Best of the East

Guys, I think you've overlooked an important aspect of the sport... There's a difference between a "tournament team," and a "duals team." As everybody knows, coaching strategies differ greatly depending on the format. For an example, look at Region 2. Maryville wins the region duals, and is 2 and done at State Duals. Farragut, on the other hand, doesn't qualify for the duals, and finishes 13th at the Individual State while Maryville finishes 55th (tied w/ 15 teams). Other teams perform consistently at both the Duals and Individual (Bradley, Soddy, Franklin, etc.). I like the way TSSAA handles this.

Allright, let's acknowledge this. How would you rank the weight classes then? Toughest weight? Weakest weight?

1. Gibson 2. James 3. Lane 4. Cordell 5. Blackmon 6. Dix 7. Bundy 8. Cody 9. Campbell 10. Sanders 11. Rudas 12. West 13. Hudgins 14. Bailey

Allright... we all know who got OW, but has anyone thought about ranking the top wrestlers in the state (DI), across the weight classes? For instance, 1. Quin Gibson 2. Kyle James 3. John Lane 4. Etc... 5. Etc... or maybe 1. Kyle James 2. Quinn Gibson 3. Etc... I've included the Championship finals: 103 - Dario Rudas (ER) m.d. Devon Martin (Maple) 9-0. 112 - Nic Bundy (Hv) d. Danny Coleman (Cleve) 11-6. 119 - Shawn Cordell (Brad) d. Ari Ibrahim (Ov) 5-1. 125 - Kyle James (SD) t.f. Kelly Felix (Frk) 4:00/26-11. 130 - Jake West (Brad) d. Kellen Holliman (BW) 1-1 (2OT) by tiebreaker. 135 - John Lane (SD) m.d. Tyler Wright (ER) 11-3. 140 - Scott Dix (Farr) m.d. Andrew Barnett (Germ) 18-5. 145 - Luke Sanders (MontCe) p. Bond Davis (Frk) 7:12 (2OT). 152 - Ty Cody (SH) m.d. Chad Turner (Farr) 12-2. 160 - Quinn Gibson (Brad) p. Tom Minwell (Clk) 1:10. 171 - Bryant Blackmon (Brad) d. Justin Knox (Farr) 1-0. 189 - Paul Campbell (SD) d. Kenny Meredith (Black) 2-1. 215 - Matt Bailey (Brad) d. Ben Hazelett (UnionC) 3-2. 275 - Joseph Hudgins (Fview) p. Shawn Elston (Glen) 5:34. As well as the Consolation finals: 103 - Elee Puckett (Gibbs) m.d. Darius Williams (Ridge), 14-2. 112 - Blake Tinsley (Brad) d. Mike Ortiz (Frk), 6-4. 119 - Chris Baker (Bart) d. Sammy Cox (Kenw), 4-2. 125 - Travis Creagan (Brad) d. David Hunt (Coll), 2-0. 130 - Aaron Walker (Gr) d. Robert Zeits (Sey), 7-1. 135 - Justin Tisdale (Karns) m.d. T.J. Hannah (Bolt), 13-5. 140 - Joel Konz (Frk) d. Tyler Ferris (SD), 6-5. 145 - Jordan Yoder (Hb) d. James Jackson (Cleve), 3-0. 152 - Lucas Borneman (Hou) p. Max Gessler (Tull), 4:42. 160 - Nate Williams (Black) m.d. Jake Graham (Coll), 11-2. 171 - Adam Valentine (Lip) d. James Weakley (Clk), 6-5. 189 - Timothy Pease (Clk) OT d. James Kimbrell (CumCo), 9-9/11-9. 215 - C.J. Rouse (Ross) OT d. Jean Paul Gadie (Riv), 4-4/5-4. 275 - Tom Schnell (SH) p. Taylor Layman (FRA), 1:17. Reference these... maybe after we establish an overall ranking for DI kids, we can rank DII's and then go head to head... Just an idea, as some of the other boards are getting kinda boring.

Just to clarify... I chose "Best of the East" because those are the kids that I get to watch all season. I'm in no way trying to reflect on myself... Just throwing some comments out there for some of the "over-rated" kids in the East.

Can we finish the argument about Turner's second place finish? There is no way the kid was overrated, since he was rated at all! He's a tough wrestler, and he's come a long way from his youth wrestling days... That kid showed some heart (not to mention some aggression) and he deserved what he got. Now Knox on the other hand is a different story. I'm not a Bradley basher. I like the team, and I truly respect the history and continued performance from one of the premier programs in our state. However, I do feel that the referreing wasn't great, regardless of whether Blackmon was nursing an injured ankle or not. I look for Knox to do big things next year. Congratulations to the other East Tennessee kids who placed! I'm dissapointed for Puckett, but ecstatic for Dix. Good job Farragut.