Signal Mountain wrestlers hope for redemption at state duals sectional

Eagles working to earn spot TSSAA Class A/AA's final four

Staff photo by Patrick MacCoon / Signal Mountain senior wrestlers Kevin Muschel, top, and Preston Worley are two-time state runners-up who hope to finish their high school careers as champions.
Staff photo by Patrick MacCoon / Signal Mountain senior wrestlers Kevin Muschel, top, and Preston Worley are two-time state runners-up who hope to finish their high school careers as champions.

Kevin Muschel refused to waste time by sitting around when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down school, sports and social activities last March.

Having wrestled since he was very young, Muschel became a key part of Signal Mountain's high school varsity team as an eighth grader. Now, with his senior season in its final weeks, he hopes to not only win a TSSAA state title as an individual but also help the Eagles also be team champions.

"As an eighth grader I remember all the seniors talking to us about how much their final season meant to them," said Muschel, who is competing at 182 pounds this year after finishing as Class A/AA's state runner-up at 138 in 2019 and at 145 in 2020.

"Now I really understand what they meant. Over quarantine I had nothing to do, so I hit the gym and was like, all right, I am going to get bigger, stronger and better. I have been working harder than I ever have before. I think we are all tougher and will fight for every point."

Signal Mountain is in search of redemption Saturday in its home gym as the Eagles face Nolensville at noon in Tennessee's sectional round for postseason duals. Last year, in the Eagles' first state duals appearance in program history, they lost 35-32 to the Knights in the opening round and were eliminated with an eight-point defeat in their next match.

photo Staff photo by Patrick MacCoon / Signal Mountain wrestlers recently won a fourth straight region duals championship, and the Eagles hope to advance to next week's TSSAA state duals by winning their sectional match against visiting Nolensville this weekend.

Signal Mountain senior 195-pounder Preston Worley is also a five-year starter and back-to-back state runner-up who has poured his time and energy into trying to take his school to levels never reached on the wrestling mat. Worley - who will continue his athletic career as a baseball player at Central College in Pella, Iowa - believes there is more trust throughout the team and less goofing off than in the past in the practice room.

"We are more on target," Worley said. "This year is going to be different. We've been working a whole lot more on our stamina, ground game and standups. We are working to score more points than we ever have. Falling short in the past is definitely driving us all to do something better."

Signal Mountain also has three brothers in its lineup who are standouts for the team. Freshman Ethan Uhorchuk (106), sophomore Caleb Uhorchuk (113) and senior Daniel Uhorchuk (126) are all expected to be state championship contenders, along with Muschel, Worley and fellow senior Kale Albritton (138).

Daniel is a three-time state champion who finished second as an eighth grader. He is set to compete as an NCAA Division I wrestler for Army in the future, and he has not lost a match since that state finals defeat four years ago.

The Eagles have also been helped by first-year assistant coach Mike Hatcher, who was most recently the top assistant for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and was a member of four national championship teams at the University of Iowa for legendary coach Dan Gable during the 1990s.

photo Staff photo by Patrick MacCoon / Signal Mountain wrestlers and brothers Caleb, left, and Daniel Uhorchuk practice together Thursday.

"We have been refining our skills right now. Not so much learning new techniques, but fine tuning what we do really well," Muschel said. "We come in here to improve ourselves and our teammates every day. That's the mentality that I think will help us make it far."

Nolensville High School is the host site on Feb. 6 for A/AA state duals, which has been trimmed to a four-team field this year to help reduce the size of gatherings amid the pandemic. With a win this weekend at home, the Eagles will not only earn their place at state duals but keep the Knights - who lost to Hixson in last year's third-place match at state - from competing for the title at home.

Once the TSSAA duals postseason is complete, wrestlers will turn their attention to the individual-based traditional postseason, although team championships will also be on the line when that state tournament is held in Chattanooga next month.

Signal Mountain coach Joe Jellison is pleased with his wrestlers' preparation, and he believes what they have done will help them even beyond this year.

"These guys have had a great work ethic this whole season and have maximized their work even when they aren't in the practice room," Jellison said. "At the end of the day it's not all about wrestling or the state titles and accolades. This sport teaches you discipline, sacrifice, hard work and grit - stuff that will really make a difference for them in the long run.

Jellison also believes in his group's potential to accomplish history.

"They have what it takes to do something we have never done before," he said. "They have come in this room even on days they didn't want to and have really pushed themselves. We have a great senior class, and many of them have been here for five years. They know what to do, and now the ball is in our court."

Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.

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