Father Ryan swept into Chattanooga on Thursday and swept past Division II wrestling rivals Baylor and McCallie.
The Purple Irish virtually wrapped up the East/Middle Region’s top seed for the state duals with a 42-27 win over McCallie and a 37-34 defeat of Baylor.
Baylor, which hosted the double dual, and McCallie posted wins over Montgomery Bell Academy, which traveled from Nashville with Father Ryan. McCallie won 38-33 and Baylor topped MBA 46-24.
They were the first two region meets of the season for all four teams. Brentwood Academy has yet to begin league competition.
For the first time since the Division II state duals inception in 1998, regular-season results will determine seeds for the eight-team Division II-Large tournament, which will rejoin the Division I-AAA and I-A/AA state duals Feb. 5-6 at the Williamson County Agricultural Center in Franklin.
Father Ryan probably grabbed the favorite’s role for the Division II title after the wins over Baylor and McCallie.
“Father Ryan is strong, stronger than I thought they’d be considering they graduated so many from last year’s team,” McCallie coach Mike Newman said. “They’re getting like Baylor the way they reload.”
Baylor and McCallie will wrestle on Jan. 29 at Baylor, and MBA will wrestle Father Ryan on Jan. 30. MBA and Father Ryan also will wrestle Brentwood Academy later this month.
“I think you’d have to say Father Ryan and (West leader) Christian Brothers will be the favorites,” Baylor coach Jim Morgan said of the state duals. “They’re wrestling strong and they’re good throughout their lineups. McCallie is a dark horse.”
Newman didn’t contradict his Baylor counterpart.
“When you add Christian Brothers in there, you could have four state dual tournaments and get four different winners. Everything is fairly well balanced,” he said. “We had some forfeits today and I feel like we’ll be better. When everybody gets healthy, I feel we’ll have a chance.”
Father Ryan got its second win of the year over Baylor, having bested the Red Raiders 36-27 in mid-December at the Cleveland Duals.
Ryan forged a 31-16 lead against the Red Raiders and clinched that win when 130-pound Dylan Wright pinned Wright Smith in 1:19. Baylor made it interesting, closing out the meet with consecutive pins from Cole Hayes (135), Stuart Doster (140) and Matthew Cate (145). The victory by Cate, son of former Baylor wrestler Forrest Cate, was one of the highlight wins for the Red Raiders.
“Cate’s match was a turnaround from the McCallie Invitational,” Morgan said.
Cate had lost to Ryan’s Chris Agnew at McCallie and also suffered a cut to his chin that took eight stitches to close.
Baylor hopes to have injured wrestlers Zach Watson (119) and Andy Shuford back in the lineup soon, but the Red Raiders have lost Trey Stavrum (145) for the year with fractures in both his ankle and shin.
The Purple Irish, who finished second in both the Cleveland Duals and the McCallie Invitational, picked up 18 of their points against McCallie via forfeits. The Blue Tornado wrestlers out of the lineup — all injured as the team won the Dixie Duals at Vestavia, Ala. — were Hunt Jennings (130), Houston Clements (145) and Chase Martino (160). Jennings has a broken hand, Clements has a knee injury and Martino has a shoulder problem.
A big win for the Tornado came from 112-pound Alex Ward, who got a 3-1 decision of Cole Moseley.
“Alex has made a lot of improvement. He’s won tournaments and is having a good season,” Newman said. “Moseley was the state 103-pound champion last year, and we lost to him 5-1 in the McCallie consolation finals,” Newman said. “This win will give him a big confidence boost.”
