The first portion of this winter’s TSSAA wrestling postseason was a big success for the Chattanooga area, which produced four of the five championship teams (and the runner-up in the other classification) at state duals two weeks ago.
Now it’s on to the state traditional tournaments, where bracketed competition will determine individual weight-class champions across four classifications (Class A, Class AA, Division II and girls) but also title teams as wrestlers earn points for their programs.
It starts with the Division II traditional tourney Friday and Saturday at Nashville’s Montgomery Bell Academy, where 52 wrestlers from Chattanooga-area teams are among the 168 qualifiers, or more than 30% of the field. The traditional tournaments for the public school classifications and girls are next week at the Williamson County AgExpo Park, which hosted state duals.
In D-II, Baylor — fresh off a state duals title win — and Nashville’s Father Ryan each qualified the maximum number of wrestlers for state, which is 14, while reigning team champion McCallie and host MBA have 13 entrants apiece, with Chattanooga Christian School and Christian Brothers of Memphis taking 11 each.
Here’s a list of area wrestlers who are set to compete in Nashville this weekend, with region champions in bold.
Baylor: Triston Mouton (106 pounds), Ryleigh Sturgill (113), Gabe Swann (120), Jacob Bond (126), Ny Cofer (132), Malachi Puckett (138), Chase Hart (144), Oliver Phillips (150), George Emendorfer (157), Titus Norman (165), Maximus Norman (175), Dylan Reel (190), Bradley Ilunga-Bisselele (215), Maddox McClure (285).
Boyd Buchanan: Blake Miller (106), Colin Grone (113), Nolan Hardeman (120), Harbor Brent (132), Brody Watkins (150), Ashton Johnson (157), Xander Hatcher (175), Fisher Kyriakidis (215).
Chattanooga Christian: Kristopher Sanders (113), Joseph Kennedy (120), Cooper Martin (126), Christian Wiechmann (132), Christian Miller (138), Callen Bridgman (157), Jackson Turner (165), Donnis Bootie (175), Jonah Bumgarner (190), Ryder Smith (215), Tyre Brown (285).
McCallie: Camden Ritchie (106), Axel Ritchie (120), Jaxon Lane (126), Brody Connell (132), Cainan Williams (138), Dylan Villers (144), Braden Ryan (150), Cooper Ledbetter (157), Zaydan Morgan (165), Myles Belva (175), Fischer French (190), Cannon Voiles (215), Cooper Gentle (285).
Notre Dame: Luke Deitch (106), Alex Pham (126), Miles Carter (157).
Silverdale Baptist: Braden Wilson (190), Briar Bancroft (285).
St. Andrew’s-Sewanee: Tom Karanja (165).
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.