cowcatcher

Once we know who all qualifies for single A in a few weeks, I will post my top 6 in each weight but to create some discussion, here are my early picks in each weight...

106 - Cole Dyer (Soddy) over Christopher Lagorio (Hixson) ... I would not be surprised to see Comes from Seymour sneak into the finals, but Dyer is the man to beat.

113 - JoJo Uhorchuk (Signal) over Tyson Flavin (Soddy)

120 - Carson Dupill (Greeneville) over Charles Duncan (Soddy)

126 - Ethan Uhorchuk (Signal) over Andy Cable (Pigeon Forge) ... this should be an awesome match!

132 - Caleb Uhorchuk (Signal) over Sam Hutchisen (Halls)

138 - Harlen Hunley (Halls) over Brody McLemore (Eagleville)

145 - Hunter Mason (Greeneville) over Sasha Warner (Polk)

152 - Colin Dupill (Greeneville) over Jackson Davis (Signal)

160 - Wyatt Howard (Pigeon Forge) over Thomas Magness (Harpeth) ... expect Turner from Soddy to be right there. He almost beat Howard two weeks ago. This should be a fun weight to follow!

170 - Jake Stacey (Green Hill) over the field

182 - Logan Heckert (Sycamore) over Gabe Ferrell (David Crockett)

195 - Kendrick Curtis (Fairview) over Rob Atwood (Trousdale) in an upset of the match Atwood won earlier this year 4-2. Lowery from Greeneville will be right there in the mix as well.

220 - Zac Crisman (Greeneville) over the field

285 - Caleb Wolfe (Pigeon Forge) over Ronan O'Connell (Page)

Finalists

Greeneville - 4

Signal - 4

Soddy - 3

Pigeon Forge - 2

Halls - 2

 

15 hours ago, TotallynotLEO said:

Yeah,  it was a tough one to watch for SD. But, you guys are young and have a lot of experience returning.  They may be Sophomore and Juniors but they have a much experience as any seniors out there.  You never know where kids weight will wind up at in another year.  One of ours went from a small 138 to 182 in one year and 220 the next.  He may be heavyweight next year,  who knows.  

SD was fun to watch and looked technically sound.  It's not just that they have 2 or 3 really good kids surrounded by a few decent kids... they're pretty solid almost everywhere which makes line ups tough for opposing teams. I'm sure your coaches will use this as motivation in the off season and SD will show up BIG next year.  Y'all went from average to competing for a dual title in 1 or 2 years with no sign of slowing down. 

Page and Halls are going to AA next year.  SM loses a lot, so does Greeneville.  PF loses 3 hammers but will likely reload.  Gibbs loses some really good ones but I'm not sure what they have coming up.  AC might be decent next year,  going to small school,  but things have to fall in place. Bottom line,  SD is in good position.  

Soddy is the clear cut favorite to win both duals and traditional next year in single A. I expect next year's Soddy team to be one of the best to ever come through the division. Only other on that level in recent years would be the Pigeon Forge team from 2021. I wouldn't be surprised if Soddy can compete with Baylor, Cleveland, and Bradley next year. They should be legit!

A - Greeneville...I know they didn't make the duals but with Carson, Colin, Hunter, Chrisman, and Lowery, they will have 5 champions. I expect Pigeon Forge, Signal, and Soddy to be their biggest challengers. They are the only ones that will have the firepower to match that. Pigeon Forge will have Cable, Wyatt Howard, and Wolfe in the finals with Aiden Howard and Little right there too. Signal probably has 4 finalists with the three brother and Davis. Soddy has Dyer, Flavin, and Turner who I expect to be finalists and don't overlook Cosper or Duncan. Halls is a great dual team, but they might only have one finalist with Hunley.

After watching the single A duals this past weekend, I will say that the Hunley from Halls, Davis from Signal, and O'Connell from Page are three guys that really impressed me that I don't normally hear a lot about. 

AA - Cleveland...expect Bradley to keep it closer than most think. They beat Cleveland by 10 points in the Father Ryan tournament earlier this year, but Ellison was out. They would need some help with some upsets, but they likely have a 2/10 chance to win it. 

DII - Father Ryan... Baylor will be right there if Tisdale is back and healthy enough to make it to the finals. 

 

 

I have given this a lot of thought and still could be completely off. I would group the 8 teams into three groups…

Contenders: Signal, Soddy, Halls

Potential Spoilers: Page, Fairview, Gibbs, Tullahoma

Happy to be here: Sycamore

Quarters

Signal over Gibbs … this one could be closer than most think. This Gibbs group came close to upsetting powerhouse Pigeon Forge in this same round last year

Tullahoma over Sycamore … Tullahoma by 18-23 points

 

Halls over Page … Page almost spoiled Signal’s run to the title last year in this same round, but when Halls is healthy I just don’t see how they can match up in this one. Give me Halls by 16-19 points

Soddy over Fairview … I see Soddy being the favorite in 8 of the 14 matches here. Not impossible for Fairview to pull an upset, but give me the Trojans by 12-15 points.

