Trying to stop the state championship roll of Cleveland High School’s wrestling program sure seems like a nearly impossible task for its competition.
The Blue Raiders won their eighth consecutive TSSAA state duals championship earlier this month, and they’ll shoot for their eighth straight team title at the traditional tournament this weekend in Franklin, where competition begins Friday.
Joey Knox’s program has posted five consecutive undefeated seasons while winning more than 100 dual meets in a row. In his eight seasons as head coach of the Blue Raiders, he has a record of 198-3 in duals while never failing to bring home either team state title. Cleveland’s only duals defeats during his tenure are to Pennsylvania’s Wyoming Seminary — which had a No. 1 national ranking at the time — and one-point losses to Chattanooga’s Baylor and Northwest Georgia’s Sonoraville, which handed Cleveland its most recent setback on Dec. 5, 2019.
The Blue Raiders appear as strong as ever heading into the Class AA tournament at the Williamson County Agricultural Expo Park, where they will be represented in all but two of 14 weight classes, with all but one of their state qualifiers coming off a sectional championship.
The dominant run under Knox has already produced 26 individual state champions, but Cleveland senior 132-pounder Zac Bosken is seeking his first title after being named the most outstanding wrestler at the Blue Raiders’ sectional last weekend. He could also help the Blue Raiders break their program record for individual champs at a single state traditional if they have seven Saturday night.