Joshua Brooks of Ooltewah controls Parker Ward of Hixson, foreground, in the 152-pound division as Ooltewah hosts Hixson in a high school wrestling match Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Brooks won by a pin, but Hixson won the match by a team score of 42-32. Working with a patchwork lineup due to injury, illness and weight descent is nothing new for most wrestling programs as they head into the last weekend of competition before Christmas.
That doesn't mean, though, that the grind doesn't get old, especially when coupled with would-be competitors who are still learning how to control their weight and how to listen or read group messages about departure times, etc.
Hixson coach Garrick Hall had suffered through one of those type days Tuesday -- an overweight wrestler eating chicken fingers and ranch dressing for lunch and a handful of text messages wanting to know when the Wildcats were leaving school for their tri-meet with Howard and host Ooltewah.
Never mind that his team improved to 13-4 with wins over Ooltewah (42-32) and Howard (72-12), the veteran was still contemplating rescuing the letter of resignation he'd started and then trashed earlier in the day, especially after one of his freshmen walked up belatedly and asked him where to put his dirty singlet.
Hall is feeling the effects of an extended football season and trying to assist there while still keeping a handle on wrestling. He's looking forward to a Christmas break as much as Hixson's students.
"They're driving me crazy, but I am happy with where we are competitively, especially with what we have going because of injuries and illness," he said. "There is lots of room for improvement, but we have a lot of kids scrapping and fighting."
Hixson figures to be among the contenders for the Class A/AA dual and traditional state titles, although the Wildcats had at least two returnees from last year's team who basically decided wrestling was too demanding.
"They're young but they're still well-coached and they're putting competitors out there," Ooltewah coach Bryant Blackmon said. "By late January into February, they'll be ready to go."
Ooltewah raced out to a 12-0 lead as Jordan Chaffi (160) won on an injury default and Tyler Reid got a pin. By the time the teams reached the turn at heavyweight, though, Hixson had grabbed a 15-14 lead on pins from Chris Nicholson and Guiliane Palacio and a decision by Brody Gregory.
The meet would have been tied as they headed into the 106-pound match, but Mack Fairley, although he won at 195, cost his team a point due to an unsportsmanlike-conduct call from referee Travis Wright.
Hixson went on a tear from there and finished with pins from Cameron Russell (106) and Isaac Yates (126) and forfeit victories for Jacob Newman (113) and Cederick Harris (132).
While he had praise for Josh Brooks (152) and Chaffi, Blackmon focused on the team, which had six medalists and a fourth-place finish in an invitational tournament at Auburn, Ala., last weekend.
"There are still a lot of technical things we're doing wrong, and some of it comes down to being disciplined in aspects of what we're asking them to do," he said. "Overall we're still a very young and inexperienced team. As we continue to fix the technical side of things and they continue to battle, we obviously expect to improve."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.