WingIt

To go back a little further, this conference started when Cody was in the second grade. The first year or two, it was known as the Tri-State Conference, consisting of teams from AL, GA and TN. As someone stated above, it was a room full of man eaters every week. Shortly after it became Future Champions, several teams from Florida joined and we saw some of best wrestlers from FL a week or two each year. Future Champions originated the Challenge Cup. This was a tournament consisting of all star teams from several states. I think one year there were all-star teams from 13 different states that competed. Several kids from the Challenge Cup later became NCAA National Champions. I was fortunate enough to coach several of those teams from Tennessee and all the kids I coached were class acts. Some of you old timers might even remember Jona Koehn on the micro phone. In my opinion, that conference produced the best classes of wrestlers that ever came out of TN. The Simpsons, Keller, the Blackmons, the Dunnings, McKnight, Yost, Ward, Brewster, Sweeton, Cleveland, Welsh, Manley, Hagen, James, the Cregans, Spain, the Marables, Leen, the Mansons and countless others who have had great success on and off the mat. My most cherished wrestling memories are from the old Future Champion days. Some of you might remember one year when Matt Sweeton and Matt Keller wrestled (knock down-drag out may be a better word) six times in one year with each Matt winning three times. I think five of the six times they got best match. In Bear Cat Brown??™s post about the tournament ending at 2:45 AM, that??™s correct. One of the Keller/Sweeton matches was the last one of that night (or morning). Back then when the majority of Tennessee teams were in Future Champions, it seemed the state was more united in the wrestling arena. The goal back in those days was as the title stated "Future Champions". If you wanted to bring home hardware in the 4th or 5th grade, this wasn't for you. The goal was to develop wrestlers to win High School State titles and wrestle in College. Personally, I enjoyed the camaraderie and the friendships I developed in those years. There wasn't a single coach in the state that didn't welcome me and Cody in there wrestling room for a little extra practice. I want to thank you coaches for that. David Cleveland

To go back a little further, this conference started when Cody was in the second grade. The first year or two, it was known as the Tri-State Conference, consisting of teams from AL, GA and TN. As someone stated above, it was a room full of man eaters every week. Shortly after it became Future Champions, several teams from Florida joined and we saw some of best wrestlers from FL a week or two each year. Future Champions originated the Challenge Cup. This was a tournament consisting of all star teams from several states. I think one year there were all-star teams from 13 different states that competed. Several kids from the Challenge Cup later became NCAA National Champions. I was fortunate enough to coach several of those teams from Tennessee and all the kids I coached were class acts. Some of you old timers might even remember Jona Koehn on the micro phone. In my opinion, that conference produced the best classes of wrestlers that ever came out of TN. The Simpsons, Keller, the Blackmons, the Dunnings, McKnight, Yost, Ward, Brewster, Sweeton, Cleveland, Welsh, Manley, Hagen, James, the Cregans, Spain, the Marables, Leen, the Mansons and countless others who have had great success on and off the mat. My most cherished wrestling memories are from the old Future Champion days. Some of you might remember one year when Matt Sweeton and Matt Keller wrestled (knock down-drag out may be a better word) six times in one year with each Matt winning three times. I think five of the six times they got best match. In Bear Cat Brown??™s post about the tournament ending at 2:45 AM, that??™s correct. One of the Keller/Sweeton matches was the last one of that night (or morning). Back then when the majority of Tennessee teams were in Future Champions, it seemed the state was more united in the wrestling arena. The goal back in those days was as the title stated "Future Champions". If you wanted to bring home hardware in the 4th or 5th grade, this wasn't for you. The goal was to develop wrestlers to win High School State titles and wrestle in College. Personally, I enjoyed the camaraderie and the friendships I developed in those years. There wasn't a single coach in the state that didn't welcome me and Cody in there wrestling room for a little extra practice. I want to thank you coaches for that. David Cleveland

Cody Cleveland is also ranked, currently 17th at 141. I think Matt Keller was ranked as high as 2nd at one point last year.

Several wrestlers from UTC will be conducting a camp in Tullahoma at the old West Middle School Wrestling Gym beginning July 12 through July 15, 2007 from 12 Noon to 4 PM each day. It will mainly be a technique camp, but if there are some wrestlers training for Fargo or other freestyle events this summer, freestyle instruction and training will be offered. Wrestlers of all ages welcome; some previous experienced recommended. For questions, contact David Cleveland at 931-455-7570; if no answer, leave a message.

I left off a couple of others: Hunt over Fuller, Randolph over Johnson and Felix over Ensminger.

Hamm, I was not trying to knock your rankings. Myself like many others applaud your effort. I was more interested in the individual rankings. Some that come to mind are: Felix over Fuller, Murray over Goss and Cleveland over Waddell.

Hamm' Did you not use any of the results from the Duals to update your rankings. There should have been several changes based on the matches this weekend.

I was told earlier in the year, that Cody had actually certified at 130 but would wrestle 135 at Duals and the State to qualify for Senior Nationals. They said last night that he weighed in around 138 (Not sure about this), giving up ten pound to Waddell.

Here's a new twist. I heard yesterday that Cleveland had actually certified at 130 and he would wrestle 135 at the Duals and 130 at State, due to the new Senior National rules. I would think that Oddo would be tougher that Doster. I guess he is concentrating on the Senior Nationals.

Not counting eggs. Just looking at facts. Look at the results from McCallie, Father Ryan and Brentwood. Based on these tournament finishes, no contest.

I saw where Cody Cleveland wrestled 140 at Brentwood. Not sure where he is wrestling at the State but I would think as of right now, he would be the hands down favortie at 140.

I also was wondering why Whitt wasn't on the list. Unfortuatley, Tennessee kids that wrestle only folkstyle do not get a lot of National recognition. I think a lot of this is based on National experience and who they wrestle at those tournaments. Cleveland and Marable wrestle a lot of National stuff in the Spring and Summer (Enid, Fargo and the Regional Freestyle tournaments). If they have a list of Juniors only, I would think that Manson would easily make that list. Congradulations to Cleveland and Marable for being ranked in the "All Class Rankings".

Here are the TN wrestlers in the latest USA Wrestling Magazine These rankings are based on weights from last season. 2004-2005 All-Class Rankings 130 Pounds 15. Cody Cleveland (McCallie) 160 Pounds 16. Nick Marable (Christian Brothers) 2004-2005 Sophomores and Freshmen 112 Pounds Special Mention Josh Baucke (Christian Brothers) 119 Pounds Special Mention Will Young (McCallie) 125 Pounds Special Mention Travis Creagan (Bradley Central) Special Mention Kelly Felix (Franklin) 135 Pounds 23. Zack Goss (McCallie) 140 Pounds 14. Andrew Waddell (Baylor)

In my opinion the there are three wrestlers that are head and shoulders above the rest of the state. Whitt Dunning, Nick Marable and Cody Cleveland. As far as which one of these are tops, that's a coin toss. I would have to say that Marable or Cleveland would edge Dunning out due to their Spring and Summer national competion. National, Cleveland and Marable would probably do slightly better and will be more attractive college prospects. Good luck this year to these three fine young men and all of the other wrestlers state wide.

DaBEARS2 I think your choice for 130, 135 and 145 is way off. D2 are overwhelming favorites at these weights.