) pinned Cole Schurlknight (SH), 4:50; 125--Ethan Hames (BC) pinned Carson Schurlknight, 1:21; 130--Campbell Lewis (SD) dec. Grayson Mullin (ND), 4-2; 135--Tyler Schuck (BC) dec. Javier Tapia (SH), 5-2; 140--Stuart Doss (OL) dec. Austin Taylor (TH), 6-3; 145--Brennan Cox (Ind) pinned John Birdwell (Cook), 2:45; 152--Bradley Colbaugh (BC) dec. Edward Holland (PF), 7-4; 160--McCoy Newberg (Ind) dec. Jacob Bailey (BC), 8-5;
171--Goose Manning (Ool) dec. Blaike Henry (SD), 6-4; 189--Cody Davis (PF) pinned Luke Frederick (Tull), 5:00; 215--Tucker Bolton (BC) major dec. Billy Swanson (SD), 15-3; 285--Patrick Benson (BC) pinned Jesse Chapman (Cook), 3:43.
Consolation Finals
103--Jonah Smith (SD) won by forfeit; 112--Alex Kaferle (Tull) won by forfeit; 119--Jack Boone (ND) dec. Caleb Langford (WV), 5-3; 125--5-match rule; no contest; 130--5-match rule; no contest; 135--5-match rule; no contest; 140--Dalton Satterfield (Cook) won by forfeit; 145--Turbo Smith (SD) dec. Matt Sealor (Ool), 11-6; 152--5-match rule; no contest; 160--Jacob Shelton (Tull) dec. Austin Fullbright (SH), 4-2; 171--5-match rule; no contest; 189--Brett Ervin (SD) dec. Lamech Jones (Ool), 3-2; 215--5-match rule; no contest; 285--Alex Seeley (SD) pinned Jameson Hicks (TH), 3:35.
(Wrestlers are allowed to compete in no more than five matches in a day.)