The Region 4 wrestling tournament was postponed Friday evening but is scheduled to resume at 1 p.m. today at Red Bank. Weigh-ins are at noon, and the first matches will be a consolation round followed by the championship semifinals.
Medal rounds should begin around 5. Unlike the last two seasons, the top four finishers in each class advance to the state tournament in Franklin.
Two years ago the TSSAA went to 10 wrestling regions instead of eight. Previously, each region had advanced four wrestlers in each of the 14 weight classes, ideal for 32-man brackets. The new plan made for an unbalanced bracket with three automatic qualifiers per weight per region, and each region was accorded at least one wild-card weight that would allow four representatives at the state.
“I always felt like our region (4) and Region 3 were the more dominant regions, and it really affected the state tournament when those regions were cut,” East Ridge coach Brad Jackson said. “There were times when our No. 4 guys had gone and beat champions from other regions.”
The TSSAA returned to the eight-region format this year.
“I’m glad. It gives more kids a chance,” Hixson coach Garrick Hall said. “With a small school it probably helps getting kids to come out and wrestle. In a region with Soddy-Daisy, Ooltewah and Notre Dame, kids might think they didn’t have much chance of finishing in the top three. There’s more incentive for them now.”
Hixson heavyweight Alphonzo Smith was seeded second at heavyweight in the Region 4 tournament but was upset in his first match Thursday by Soddy-Daisy’s Alex Seeley. The pressure for getting to the state was on the consolation semifinalists the past two years. Now it reverts to the consolation finalists.
“Alphonzo has an opportunity to battle back, and hopefully he will,” Hall said. “If we were only advancing three it would cut down on his chances. Now he has a little breathing room when he gets to the consolation finals.”
A year ago Hall had three wrestlers finish fourth, and each was in a weight class where only three advanced to the state. The Wildcats didn’t fare that well in the state, and three additional bodies would have improved their finish.
One of those fourth-place region finishers was Curtis Flanagan, who has a 33-8 record and is in the 145-pound semifinals this year.
“That (135) was a tough weight in our region, and our 103-pounder (Gio Palacio) last year finished fourth, too. He would have won at least a couple of matches at the state,” Hall said.
East Ridge wrestler John McIntosh finished fourth the past two years and got left out of the state. In the semifinals when the region resumes this afternoon, he’ll need to win at least one more match to get into his first state tournament.
“Our four-qualifier weight last year was at heavyweight, so Brandon Morgan got to go although he finished fourth,” Jackson said.
The Region 3 tournament got under way Friday afternoon at Alcoa although snow was falling and sticking. Those teams — including Bradley Central, Cleveland, Walker Valley, Rhea County, McMinn County and McMinn Central — will compete in consolation and championship finals beginning at 3 p.m. today.