FRANKLIN, Tenn. — Wheaties may still reign as the breakfast of champions but not necessarily as the meal of choice in wrestling.
Most wrestlers in a tournament will subsist on bagels and peanut butter, peanut butter and jelly or banana sandwiches on wheat bread, protein bars and water or PowerAde.
“Sometimes if it’s a morning weigh-in, we’ll let them have a little cream cheese on the bagel,” Cleveland High School coach Eric Phillips said Thursday at the TSSAA state tournament. “But nothing with sugar.”
Most important is to keep their kids away from the concession stands.
“I don’t want them eating nachos and cheese and that kind of stuff,” said Hixson coach Garrick Hall, whose team is partial to blueberry bagels with peanut butter and honey.
“Anything that starts as a batter is usually pretty good,” Soddy-Daisy coach Steve Henry added. “It was a liquid and it easily converts to water.”
The latest Soddy-Daisy favorite is chicken noodle soup.
“It’s hot. It’s a fluid. It has sodium and little bits of meat, which is almost like a reward,” Henry said.
So what’s the big thing about peanut butter?
“It’s a great transporter [to break down] for carbs,” Henry said.
Pasta often is the evening meal at tournament time.
“When it gets close to time for the session to end, we’ll call Pizza Hut and order pasta with marinara sauce and bread sticks or fettuccini alfredo with chicken,” Phillips said.
And the bananas?
“They have a lot of potassium, which can keep the guys from [muscle] cramping,” said Hall, who has taken it a step further. He often uses a powder [added to water] called Rehydrate. manufactured by AdvoCare.
“It’s supposed to be better than an energy drink — has a lot of vitamins and minerals,” Hall said. “They also make Spark, which is like one of those five-hour energy drinks.”
Division II cranks up
The Division II portion of the tournament begins this morning at 11 with the round of 16 and quarterfinals followed by first- and second-round consolations.
Division I will have quarterfinals at 11, followed by the third round of consolations. Both divisions will start championship semifinals at 7 p.m.
Championship finals in each begin at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Walton upset winner
Five region champions were upset in the round of 32 Friday afternoon, and one of the upset winners was Tyner 145-pounder Antonio Walton. The junior beat Nate Crowley of Pigeon Forge 5-2.
‘Mohawk’ Smith
Bradley Central coach Ben Smith won a wager with his team and the losers had to get Mohawk haircuts. The coach joined in.
“We were cleaning up after the region and the guys were shooting a dodge ball at the basket,” Smith said. “They asked me if they made one would I get a Mohawk. I agreed. They all got a shot [from half-court], as did many of the parents.”
They all missed. Smith didn’t.
“They gave me four tries and I made it on the second try,” he said. “Then I reminded them I’d taught elementary school P.E. for several years. And then I figured what the heck? It is a show of team unity.”
No-go for five
Five wrestlers were missing when the Division I tournament got under way Thursday afternoon.
Beech 120-pounder Ryan White did not weigh in, and the beneficiary was Notre Dame freshman Packy Mullin. Bearden 285-pounder Michael Avery also failed to weigh in, advancing the class’s defending champion, Bradley Central’s Patrick Benson. Elizabethton’s Eric Buck failed to weigh in at 160 pounds.
Two 138-pounders were eliminated because of skin afflictions, thus giving forfeit wins to Pigeon Forge’s Chris Rasberry and Bartlett’s Kristopher Strawn.