FATHER RYAN 42, McCALLIE 27
(Meet started at 145 pounds)
103–Mike Akers (FR) pinned Alex Elsea, 4:56; 112–Alex Ward (M) dec. Cole Moseley, 3-1; 119–Tim Westbrooks (M) dec. Anthony Simpson, 8-1; 125–Mark Marchetti (FR) won by forfeit; 130–Dylan Wright (FR) won by forfeit; 135–Turner Martin (M) pinned Brian Murphy, 3:25; 140–Michael Hooker (M) pinned John Chandler, 2:27; 145–Chris Agnew (FR) won by forfeit; 152–T.J. Duncan (M) pinned Ali Benito, 2:17; 160–Jared Ward (M) dec. T.J. Holmes, 5-3; 171–Wes Wesley (FR) pinned Nate Condrey, 2:41; 189–Will Mix (FR) pinned Austin Prevost, 3:23; 215–Ricky Fisher (FR) dec. T.J. Satterfield, 7-2; 285–Cory Norcross (FR) dec. Tye Youngblood, 8-6.
BAYLOR 46, MONTGOMERY BELL 24
(Meet started at 145 pounds)
103–Cayce Ortale (MBA) dec. Nick Standefer, 2-0; 112–John Eady (B) won by forfeit; 119–Matthew Davidson (MBA) won by forfeit; 125–Alex Manley (B) pinned Charles Herron, 3:34; 130–Daniel Bellet (MBA) pinned Wright Smith, 3:25; 135–Cole Hayes (B) major dec. Brian Murphy, 14-2; 140–Stuart Doster (B) dec. Mark Simpson 5-3; 145–John Donlin (MBA) dec. Kennerly Werner, 11-7; 152–Matthew Cate (B) pinned Eric Owings, 3:17; 160–Matt Bodine (B) pinned Chris McClure, 2:32; 171–Ian Sharbel (MBA) pinned Jake Standefer, 3:08; 189–Mac Ferguson (B) dec. Thomas Harless, 7-1; 215–John Mackey (B) pinned Kevin Murphy, 1:28; 285–Barret Gouger (B) pinned Carter Hach, 0:21.
McCALLIE 38, MBA 33
(Meet started at 152 pounds)
103–Alex Elsea (M) pinned Cayce Ortale, 3:17; 112–Alex Ward (M) won by forfeit; 119–Tim Westbrooks (M) dec. Matthew Davidson, 4-0; 125–Daniel Bellet (MBA) won by forfeit; 130–Charles Herron (MBA) won by forfeit; 135–John Bellet (MBA) pinned Turner Martin, 1:42; 140–Michael Hooker (M) major dec. Mark Simpson, 16-3; 145–Matthew Bellet (MBA) won by forfeit; 152–T.J Duncan (M) pinned Will Farrar, 1:54; 160–Jared Ward (M) dec. Chris McClure, 9-5; 171–Ian Sharbel (MBA) pinned Nate Condrey, 1:42; 189–Thomas Harless (MBA) dec. Austin Prevost, 7-3; 215–T.J. Satterfield (M) major dec. Kevin Murphy, 12-3; 285–Tye Youngblood (M) pinned Carter Hach, 0:28.
Records: McCallie 14-2, 1-1 DII East/Middle; MBA 4-4, 0-2.
FATHER RYAN 37, BAYLOR 34
(Meet started at 152 pounds)
103–Mike Akers (FR) pinned Nick Standefer, 1:50; 112–Cole Moseley (FR) pinned John Eady, 2:26; 119–Anthony Simpson (FR) won by forfeit; 125–Alex Manley (B) dec. Mark Marchetti, 7-3; 130–Dylan Wright (FR) pinned Wright Smith, 1:19; 135–Cole Hayes (B) pinned Brian Murphy, 0:33; 140–Stuart Doster (B) pinned John Chandler, 1:43; 145–Matthew Cate (B) pinned Chris Agnew, 5:20; 152–Spencer Craig (B) pinned Ali Benito, 1:23; 160–T.J. Holmes (FR) major dec. Matt Bodine 6-4; 171–Wes Wesley (FR) pinned Jake Standefer 1:23; 189–Mac Ferguson (B) dec. Ricky Fisher, 2-0; 215–John Mackey (B) major dec. Will Mix, 14-4; 285–Cory Norcross (FR) dec. Barret Gouger, 4-3.
Records: Father Ryan 16-3, 2-0 DII East/Middle; Baylor 12-6, 1-1.