FRANKLIN, Tenn. — The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has had an impact on area wrestling since Andy Nardo coached the Mocs, but the impact has picked up a few notches this year, especially at Central High School.
Central, a former longtime power, is making a rebound with the help of former Mocs Josh Edmondson and John Davis. Edmondson was a two-time Southern Conference champion who followed Davis, a three-time league champ, as UTC’s 184-pounder.
“I can’t say enough about the assistant coaches,” Purple Pounders head coach Steve Price said in discussing his team’s return to the state duals. “They motivate the guys to do things the guys never thought they could do.”
Also helping, although he doesn’t have the UTC credentials, is Marques Dotson, who wrestled at Cleveland for Al Miller and Johnny Lennon.
Trojans own record
In its first state duals meet since 1992, Price’s senior year, the Pounders rolled over Cheatham County 75-6 on Friday. But that is not a TSSAA record for most points or margin of victory.
Soddy-Daisy beat Overton 80-0 in 2001.
The duals record was set in 2005 when McCallie rolled over Brentwood Academy 75-0 in a Division II quarterfinal. The previous best Division I margin of victory before Friday was Bradley Central’s 67-0 win over Hendersonville in a 2007 first-round meet.
Coaches often forfeit remaining matches once a meet is decided, but Price wasn’t intentionally taking advantage of Cheatham County.
“I wanted everybody to get a match to get over the butterflies. We weren’t going to forfeit,” he said.
The result was the best performance by a Central wrestling team in years.
“I have never seen them wrestle like this,” Price said. “It helped that we started at 215 (pounds) because (Antonio Brooks) is one of our strongest guys. He set the pace and we got momentum.”
Brooks, by the way, dropped 50 pounds from the start of the season between watching what he ate and running three miles after practice.
Roundabout
Christian Brothers entered its evening meet with defending champion Baylor with a 24-2 record. The Memphis team had lost to Collins Hill, a powerhouse from Georgia, but the only other team to beat the Purple Wave was Region 4 runner-up Cleveland at the Cleveland Duals in mid-December.
“Everything just fell into place for us,” Cleveland coach Eric Phillips said.
“Most everything that could go wrong did go wrong,” Wave coach Chris Lewis recalled. “We got a kid pinned in overtime, and our heavyweight dislocated his elbow and had to default the match.”
Father Ryan and Christian Brothers entered the duals ranked second and third in the latest coaches poll. Father Ryan wrestled McCallie while the Purple Wave took on the Red Raiders.
Wildcats pull it out
In a match that could easily have been a fight for the Class A/AA title, Hixson held on to beat Greenback 36-33. The Wildcats were able to forfeit the final match.
The clincher came at 171 pounds when Justin Mathieson pinned Josh Ford in 4:52.
“Justin is one of those guys when the chips are down he’s going to come through, and he’s only a sophomore,” Wildcats coach Garrick Hall said. “He’s the guy who wants the ball.”
Mathieson started two football games for Hixson at quarterback, and he was a starting defensive end and the team’s kicker and punter.
Tornado’s Elsea back
McCallie 103-pounder Alex Elsea was back in the lineup Friday, having gained clearance Thursday from physicians. Elsea suffered a concussion in mid-January and had endured some headaches, which slowed his return.
“He had been limited to riding the bike and swimming, but he’s a tough kid and he stays in shape,” Blue Tornado coach Mike Newman said.