The TSSAA Board of Control held a virtual meeting Thursday to set the future host sites for multiple sports' state tournaments, including girls' soccer, which will return to Chattanooga, the event's host city for several years before it was moved to Murfreesboro in 2013.
Chattanooga's bid, which was approved by a unanimous 12-0 vote, won out over Murfreesboro's and included a guaranteed $30,000 to the TSSAA for the right to host the 2021 and 2022 tournaments. Games will be played at Baylor, Chattanooga Christian, GPS and the UTC Sportsplex (next to Engel Stadium). Championship matches will be held at the Red Wolves' CHI Memorial Stadium in East Ridge.
That makes two TSSAA state tournaments that have been moved to Chattanooga in the past week as it was previously announced that the state wrestling tournament will be held at the Chattanooga Convention Center on Feb. 18-20. That move was made due to a need for the Williamson County Expo Center, which has hosted the past 11 state tournaments,to be used as a COVID-19 testing center.
The state golf tournament was also moved from the mid-state region as Sevierville Golf Club was awarded the right to host for the next two years, winning over Old Fort. The new 36-hole site will allow all classifications to hold their tournaments in the same week.
TSSAA officials are also looking at moving the boys' and girls' basketball state tournaments from their longtime host sites - Middle Tennessee State University for all public-school games and Lipscomb University for all Division II games. Those potential moves could come due to neither college site being able to commit to allowing its facilities to be used because of coronavirus concerns.
MTSU currently does not allow fans to attend events inside its Murphy Center arena.
Alternate sites being looked into by TSSAA administrators are mid-state high schools - Rockvale, Siegel and Stewarts Creek. Moving to high school sites would also allow for a limited number of fans to attend under the TSSAA's mandate for crowds.
A decision on the host sites could come as early as Friday.
Board memers also voted to keep all nine state football championships on the same weekend and heard a recommendation for the state bowling tournament to be held without fans due to COVID-19 concerns inside such a small space.
Staff photo by Patrick MacCoon / Signal Mountain soccer players celebrate after the Lady Eagles won their third straight TSSAA Class A state championship on Oct. 2, 2020, in Murfreesboro.GIRLS' BASKETBALL
Notre Dame 51, Collegedale Academy 24: A 13-0 second-quarter run helped the Lady Fighting Irish take command Thursday. Kenzie Campbell led Notre Dame with 14 points and Claire Mullins added 11, with each connecting on four 3-pointers. Avana Im's 11 points led Collegdale.
BOYS' BASKETBALL
Red Bank 55, Brainerd 51: The Lions battled back from a 32-23 halftime deficit at home as Kel Eddins led the way with 16 points and seven rebounds. Ryan Barber supplied nine of his 11 points in the second half, while Cam Bell had nine points and 11 rebounds to help Red Bank improve to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in District 6-AA. Brainerd was led by Dennis Lewis Jr.'s 23 points.
WRESTLING
Walker Valley 42, Notre Dame 31: The Mustangs had pins from Brett Harris (106 pounds), Markus Rich (152) and Heath Tanksley (182), while Fisher Heil (132) beat Brock Barasha in a 10-9 decision and David Cantrell (138) won 6-0. Notre Dame forfeited three times, and the Irish received pins from Bob Deitch (113), Joshua Deitch (120), Luke Braman (126) and Francisco Palacios (145), along with a major decision by Jadon Vintrow (160) and a 9-6 win by Blake Hopper (170).
Compiled by Stephen Hargis and Patrick MacCoon. Contact Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293 and follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis. Contact MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.