Cleveland's Grant Lundy, top, wrestles with Bradley Central's Sebastian Hernandez during a 145-pound bout at Cleveland High School's Raider Arena on Jan. 8.After Cleveland High School wrestlers finished a sweep of the TSSAA Class AAA state team titles last February, the Blue Raiders began counting down toward this year's postseason.
Their year-long process has pushed their bodies to the brink, along with their mental toughness as they try to handle the pressure of being favorites to win again. The Williamson County Ag Expo Center in Franklin will host the state duals championships Friday and Saturday, and it's also the site of the state traditional tournaments Feb. 14-16.
"At the beginning it's like, man, this journey is going to take forever," said Cleveland senior Wilson Benefield, the second-ranked 220-pounder in AAA. "All of a sudden, in the blink of an eye it is here. This is the last ride for eight of our starters. We want two more state championships."
Seven Chattanooga-area teams have advanced to state duals this year, with Baylor the heavy favorite for the Division II crown. The Red Raiders, who are 16-0 in duals this season, returned four individual state champions and believe they could tie or break a school record of six state champions in a single season in a couple of weeks.
Chattanooga Christian (14-6) and McCallie (8-4) join Baylor in the D-II duals field, with Hixson (30-4) and Signal Mountain (21-4) qualified in A-AA and Bradley Central (23-6) in the AAA bracket. Full brackets and schedules are listed at tssaasports.com.
The last time the Chattanooga area boasted three state championship teams in the same year was 2010, when Baylor, Bradley Central and Hixson won duals titles.
Cleveland is 33-1 this season, but the Blue Raiders have not competed for the past two weeks, with Bradley Central's Bears deciding to forfeit to them in the Region 4 final. The Bradley County foes are on opposite sides of the draw, and if both remain in the championship bracket, they wouldn't meet until the final.
"Our guys are in great shape and good spirits," second-year Cleveland coach Joey Knox said. "I think our lineup is stronger than it has been all season. It will be fun to watch our guys chase after their dreams and try to cement legacies."
First-round and quarterfinals duals are Friday, while the semifinals and finals are Saturday. Championship matches for all three divisions will begin at 6:30 EST.
Cleveland's total of seven state duals titles includes two streaks of three in a row (1992-94, 2013-15), and the Blue Raiders set a state duals finals record in 2013 with their 78-4 thrashing of Wilson Central. They had three individual state champs that season, a program record.
"If everybody is doing the right thing and wrestles well, I do think we are 30 to 40 points better than any team in our classification," said Knox, whose only returning state champion is top-ranked 152-pounder Austin Sweeney. "Our team is not caught up in the noise, though, and knows we have to leave it all out on the mat like everyone else will."
The only loss this season for the Blue Raiders came in a one-point decision against Baylor, which fought to win the last four matches and take the Cleveland Duals title in December.
A program from Bradley County has brought home the past six Class AAA duals state titles and 15 of the past 19.
"I really think we are talented enough to set school records this year," said Cleveland senior 145-pounder Grant Lundy, who is ranked third. "You start to think back to all the past memories and what you have done to get here. There will be a lot of emotions for all of us on the mats this weekend."
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.