With a TSSAA-record 34 team state championships — 20 in traditional tournament competition and 14 in the duals format — and this year’s postseason still ahead, Baylor School’s wrestling program shows no signs of slowing down.
If anything, the Red Raiders are only growing stronger by the day.
And their success isn’t limited to the state of Tennessee or even the South.
Under the guidance of first-year head coach Sean Russell, the Red Raiders maintained their presence as a national power with an 11th-place finish two weeks ago at the Powerade Wrestling Tournament in Pennsylvania. The individual accolades for Russell’s team at the prestigious event near Pittsburgh included senior 170-pounder Titus Norman placing third, which matched the best individual finish ever by a Baylor wrestler in a tournament where the Red Raiders were making their fourth appearance.
Norman has shined in his final high school season on the mat, also finishing first at the Prep Slam in Atlanta, second at the Kansas City Stampede and seventh at the Ironman in Ohio. He is one of four TSSAA wrestlers from the Chattanooga area currently ranked nationally by Flo Wrestling, which has Norman tabbed 14th at his weight class.