delaWarr

It has been a while, but this is not the first in Maury County. Columbia Military Academy was active in the early days of TSSAA sponsorship. Great news, however, that wrestling is returning to Maury County.

Good read. Thanks for posting.

"...approx 48 years running." 46 years, to be exact. First held in January, 1970.

Maplewood '69-'70 (1 yr.); Hillwood '70-'71 thru '79-'80 (10 yrs.); Whites Creek '80-'81 thru '86-'87 (7 yrs.); Brentwood '87-88 thru '13-'14 (27 yrs). Brief historical trivia of Tennessee's 3 longest running invitationals: School year 1868-69; Coach John Farr held an invitational at Red Bank; School year _?_, Coach Farr transferred to Chattanooga Central and continued the tournament there. It has has been set up annually* through each succeeding coach from its beginning. *There have been a couple of cancellations beyond the control of school and tournament personel because of weather-related schoolboard regulations. School year '69-70: The NIL tournament, which the mid-state coaches had held for three years, was cancelled after the January 1969 event. This opened up the possibility for invitational tournaments in the mid-state Maplewood held an invitational in December 1969. See above in this entry. Father Ryan held an vitational during January 1970. The tournament was first held at the school on Elliston Place and continued uninterrupted when the school moved to the current location. Although, weather-related school closings have occurred at the time of both mid-state tournaments, both have enjoyed the good fortune of being able to continue with all tournaments.

Congratulations and thanks to Joe Blair and his efficient staff for another well-organized, well-run tournament.

Coach Joe Black Hayes passed away on Monday, 9 December 2013. He was 98. He was a wrestling pioneer in Middle Tennessee. He iniated a program in the late 1940s at Middle Tennessee State. His program was discontinued by the school in 1954, but he was host to the conference tournament for his last season, and his team finished 2nd to Auburn. He continued his ties with wrestling through officiating during the next two decades and was assigning offical in Murfreesboro in closing out his career in the sport. Coach Hayes played football at the University of Tennessee for General Neyland during the late 1930s. He won a heavyweight championship in wrestling for UT while competing there. He was inducted into the Tennessee Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2009. He received many accolades throughout his career in coaching, as well as in his many civic activities in service to the community. The Daily News Journal of Murfreesboro, Wednesday 11 December 2013 has his obituary and has a story in the sports section.

Really enjoyed and appreciate this outstanding piece. Thanks for making it available.

The traditional divisions for wrestling in Tennessee have been Upper East (including Knoxville area), Chattanooga Area, Middle Tennessee, and Memphis (West Tennessee).

Congratulations to these newest members of the Tennessee Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma in recognition of their Lifetime Service to Wrestling. A sincere thank you, also, to the HOF members and others who put in the untold time and effort toward making this another special event this past Friday, 2nd March. What a great way to spend an evening: the camaraderie in a Gathering of gung-ho wrestling folks and their guests who enjoy talking wrestling, followed by honoring wrestling individuals in a manner which they richly deserve.

Jeff Lloyd received the state Outstanding American Award. The Medal of Courage was given to former Tennessee School for the Blind coach, Ralph Brewer.

hoosierdad, You answered my question when you asked Soms for verification on Franklin's being in the same region with Smyrna (Region V, prior to re-alignment). I already knew which region Franklin was in. I couldn't understand what you knew. In your PS, you questioned the toughness of the Smyrna Region, then you used Franklin (who is not in the Smyrna region) as the singular standard for measuring other teams in the region (Outside of Franklin, who else has won anything, much less placed."). I couldn't follow your logic. Now that you have clarified that you were referring to Region V prior to re-alignment, I can address my point. The Region V you refer to was put into place during the 1989-90 season. During the first ten years Brentwood Academy won two Small School State Duals. Brentwood High was runner-up in the Large School Duals two times, third once. Brentwood High also place third and fourth, along with other top ten placements, in the Traditional. This is offered to answer your rhetorical question "who else has won anything, much less placed." Franklin's consistent top-end presence in Region V emerged during the Region's final five years or so. And to respond to the toughness of Region V: As it continued to grow in team numbers and programs continued to hire competitive coaches, it became increasingly tougher for top-end teams to get competitive numbers qualified for the State. I agree with you and Soms that Franklin is once again in a tough region. That region has traded their old region with most teams having 2, 3, or 4 tough kids for a region with fewer teams, but with more teams having 8 -10 quality competitors.

More Cumberland High players: Many of the old oldtimers claimed over the years that possibly the best athlete to play at Cumberland High was Bud Walton, whose playing days were prior to 1940. He went on to play at Florida. LF West, Jr. returned from service to resume play in 1946, then continued on the next level at UT-Martin. Raymond Farmer played during the late '40s and early 1950s and went on to play for the University of Louisville. Some other top players during the mid to late 1950s were Jerry Flatt, Sammy Flatt, Bobby Scott, and LeRoy Overstreet. Bellevue: I don't recall seeing on anybody's list a couple of top players for Bellevue from the early 1950s. Charlie Johnson and Lloyd Hill were on a championship team, I believe, in 1951. If recall is correct, they were undefeated.

Does the attached observation assume that Franklin is in the same region or not in the same region with Smyrna?

Thanks to BB Branton for the great Hall Of Fame Honorees story, and to CoachDelgado for posting it on the board. Good reading, plus some validation for those of us interested in the history of Tennessee Wrestling.

Help may be on the way.