NASHVILLE — Saturday’s championship finals of the TSSAA Division II state traditional tournament began with Baylor on top of the team standings and a Red Raiders wrestler with the last name of Norman winning an individual title.
The finals ended that way, too.
Two weeks after winning the DII-AAA duals title, the Red Raiders added another state championship with the program’s 20th traditional crown.
The opening bout of the finals at Montgomery Bell Academy was for the 175-pound weight class, and Max Norman became the first of four Red Raiders to win an individual crown Saturday as the Brown University signee pinned his opponent in the second round. It was the fourth title for Norman, who was dominant at state as he won all three of his matches by pin and spent a combined 40 seconds on the mat in the first two victories.
“Helping Baylor win its 20th traditional state title and sweeping the team state championships this year caps off my senior year nicely,” said Norman, who will wrestle in college for former Baylor star Jordan Leen, a four-time individual state champion from 2001-04. “We finished this season off as a team today despite it being an individual tournament. Those two banners are going to look nice together on our wall.”
He then complimented the performance by teammates who did not reach the finals but performed well enough after losing in the double-elimination tournament to contribute toward the team goal.
“Our guys fought like hell on the back side,” Norman said of the Red Raiders in the wrestlebacks. “This team’s dedication and commitment is inspiring.”
It had been just three years since Baylor most recently swept its classification’s state titles, but Red Raiders coach Rex Kendle said that felt like “forever” for the state’s all-time winningest wrestling program, which now has 34 team state championships (duals and traditional).
Baylor finished with 241.5 team points in the two-day tournament at MBA, with Nashville’s Father Ryan second with 224.5 and Chattanooga rival McCallie third with 202.
Baylor’s other individual titles Saturday were won by a trio of juniors: Gabe Swann (120), Oliver Phillips (150) and Titus Norman (165). Swann beat McCallie’s Axel Ritchie 7-2 in the only championship final pairing Chattanooga wrestlers, while Phillips’ photo-finish 6-3 decision over Father Ryan’s Ethan Lampert sealed the team title.
The younger Norman brother bookended the finals and put the cherry on top for Baylor as he held on for a hard-fought 1-0 win over Father Ryan’s Chancery Deane. It was voted the tournament’s best match.
“Amazing,” Kendle said of his wrestlers’ effort. “This wasn’t easy. This is our 20th state traditional title in 75 years of Baylor wrestling. Even as good as we have been, they don’t come easy. It took every single kid to bring this title home. When the day started, we were down 20 points. Our wrestlebacks were unbelievable.
“Jacob Bond didn’t get his fourth state title, but instead he came back (after a semifinal loss) and had a tech fall and got us a bunch of points (in the 126-pound bracket). This is an unbelievable group of kids.”
Baylor’s Malachi Puckett (138) and George Emendorfer (157) finished as runners-up, while Triston Mouton (106), Chase Hart (144) and Dylan Reel (190) joined Bond in winning third-place medals.
McCallie, which swept the state titles a year ago and was the duals runner-up to Baylor earlier this month, had three first-place finishers: junior Cooper Gentle (285) and freshmen Jaxon Lane (126) and Dylan Villers (144).
Gentle won by tech fall, 17-2, against MBA’s James Trainer, who had beaten him three times this season, winning twice in overtime and 5-3 at last week’s region finals.
“To win my first state title and to do so against a guy I had lost to several times before is an awesome feeling,” Gentle said. “My coaches really helped me get to this moment as we were smart with our training and intentional. We worked on getting good at what I wanted to be good at, and I was able to get to my offense and throws and win a state title.”
Lane captured his second straight state title in the blink of an eye, needing just 12 seconds to pin his opponent, while Villers was strong early and survived late in an 18-12 win.
Chattanooga Christian School, the DII-A/AA runner-up when area schools won four of five state duals championships earlier this month, produced another program best with its fifth-place finish Saturday behind Baylor, Father Ryan, McCallie and Lakeway Christian (153 points).
The Chargers had eight medalists and racked up 135.5 team points, with junior Ryder Smith’s first-round pin in the 215-pound final helping them leap MBA for good as the host Big Red finished sixth at 133.
“This has been a long time coming,” said Smith, who won his second straight state title. “CCS is building something special. Everyone is bought in, and we are only getting better and better. We have had a lot of fun this season.”
Other local third-place finishers were Boyd Buchanan’s Nolan Hardeman (120) and Harbor Brent (132), McCallie’s Cainan Williams (138) and Cannon Voiles (215), and Chattanooga Christian’s Tyre Brown (285).
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.