Ooltewah’s Goose Manning is making his third trip to the state wrestling tournament but still looking for his first medal.
He might be looking for his third if the TSSAA had been using a double-elimination format, as it is this year.
“His sophomore year he won four matches and had two losses but didn’t place,” Owls coach Wendell Weathers said. “Last year he won his first match to reach the round of 16 and was up 4-0 with a minute left, but he had this bad habit that left him vulnerable to a head throw. He had controlled the entire match, but in the last minute he got thrown to his back-a five-point move-and lost 5-4.”
Because the wrestler who beat him, Kenwood’s Miguel Robles, lost in the quarterfinals, Manning’s tournament ended right there. It was part of what coaches commonly call the piggyback or follow-your-man system. A wrestler losing in the first two rounds depended on the one who beat him to reach the semifinals. If he did, the wrestlers he beat were in the consolation rounds. If he didn’t, the wrestlers he beat were out of luck and the tournament.
Coaches long have pushed for the best wrestlers to get to the awards ceremonies, and they didn’t feel the follow-your-man system allowed for that.