TSSAA CLASS AAA WRESTLING STATE TRADITIONAL TOURNEY align=
Today-Saturday; at Williamson County Agricultural Expo, FranklinAdmission: $10 per person per day; parking $5Today’s Schedule1 p.m. — Doors open2 p.m. — Class AAA weigh-ins3 p.m. — AAA round of 32, round of 16; two consolation rounds
There are likely a dozen prep wrestling teams that have moved beyond simply having aspirations for a Tennessee state championship.
At the head of the list – for the first time since 2010 – is Bradley Central, which has won 10 traditional tournament team titles, including a five-year run from 2001 to 2005.
Following the Region 4-AAA tournament last weekend, Bears coach Ben Smith expressed guarded optimism about his team’s chances at this year’s Class AAA state tournament, which starts late this afternoon at the Williamson County Agricultural Expo in Franklin.
“We focused this week on staying healthy, getting our weight down, fine-tuning and keeping the mood light,” Smith said Saturday. “It’s one of those things if we get (to Franklin) healthy and on weight, then we could do good things. Today was proof of that.”
The Bears will roll into state with 13 qualifiers, including 10 finalists from the region tournament, where they stacked up 233.5 points.
Region 8-AAA member Arlington, though, enters state with one more qualifier and region place-finishes comparable to those of the Bears.
The Tigers have the same number of region champions (seven) and runners-up (three) but had two fourth-place finishers, compared to one for Bradley. Each team had two third-place medalists.
“I hope we can come out this weekend and wrestle well,” Arlington coach Jonathan Simpson said. “I hope we can keep the momentum going.”
Simpson, though, was of like mind with numerous other AAA coaches across the state.
“I think Bradley is the team (to beat). They won their region in convincing fashion and appear to be wrestling very well going into the tournament,” he said. “I think everyone will be chasing after them and hoping we can catch them if they stumble.”
Blackman coach Ronnie Bray agreed, simply responding, “I would say so,” when asked if Bradley was the favorite.
Several coaches across the state were asked to predict a top 10, and the 10 teams most often mentioned (in alphabetical order) were Arlington, Beech, Bradley, Cleveland, Gibbs, Heritage, Stewarts Creek, Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee High and Wilson Central.
Tennessee High, which captured Region 1 with a statewide-best 270 points, was especially impressive in the state duals two weeks ago. After losing to Soddy-Daisy in the quarterfinals, the Vikings rebounded to beat Centennial, Arlington, Science Hill and Wilson Central to finish third.
“If we have the showing we expect, we could fit in the top five,” Vikings coach Tim Marshall said. “Some are picking as many as six of our wrestlers to medal. Bradley Central is the odds-on favorite to win the team race, but it will be a very tight team race from second through seventh.”
Beech, which has finished in the top 10 the last few seasons, qualified a school-record 11 wrestlers.
“I’m hoping for a strong finish,” Buccaneers coach Jeff Roberts said. “We have some kids who can make some noise. I agree that Bradley is the favorite. They have 13 very strong qualifiers, several of which medaled or won it last season. There is no secret to their success. They just try to outwork everyone else.”
Next-tier teams hopeful of a top-10 finish include Blackman, Independence, Halls, Siegel and Walker Valley.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him on Twitter @wardgossett.