Cleveland and Baylor continued the Chattanooga area's wrestling dominance at Saturday's TSSAA state duals, the Blue Raiders by winning their fourth straight Class AAA title and the Red Raiders with their third Division II championship in a row.
All three of Cleveland's wins Saturday were at Independence High School in Thompson's Station. The Blue Raiders beat Wilson Central 39-28 in the final after a 41-37 semifinal win against Summit and a 55-15 rout of Dobyns-Bennett.
The Blue Raiders (15-0), the state's top-ranked team across all levels, were led by Logan Fowler (106 pounds), Benjamin Gray (195) and Army signee Trae McDaniel (138), who won all three of their matches by pin. Tetoe Boyd (185), Cody Chittum (145), Ashton Davis (220) and Bentley Ellison (113) also went 3-0 for Cleveland.
"This was special, especially for Trae McDaniel, Jackson Bradford and Cael Laxton, who have been with me since the start four years ago," coach Joey Knox said. "Ben Gray is a senior and was a tremendous addition to our lineup. Jackson convinced him to come out to wrestle with us and end his senior year with us. These guys are all a part of history."
Baylor, 4-0 under first-year head coach Rex Kendle, continued its run of titles with a 48-21 victory against Christian Brothers in the final, having won four decisions by two or fewer points while throttling Father Ryan 55-9 in the semifinals in D-II competition at Middle Creek Middle School in Nolensville.
Ronald Garriques (182) won both of his matches by pin, and he was joined in going 2-0 by teammates Omaury Alvarez (170), Jackson Bond (126), Nick Corday (113), Garrison Dendy (145), David Harper (195), Kade Hartline (106) and Elijah Turner (132).
"All of the guys are jacked up about winning another state championship, Kendle said. "This was a very strange season and we didn't get a lot of matches, but we were just happy to be wrestling. You can't point at just one person; our lineup has so many great wrestlers, and they all played a big part today."
In the Class A/AA state duals at Nolensville High School, Signal Mountain beat Hixson 47-32 in the third-place match. In the semifinals of the four-team event, Signal Mountain lost 42-33 to Pigeon Forge, which then had its run of three straight state duals titles end with a 39-36 loss to Fairview. Hixson lost 44-31 to Fairview in the semifinals.
Trailing 26-24 in the third-place match, the Eagles (9-2) stormed back with a technical fall by Ethan Uhorchuk (106) and pins by Caleb Uhorchuk (113) and Noah Shriner (120) before three-time state champion Daniel Uhorchuk's (126) second forfeit win of the day.
Signal Mountain's Kevin Muschel (182) had two pins Saturday, when Brock Shipley (145) was 2-0 with one pin.
For Hixson (12-2), the trio of senior captains Trevor Lewis (126), Caleb Miller (132) and Parrish Pacetti (220) were all 2-0, Pacetti with two pins, Miller with a pin and a major decision and Lewis with a pin and by forfeit.
Bradley Central lost 37-33 in a Class AAA quarterfinal to Wilson Central but won its fifth-place match 59-20 over Collierville. Luke Belcher (145) won both of his matches for the Bears (11-4), one of them a 17-0 tech fall.
Staff file photo by Matt Hamilton / Cleveland's Trae McDaniel won by pin in all three of his matches Saturday to help the Blue Raiders secure a fourth straight TSSAA Class AAA state duals championship.Georgia High School Association wrestlers began their traditional postseason with area and region tournaments, and with no sectionals this year, top-three individual finishes were required to advance to this coming week's state tournaments.
7-A at Darlington: Trion won the team title with 215 points to Armuchee's 106, and the Bulldogs will send all 14 of their wrestlers to state. Trion's individual champions were Daegan Vaughn (106), Seth Huskins (120), Bryce James (132), Logan Eller (160), Bladyn Bowman (182), Zach Sharp (195) and Brantley Willbanks (220). Gordon Lee was third with 102 points and will be sending 10 to state, led by champion Montgomery Kephart (170).
7-AA at Chattooga: Area duals champion Dade County rolled to the traditional title with 188 points, well ahead of second-place Model (148.5). The Wolverines have 11 state qualifiers, led by area champions Jake Gatlin (106), Garrett Dunn (120), Cayden Cooper (145), Zac Smith (152), Cody Williams (182) and Landon Williams (195). Gordon Central was fourth with 83 points and has three state qualifiers, including area champion Shane Davis (126). Chattooga, the reigning state traditional champ hit hard by COVID-19, has five qualifiers, including area champs Rowan Burdick (160) and Ty Veatch (220).
