FRANKLIN, Tenn. — Baylor and McCallie didn’t have to wait long at all for a wrestling rematch, and this one brought much higher stakes than the recent regular-season showdown between the Chattanooga rivals.
Baylor won again, and it marked a return to the top of TSSAA Division II-AAA for the Red Raiders in state duals competition.
In the sixth all-time meeting in a state duals final between the programs, Baylor beat the Blue Tornado 41-24 on Saturday inside the Williamson County AgExpo Park. After narrowly surviving the Blue Tornado by one point a week ago, the Red Raiders won nine matches and sealed the program’s 14th state duals championship when senior Jacob Bond brought things to a close with a 7-1 decision at 132 pounds.
“This is a big deal to us all, especially our seniors. We hadn’t won the state duals the past two years,” said Bond, who hopes to win a fourth individual title later this month at the TSSAA state traditional tournament. “That is one of the sweetest feelings to close a dual out. Our team wrestled well the whole way, and I just had to go out there and not go for anything big and wrestle calmly.
“Now we are state champions again. There is nothing better than that.”
There were five state duals champions crowned in all Saturday in Franklin, with four of those from the Chattanooga area as Baylor was joined by Class A’s Soddy Daisy and Cleveland, which won both the Class AA title and the girls’ title. In Division II-A/AA, Chattanooga Christian was the runner-up to Lakeway Christian.
Baylor holds a 4-2 advantage over McCallie in state duals finals, with the Red Raiders also winning in 2019 (36-32), 2005 (31-25) and 2002 (36-32). Saturday’s 17-point margin of victory was their largest over the Blue Tornado in a state duals final.
Junior Oliver Phillips set the tone at 150 pounds for the Red Raiders (9-0) as he scored all of his points over the second and third period for a 22-6 technical fall that began a stretch of five straight wins for Baylor.
“We have trained a long time to return to this moment,” said Phillips, who had a first-round pin in Baylor’s 43-22 semifinal win over Christian Brothers. “We took no days off and achieved our dreams.”
George Emendorfer (157) won 8-0, which was followed by first-round pins from Norman brothers Titus (165) and Max (175). Dylan Reel (195) hammered his way to a 17-2 technical fall to make it 26-5.
McCallie had opened the title dual an 18-3 tech fall from Dylan Villers (144) and picked up bonus points from Cooper Gentle’s pin in 56 seconds at 285, a 20-11 major decision for Knox Ritchie (106) and a 22-second pin from Jaxon Lane (126).
After Ritchie cut McCallie’s deficit to 26-18, the Red Raiders responded with a 9-2 victory by Triston Mouton (113) before Gabe Swan (120) prevailed in an ultimate tiebreaker victory over Axel Ritchie in a match that was 1-1. Lane’s pin gave McCallie a glimmer of hope, but Bond sealed the title before teammate Malachi Puckett accepted a forfeit in the final match.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our guys and girl,” Baylor coach Rex Kendle said, referencing Ryleigh Sturgill (106). “This was such a group effort and historic. This is probably the first time a girl has ever been in the lineup for a state dual boys’ championship team.”
Soddy Daisy (19-0) won its second straight Class 1A duals title as Nathan Moungsiharat’s 19-3 tech fall at 126 provided a 39-19 lead for the Trojans to secure a win with three matches to go against Signal Mountain. The Trojans, who were missing three starters in the final, picked up bonus points in all seven of their wins before forfeiting the final three matches in a 39-37 victory.
“These boys are taking this trophy to the hospital to share with their teammate Colten Meister,” Soddy Daisy coach Ulric Winesburgh said. “Our guys didn’t know until right before the finals that Colten suffered a medical emergency in the parking lot. From there on, these guys all were driven to win this state title for him.”
Soddy Daisy got pins from Luke Myhan (113), Braylan Cosper (157) and Ayden Jenkins (120), while Pete Laxton (215) and Jeremiah Wysong (175) won by tech fall.
Cleveland continued its wrestling supremacy as the Blue Raiders won their eighth straight TSSAA state duals title with the Lady Blue Raiders becoming the first girls’ program in TSSAA history to win three straight state duals titles.
The Blue Raiders (15-0) defeated Summit 49-18 in the Class AA final. After losing the first three matches, Cleveland rattled off 10 straight wins, eight by pin or tech. Air Force signee Cy Fowler (175) began the run with a pin in 39 seconds, while Kellen Sanders (138) closed it with a 16-0 tech fall.
The Lady Blue Raiders (11-0) defeated Clarksville 47-15 for the championship. Three-time individual state champion Piper Fowler pinned in 36 seconds at 185, while Adelyn Vanoy (165), Audreyona Perkins (126) and Caroline Hilton (132) also won by pin for Cleveland.
In DII A/AA, Chattanooga Christian lost 51-30 to Lakeway Christian. The runner-up Chargers (22-5) picked up four of five of their wins by pin, with those coming from Callen Bridgman (157), Donnis Boochie (175), Tyre Brown (215) and Joseph Kennedy (120). Lakeway forfeited one match.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.