Bradley Central wrestling coach Ben Smith.FRANKLIN, Tenn. – That the state championship was going to stay in Cleveland was all but a foregone conclusion. The question was whether that 2017 Class AAA wrestling duals championship would wind up on Raider Drive, home of Cleveland’s Blue Raiders, or South Lee Highway, the longtime home of Bradley Central’s Bears.
Bradley, after a pair of one-point losses to its crosstowon rival in the regular season, turned the tables Saturday night in the state finals, beating the Blue Raiders 35-24.
Further down the floor in the cavernous Williamson County Agricultural Expo, McCallie had questions of its own to answer. The Blue Tornado hadn’t reached the championship match since 2006, when they topped rival Baylor. They couldn’t bring home a 2017 title, though, falling 41-27 to Father Ryan in the Division II duals final.
“You have to give Father Ryan credit. They wrestled well,” McCallie coach Mike Newman said. “We had a great team effort (to get to the finals). Obviously the goal is winning, but we found things to work on and we have a lot we can build on.”
The deciding points for Bradley (23-2) were scored by Ed Elkins, who bumped up from 182 pounds and edged Jason Strickland 3-1 with a takedown in the final 11 seconds of the 195-pound final.