Steve Logsdon has a message for all those message-board manics posting obituaries for the Soddy-Daisy wrestling team.
“I’d like to see some of those teams Soddy-Daisy wrestled before Christmas come get ’em some now,” the Bradley Central coach said after his team’s 41-21 victory over the host Trojans on Thursday.
Bradley won nine of the 14 matches, but most of the wins were closely fought.
“I’m probably one of the few that isn’t surprised,” Logsdon said. “All you see on the message boards about Soddy-Daisy is ‘What happened to them?’ I had two talks with my team, and I told them if they underestimated Soddy-Daisy they’d get beat. Soddy-Daisy is a team with a lot of fight. It’s a great program with a great tradition.”
The victory was Bradley’s 11th without a loss and extended the Bears’ dual-meet win streak to 53, but it might well be the toughest scrap they’ve had all year.
“I’m not disappointed with my guys, but I thought Soddy-Daisy bullied us in a few matches,” Logsdon said. “They like to get in there and bump and bang, but so do we. There were some places where we needed to bow our necks and we didn’t.”
Soddy-Daisy, needing points late to stay in contention, was going for pins near the meet’s end, and the gambles backfired. Bradley’s Matthew Roderick and Chris Hood came out on top in scrambles to pin at 171 and 189 pounds and push the Bears from a 29-21 advantage to the final score.
In its final dual meet of the season, Soddy-Daisy dropped to 11-11.
“We wanted to use this meet as a measuring stick,” Trojans coach Steve Henry said. “They outhustled us at 103 and we had a shot at 285. I think we’re better than we have been all season. We finally have put the sickness and the injuries behind us, and we’re coming along physically and mentally.
“A lot of it is youthfulness. I don’t question our heart, and as long as we have the heart we should continue to improve.”
The win cemented Bradley’s top seed for the region duals at Ooltewah next Thursday. The Bears, who were moved this year to a district with Soddy-Daisy and Ooltewah, will represent their district as No. 1 and Ooltewah will be No. 2. Their opponents will be Cleveland and Walker Valley, but those two wrestle Tuesday at Cleveland to decide their district’s top two spots.
Bradley will remain in Region 3 with Cleveland, Walker Valley and teams from southeast Knoxville for the traditional tournament.
“The shame about it is that Soddy-Daisy isn’t going to be in the state duals,” Logsdon said. “This is a different team (than pre-Christmas). This is a team with a lot of fight and a lot of confidence.”
Bradley went up 12-0 on a pin by Tucker Bolton (215) and decisions by Patrick Benson (285) and Jacob Climer (103). Benson eked out an 8-6 win over the Trojans’ Alex Seeley.
Soddy-Daisy, though, scrambled back to tie with decisions by Jacob Stevens (112) and Campbell Lewis (125) sandwiching a pin by Andrew Vincent.
“That was a tough match,” Logson said of the 112-pound bout. “They’re both scrappy and you can’t get any closer. We’ll see that kid again.”
Stevens edged Bradley’s Jericho Crutcher 7-6 with a last-second escape.
“Stevens has an unorthodox style, but he has one speed and that’s full speed,” Henry said.
The Soddy-Daisy coach likened Stevens to Trojans 160-pounder Blaike Henry.
“They have a wild and crazy style,” Henry said. “What we have to do is get them to eliminate giving points to get points.”
Other highlights came at 130 and 140. Bradley’s Tyler Schuch posted an 8-6 win over returning state medalist Jake Gamble, and Trojans freshman Turbo Smith moved up a weight class and pulled out a 3-2 win over 2009 state champ Bradley Colbaugh.
Bradley wrestled without Ethan Hames, who is in the process of going to 119 pounds.