Staff File Photo by Laura-Chase McGehee/Chattanooga Times Free Press
T.J. Duncan of McCallie is favored to win a state wresting title for a record fifth time.With the exception of 103, 152 and 285 pounds, each of the Division I weight classes has at least 10 wrestlers who are making at least their second trip to the state tournament.
The 103-pound weight class has the least with three (and just three seniors) and there are 9 at 152 and at 285.
The 152-pound weight class includes two-time medalist Bradley Colbaugh of Bradley Central, Soddy-Daisy sophomore Turbo Smith and Franklin’s Zach Bennett. Colbaugh already has two third-place medals (140, 2010; 130, 2009). Smith was the 140-pound runner-up last year as a freshman and Bennett was fifth at 145 last year.
At 285, there is just one returning medalist, that being Bradley Central junior Patrick Benson, who was 5th last year. Benson is one of the state’s biggest weight-watchers. He dropped from a football playing weight of 310. The field also has a climber is Soddy-Daisy’s Alex Seeley, who can take the rope to the gym ceiling. And for those who haven’t seen him, East Ridge freshman C.J. Baker is the biggest kid in the school at 6-foot-5 and 275 pounds. And there isn’t a whole lot of fat.
The weight with the most experience is at 130 pounds with 18. It is a field that includes junior and two-time champion Campbell Lewis of Soddy-Daisy. There are seven former medalists in the group including three-time medalist Nick Maxwell. The former Knox Karns wrestler, now at Hardin Valley, was fourth at 112 last year, second at 103 in 2009 and fifth at 103 in 2008. Also in that bracket are Franklin’s Austin Woods, who was third at 130 last year, and Bradley’s Jericho Crutcher, the 112-pound runner-up in 2010.