Semis

Signal over Tullahoma … I don’t think Signal matches up great with Gibbs or Tullahoma in the upper weights, so expect both of these matches to be fairly close. I do think Gibbs is more of a threat to Signal than Tullahoma. I’ll take Signal by 8-10 points.

Soddy over Halls ... Halls will need an upset or two to pull this one off. Keep an eye on Lewis v. Sexton at 126. I'll take the Trojans by 1-3 points.

Finals

Signal over Soddy in the match of the year. Both teams have new additions to their lineups with Dyer and Elliott. I am interested to see if we get any different matchups in the rematch. I hope we get to this point, I am dying to see this one this time!

How I see the three biggest matches shaping out…

Halls v. Page

106 – Kitts (Halls) dec. Herman (Page)    3-0 Halls

113 – May (Halls) maj. O’Neal (Page)       7-0 Halls

120 – Simpson (Page) dec. Cook (Halls)   7-3 Halls  [Cook won previous meeting 10-7]

126 – Sexton (Halls) dec. Brown (Page)   10-3 Halls [toss up match]

132 – Hawkinson (Page) dec. Hutchisen (Halls)    10-6 Halls

138 – Hunley (Halls) pins Drake (Page)    16-6 Halls

145 – Sexton (Halls) dec. Elder (Page)     19-6 Halls

152 – Whaley (Halls) pins Garner (Page) 25-6 Halls

160 – Whaley (Halls) pins Williamson (Page)      31-6 Halls

170 – J. Ward (Page) pins Freeman/Forton (Halls)     31-12 Halls  [I would bump Ward away from Whaley if I am Page]

182 – West/Olsen (Page) maj. dec.  Stowell (Halls)     31-16 Halls

195 – Cook (Halls) pins E. Ward (Page)    37-16 Halls

220 – Meeks (Page) pins Shubert (Halls)     37-21 Halls

285 – Turner (Halls) dec. O’Connell (Page)     40-21 Halls

I do not feel like Halls is 19 points better than Page, so maybe they make some adjustments and/or pull an upset or two to make it closer but when Halls has everyone in the lineup, I don’t see them losing to Page.

Soddy v. Halls

106 – Dyer (Soddy) pins Kitts (Halls)         6-0 SD

113 – Flavin (Soddy) maj. dec. May (Halls)     10-0 SD

120 – Duncan (Soddy) dec. Cook (Halls)     13-0 SD

126 – Lewis (Soddy) dec. Sexton (Halls)     16-0 SD [expect this to be a close match]

132 – Hutchisen pins Whalen (Soddy)     16-6 SD

138 – Hunley (Halls) pins Hatcher or Bull (Soddy)     16-12 SD

145 – Cosper (SD) pins Sexton (Halls)     22-12 SD

152 – Whaley (Halls) dec. Rawlinson (Soddy)     22-15 SD

160 – Whaley (Halls) pins Bates (Soddy)     22-21 SD

170 – Turner (Soddy) pins Forton (Halls)     28-21 SD

182 – Stowell (Halls) dec. Wade (Soddy)     28-24 SD

195 – Cook (Halls) dec. Laxton (Soddy)     28-27 SD

220 – Montgomery (Soddy) pins Glenn (Halls)     34-27 SD

285 – Turner (Halls) pins Davis (Soddy)     34-33 SD

Soddy v. Signal

106 – Dyer (Soddy) pins Higdon (SM)     6-0 SD

113 – JoJo Uhorchuk (SM) pins Flavin (Soddy)     6-6 tied

120 – Duncan (Soddy) pins Lynch (SM)     12-6 SD

126 – Ethan Uhorchuk (SM) maj. dec. Lewis (Soddy)     12-10 SD

132 – Owens (SM) dec. Whalen (Soddy)     13-12 Signal

138 – Caleb Uhorchuk (SM) pins whoever Soddy throws here or gets a forfeit     19-12 Signal

145 – Cosper (Soddy) dec. Elliott (SM)      19-15 Signal

152 – Davis (SM) pins Welch (Soddy)      25-15 Signal

160 – Rawlinson pins Shriner (SM)      25-21 Signal

170 – Turner (Soddy) pins whoever Signal throws here or gets a forfeit      27-25 SD

182 – Quails (SM) dec. Ross (Soddy)     28-27 Signal

195 – Laxton (Soddy) pins Gardner (SM)     33-28 SD

220 – Winchester (SM) dec. Montgomery (Soddy)     33-31 SD

285 – Odom (SM) dec. Davis (Soddy)     34-33 SM

I think someone said it earlier, but I feel like Soddy matches up better with Halls than they do Signal, and Halls matches up better with Signal than they do Soddy.

I could go either way with this one, but I am going to go with Signal to repeat. I wouldn’t even be entirely shocked if Gibbs and Halls wrestled in the finals so you can call me an idiot on Sunday when that happens LOL!

