CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Cleveland High School senior wrestler Tetoe Boyd raised his hands high, making the No. 1 gesture to the crowd that packed Bradley Central’s Jim Smiddy Arena to the rafters Thursday night.
Boyd and the Blue Raiders put together another dominant performance on the mat, with coach Joey Knox’s team earning a 50-18 victory against the Bears, their crosstown and Class AA rivals. Cleveland, which has a No. 1 state ranking, is on a mission to become the first program in TSSAA history to sweep the state duals and traditional tournament team titles five years in a row.
Right now, there seems to be no reason to doubt the Blue Raiders’ ability to accomplish that task – at least from the outside. Knox and his wrestlers are looking inward, though, and deeper.
“Our studs did their job,” Knox said after his team improved to 15-0 in duals this season. “The guys who were supposed to pin, pinned. Some of the others have stuff they need to figure out, though. We are gearing back up to make a run, and we have a lot of stuff to fix still.
“Tonight was still a pretty good showing. We gave up three more points than I thought we would.”