Bradley Ethan Amnderson 120FRANKLIN, Tenn. – Red Bank might not have been leading the way – the Lions were in the company of traditional wrestling powers – but coach Shane Turner’s team joined Baylor as a Tennessee state duals championship finalist.
Turner’s Lions survived a semifinal battle against East Tennessee power Alcoa to gain a title berth against defending Class A/AA champion Pigeon Forge.
In the larger Class AAA bracket, Bradley Central and Soddy-Daisy, longtime rivals and champions numerous times, had gained the semifinals.
Soddy-Daisy will wrestle Wilson Central, a 40-27 winner over Tennessee High, in one of the AAA semifinals. The other pits pre-tournament favorite Bradley Central against Science Hill, which advanced with a deadlock criteria victory over Beech.
Baylor, which powered past Christian Brothers in its semifinal, will tackle Father Ryan, which entered the Division II field as the odds-on favorite and proved it with a somewhat misleading 37-33 victory over McCallie.
Red Bank hasn’t been to the state duals in 16 years, and the Lions are making up for lost time after wresting the Chattanooga A/AA torch from longtime power Hixson.
“We have a group that’s resilient. They’re fighters,” Turner said following a 37-31 win over Alcoa in which the Lions forfeited their final bouts with the win locked away. “I don’t know that a thing went as we’d planned, but the kids found a way to win.”
He expects a stiff test tonight – all championship finals begin at 8 EST – against Pigeon Forge.
“They’re definitely the team to beat. They’re a good program with some tradition and they’re tough – and they’re defending their championship,” Turner said.
Baylor locked up its match against Christian Brothers but wrestled it out rather than surrender forfeit victories and posted a 39-15 victory.
The story of the tournament, though, is either Bradley moving closer to its first state duals title since 2011 or Soddy-Daisy’s matchup with Wilson Central, the 2015 runner-up to Cleveland and a team that pushed past the Trojans to gain the the 2014 finals.
“We really haven’t specified one match,” Trojans coach Jim Higgins said. “We have emphasized two things – one match at a time and not looking ahead, and being ourselves.”
The Trojans looked like Trojans of years gone by with their aggressive style. They got the first takedown in probably 90 percent of their matches. Two of those were by sophomore Jacob Kilgore (120 pounds) and freshman Tony Wilson (132).
Kilgore had a big pin in Soddy-Daisy’s first match that immediately reversed momentum. He followed with a second-match win by decision. Wilson also had two wins.
“Those guys wrestled beyond themselves, and Emory Holcomb (138) is wrestling better than I’ve ever seen,” Higgins said.
Bradley coach Ben Smith was fairly pleased with most of his team, acknowledging that he’d had to be low-key rather than his usual spirited self.
“These kids – if I’m calm and cool, they wrestle better,” he said. “We had a fantastic week, a phenomenal week of practice, because we went in and took care of business without being overly intense.”
The Bears are on the brink of a comeback that Smith began forging in 2012 when he took over for legendary Steve Logsdon.
“It feels good to be in the semis. We’re a step away from a shot at one of our goals,” he said. “But nobody on this team is forgetting that we got to the semis last year and laid an egg. I’m looking forward to seeing the kids wrestle the Bradley style.”
Gilmer has 10 in semis
At the Georgia Class AAAA traditional sectional tournament at Gilmer, the hosts have advanced 10 wrestlers to the semifinals and have two others still alive in the consolation round.
Heritage has seven in the semis and four in the consos, while Ridgeland has four semifinalists and one in the consolations. Northwest Whitfield has three in the semis and four left in the consolation round and LaFayette has one semifinalist and three left in the consolation bracket.
All semifinalists have earned spots in next week’s state tournament, while those still in the consolation round need to one their first match in today’s final round.
Ringgold has 6 in semis
At the GHSA Class AAA sectional at Calhoun, Ringgold has six wrestlers in the semifinal round and three in the consolations, followed by Sonoraville with four semifinalists and three in the consos.
Calhoun has three in the semis and four alive in the consolation bracket, while Coahulla Creek has two semifinalists and six in the consolations. Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe and Gordon Central each has one semifinalist.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.