Murfreesboro area trio capture TSSAA state individual wrestling titles

FRANKLIN — Just a handful of seconds — even just one — can be the difference in winning a state wrestling championship or settling for runner-up.

Smyrna junior Cameron Henderson and Siegel senior Christian Salter can both attest to that.

Seconds were the difference as both captured state championships Saturday at Williamson Ag & Expo Center.

The area had a clean sweep on the day as all three wrestlers who reached the finals — including Blackman junior Landon Fowler — all came away with state titles.

Salter held on in the final seconds of his 5-4 win over William Blount's Dawson Satterfield in the 182-pound Class AAA final, despite being in obvious pain from a right knee injury he has been battling through.

"It hurt — that's about all I can say about it," said Salter, who put off surgery on the knee until after the wrestling season. He finished runner-up last season."There was nothing I could do about it. If I lost, I wasn't going to make any excuses.

"But, I battled through it. I'm a champion. It feels great. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I thought I should have won it last year. It was finally good to win one."

Henderson trailed 3-1 in the third period of the Class AAA 132-pound championship match with time ticking down on his title hopes.

He then made a move just before time ran out to tie the score at 3, forcing sudden death. He won the match with a takedown just seconds into the overtime to win 4-3 and capture Smyrna's first state wrestling title.

"It's good to do something that hasn't been done," said Henderson, who finished fifth last season.

Henderson's move to tie the match was something he learned in middle school.

"I learned it in eighth grade," he said. "I knew time was running out and I had to do something. I only had one arm, but I pinched. I almost slipped, but I came out on top. I knew if we went into overtime I was going to be the aggressor."

Fowler, who also finished runner-up last season (at 152), dominated his AAA 170-pound final against Bearden's Max Grayson, winning 12-5.

"He's a strong guy, but I knew if I pushed the pace, I would be able to dominate," said Fowler, who had defeated Grayson earlier in the season. "It feels great. All my hard work has paid off."

Several area wrestlers finished with medals:

• Michael Moultry won the AAA 152-pound division consolation bracket, capturing third place with an 8-3 decision over Arlington's Dalton Cockman.

• Eagleville's Blaine Fussell, finished third in the A-AA 120-pound division with a pin over Red Bank's Christopher Cagle.

• Eagleville's Wyatt McLemore, who was state runner-up last year, finished third in the A-AA 132 division with a pin over Hixson's Jeremiah Shackleford.

• Stewarts Creek's Kenny Harness captured fourth in the AAA 113-pound division.

• Stewarts Creek's Lucas Gaines finished fourth in the AAA 120 division while Riverdale's David Medina was sixth.

• Oakland's Branson Boone finished fifth in the AAA 220-pound division.

• Smyrna's Kalee Sanberg captured third in the girls 103 division with a pin over Siegel's Kortney Brinkley, who was fourth.

• Stewarts Creek's Rylie Bohannon took fifth in the girls 170 division.

Reach Cecil Joyce at cjoyce@dnj.com or 615-278-5168 and on Twitter @Cecil_Joyce.