Three CBHS wrestlers capture state championships

FRANKLIN, Tenn. — Tommy Brackett gestured to his nose.

"It's probably broken and I don't know it," he laughed.

What's definitely broken is Brackett's run of disappointing runner-up finishes at state. The senior closed his career at the Williamson County Ag Expo Center with a championship in the Division II 195-pound competition.

It was one of three championships taken by CBHS wrestlers Saturday; Grayson Walthall won at 220 while Garrett Bowers took the honors at 132. Those victories helped the Brothers win the team title for the second time in school history.

Brackett's took the longest — but through no fault of his own. He posted a 9-3 victory over Chattanooga McCallie's Walker Robinson despite having to stop frequently to get his bloody nose tended to.

"That was pain," he said. "I like to get in the there and get the pace of my matches going quick. But it's hard to do that when you're stopping every six seconds ... I finally get it and it just feels so good."

Walthall was also a runner-up in 2017 and he made his last match a success with a 2-0 decision over Jordan McCoy of Brentwood Academy. As soon as the whistle blew, he pointed to the sky.

"I just have a lot of angels watching over me," Walthall said. "A lot of people that I've lost ... I just remembered how I felt last year coming up short and I had to do whatever it took to not feel that way again."

Bowers, a sophomore, wrapped up an impressive 47-6 season with a 10-2 major decision over Zach Ward of McCallie. Add in runner-up finishes from Dayne Dalrymple (106), Evan Anthony (126), Eric Hodge (170) and Patrick Healy (285) and it equaled one of the best days in CBHS' long and proud wrestling history.

"You hate to see any of our guys lose, honestly," said first-year coach Derek Harrison. "But it's the state tournament ... and overall it was a great effort by our whole team. We had 14 guys place and had half the team in the finals.

"Just a super effort top to bottom from our whole team. They've worked hard, very consistently, and I think it shows on the mat."

The Brothers were also aided by third-place finishes from Luke Spencer (120) and Montana Doty (182) while Charles Salvaggio (113), Eli Hodge (145) and Luke Condy (170) earned fourth. Austin Brooks was fifth at 138 while Luke Leon finished sixth at 152.

MUS had four wrestlers place in D-II led by by third-place finishes from Carlo Guinocor and Stephen Christenbury at 113 and 220 respectively. Ryan Aghabeg (120) and Matthew Rhodes (285) placed sixth. Maverick Rorie of Briarcrest was sixth at 113.

The biggest controversy of the day came in the Class AAA final as Gabe O'Callaghan of Bartlett controlled the vast majority of the match against Hunter Borders of Wilson Central before losing 6-5. The final two points appear to have been awarded to Borders after the clock hit zeroes, which incensed normally mild-mannered Panthers coach Daniel Longo.

"(The official) signaled that it was a two-point reversal and back points after the match was already over," Longo said. "The whole purpose of the clock is that when he signals a reversal, it puts a time stamp on it. So with two seconds on the clock he somehow got a reversal and a two-count.

"It can't be (quickly) 'one-two.' It has to be 'one-Mississippi, two-Mississippi.' And he refused to ask the table how much time it was ... the head official came over and said, 'What did my officials say? OK, I agree.' 

"First time since 1989 we had a wrestler in the final (and) they just took a state championship away from our kid."

Reed Cannon of Arlington also earned a second-place medal in AAA, losing to Beech's Brayden Palmer by an 11-2 majority decision. It's the highest finish in school history.

Dalton Cockman of Bartlett finished fourth followed by Ndayambaje John of Kingsbury in fifth. Dontae Johnson of Kingsbury took fourth at 160, while Arlington's Austin Antcliffe finished sixth at 172. Bartlett's Cameron Oliver was third in the 285-pound division.

Michael Bowser became the first medalist in East wrestling history as he took fifth place in the A-AA 152-pound division.

Reach John Varlas at john.varlas@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @johnvarlas