It was the last hurrah this weekend for the Region 2-A/AA wrestling tournament, at least in its current makeup, and Hixson provided a rousing sendoff to departing teams.
The Wildcats returned to the region championship throne that they’d been forced to abdicate last year by Red Bank.
They scored 191 points, easily outdistancing runner-up Notre Dame, which will be moving to the Division II ranks next year along with Boyd-Buchanan and Chattanooga Christian.
Notre Dame scored 144 points, Red Bank 107, Signal Mountain 93.5, CCS 85, Boyd-Buchanan 84, Central and Whitwell 71 each, East Ridge 48, Sequatchie County 25, Sale Creek 10 and Tyner nine.
The Wildcats also qualified 11 wrestlers for this week’s state tournament in Franklin, including champions Tucker Gill (113), Jacob Newman (120), Jonas Shackleford (132), Cederick Harris (138) and Truman Ross (220).