6-AAA at Sonoraville: The host Phoenix, who scored 196 points to win the title, will send 13 of their 14 wrestlers to state, including eight area champions: Logan Moore (126), Eli Knight (132), Davin O'Neal (145), Colt Weaver (160), Gavin Harper (182), Jebb Knight (195), Draven Peppers (220) and Jaxx Knight (285). Coahulla Creek was second with 134 points and will send 11 wrestlers to Macon, led by champ Levi Sandoval (170). Third-place LaFayette (125) has nine qualifiers and three area champs: Jacob Hamilton (106), Levi Ledford (138) and Karson Ledford (152). Ringgold had a pair of area champions in Gage Kenner (113) and Hudson Moss (120) and will advance six others, while LFO has three qualifiers.
5-AAA at Gilmer: The hosts dominated with 239 points and finished with 12 area champs and two runners-up. North Murray had the other two champs in Herman Hernandez (132) and Devin Hunte (195) among its 11 state qualifiers, with Murray County advancing eight.
7-AAAA at Pickens: Northwest Whitfield finished a tight second to Central-Carroll, 162 points to 154, and will take eight competitors to state, four of them area champs: Eli Johnson (106), Victor Pineda (113), Alex Robinson (138) and Manny Barreiro (145). Southeast Whitfield was second and will advance seven to the state, while Heritage had a pair of champions in Cayman Hughey (132) and Zach Brown (220) among its six state qualifiers and Ridgeland two area champions in Aidan Raymer (152) and Tommy Lamb (285).
6-AAAAA at Cass: Calhoun finished fourth behind Woodland-Bartow, Cass and Cartersville, and five Yellow Jackets advanced to state, led by 145-pound champion Isaac Green.
5-AAAAAA at Alexander: Dalton finished fourth and had four state qualifiers, led by champs Hunter Noland (145) and David Garcia (170).
BOYS' BASKETBALL
North Murray 58, Rockmart 55: Seth Griffin and Dante Tidwell had 18 points each, and JaN'youis Ross added 12 in the win for the Mountaineers (9-11, 4-9 Region 6-AAA).
Calhoun 62, Blessed Trinity 45: Dylan Faulker scored 20 points, Peyton Law 17 and Christopher Lewis 13 for the Yellow Jackets (11-10, 5-4 Region 6-AAAAA).
Bledsoe County 62, Marion County 53: For Bledsoe, Gunner Sweatt scored 20 points, Garrett Tharpe 16 and Cody Lankford 11. Marion was led by Jamykah Battle's 20 and Zeken Ballard's 15.
East Hamilton 53, Walker Valley 51, OT: Senior Marcus Long scored 21 points to lead the sixth-ranked Hurricanes (14-3, 9-2 District 5-AAA) to an overtime home win Friday, when Darwin Randolph added 16 points and four steals.
Marion County 80, South Pittsburg 72: The Warriors finished the season sweep of their county rival Friday, with Jamykah Battle scoing game-high 26 points, Zeken Ballard adding 19 and Alex Nunez 11. The Pirates were led by Colby Cooper's 26, Rico Frazier's 18 and Reggie Hunter's 11.
GIRLS' BASKETBALL
Cleveland 76, Soddy-Daisy 44: Grant Hurst had 18 points, Kley McGowan 14 and Rodney Broadnax 12 for the Blue Raiders (14-6, 9-1 District 5-AAA). Soddy-Daisy's Logan Ricketts also had 18.
Ringgold 61, LaFayette 31: The Lady Tigers (14-8, 8-6 Region 6-AAA) won as point guard Rachel Lopez poured in a game-high 20 points and added eight assists, while Riley Nayadley had 15 points and 11 rebounds. LaFayette's McKeria Johnson had 12 points.
Marion County 53, Bledsoe County 28: The Lady Warriors (13-7) scored the game's first 11 points and cruised as Lorence Bradford scored 19 points, including five 3-pointers, while Sara Muir added 12 and Kyndal Meloncan had 10.
Tyner 66, Brainerd 60: Tamyra Long had 20 points, Kianna Ratliff 19 and Kaleigh Chubb 11 for the Lady Rams, who scored 25 points in the fourth quarter of Friday's District 6-AA home win. In double figures for Brainerd were LeNiya Mason (14), Raijeria Bell (13), Tyliyah Ward (13) and Arteya Scott (12).
FOOTBALL
Two area players whose college football destinations have been revealed since Wednesday's national signing day are East Ridge's Desmon Drake (University of the Cumberlands) and Bradley Central's Kannon Hall (Tusculum).
Compiled by Patrick MacCoon and Lindsey Young. Contact MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon. Contact Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.