9 minutes ago, TotallynotLEO said:

I think Halls gets by Page.

SD vs Halls is going to be good, assuming SD gets there (I think they do). 

That bottom half of the bracket is tough! Talk about a tough road for Soddy Daisy... had to beat Pigeon Forge and have to go through Fairview, Halls v. Page winner, and then likely Signal. 

On 1/27/2023 at 11:23 PM, Mitch24 said:

Excited as always to hear some more Cowcatcher predictions! Should be another competitive State duals with a few new faces

Thanks, Mitch24! I was surprised my prediction of Soddy over Pigeon Forge ended up only being a point off. That was a first LOL but I am glad to hear someone appreciates the fun I have giving my predictions. My son and I thoroughly enjoyed attending the match on Friday night. Incredible wrestling on both sides and the fans were really into it! 

I plan on posting my round by round predictions once the brackets are posted. I will say that my early thoughts are after seeing Soddy Daisy getting Dyer eligible and Signal Mountain picking up a solid transfer from Notre Dame in the Elliott kid at 145, they have likely separated themselves a little more from the pack. Not having Pigeon Forge or Greeneville in the field this year must be a first. I suspect Page and Halls have the next best chance to walk away champions after Signal and Soddy. It will be fun!

Cobrakid,

Well at least you "have went over their lineups" LOL. We can debate who is the better coach all we want, but I will say that you raise a solid point. Some of that can be negated with who has to send first. Ultimately, the point I was trying to make is that despite having lesser talent, Foreman will have constructed a lineup that gives the Tigers a chance to win.

I am sure we can agree that it's matches like tomorrow that make this the most fun division in the state. I mean it's truly wide open this year and going to be a lot of fun to watch tomorrow and next Saturday. Look at these matchups! 

Section 1

#5 Gibbs v. #6 Greeneville

David Crockett v. #2 Knox Halls

Section 2

Seymour v. #1 Signal Mountain

#3 Soddy Daisy v. #4 Pigeon Forge

Section 3

#9 Tullahoma and #8 Page

Section 4

#7 Fairview and Sycamore

I believe Sections 3 and 4 are decided, correct? 

 

fooseball95, I agree. No way TSSAA allows this. If it were allowed, we would have heard of more kids doing this before. 

6 hours ago, cobrakid8 said:

So it should be a great matchup and there will prob be a ton of movement through the weights and again I hope Cole is wrestling for Soddy as that should also be a help. As far as not a braintrust, Shane and Ulric together is a very formidable team. They did really well the other night with their decisions and have brought this team up from the bottom fairly quickly. I would put them up against Foreman anytime as Shane has been one of the best youth coaches in the country much less just little ole TN and Foreman I hadn't really even heard about until they made the big and small split. I've been around wrestling in TN since mid to early 90's growing up with greats like Logdson, Al Miller, Simpson, Henry.

 

Should be a great time tomorrow night, if Soddy brings it like they did against Signal they should win by 10 or so. If the kids dont show up ready to wrestle though, they will head back home and PF will be heading to the state. Can't wait to see how it all ends up. As far as your picks there, it really depends on if Cole is able to wrestle, if he is they have the choice of moving everyone up a weight and Turner also wrestled 170 the other night with Rawlinson still a 160 and Ross wrestled 182 and he is a better wrestler in my opinion at least than Wade. It will come down as usual to which team can fight off the bonus points, giving up a tech instead of pin or a major instead of tech and such. I will say Soddy did not do well with that Tuesday night and to win they have to do better with that, while Signal did a very good job when needed with shaving points. Of course that doesnt have a lot to do with coaching but the wrestlers having ANY kind of situational awareness, because I know 2 of them were told to do anything but give up a pin and they still gave up pins in their matches. So I am hoping that Soddy does a better job of that Friday night. And of course it will also be interesting who has to send out which wrestler first, as a coach(yes I spent quite a bit of time coaching) you can have a gameplan but in the end it all comes down to if you send your wrestler out first or second on how you can move your weights around and it actually work out. 

When you say you had never even heard of Foreman, you're either lying to make a point, which is fine or you're just showing how little you actually know. Foreman is one of the best coaches to ever come through the state and that's undeniable. Sure Turner might be a great youth coach as you say, but let's not pretend he is something that he is not. He is no mastermind like Foreman and the results over the years speak to that. If Soddy wins tomorrow night, which I predict they will, it will be because there's a talented differential. 

I also cannot imagine that Dyer is able to wrestle this year at Soddy unless some exception is made by the TSSAA and I doubt those are just handed out because someone loses a challenge match. That said, I do hate that for the kid and wish him nothing but the best. 

I like many others cannot wait to watch this dual tomorrow night! 

 

1 hour ago, Swipes said:

It was at 195lbs.  Attached are the Region Championship Results

GREENEVILLE 47

DAVID CROCKETT 33

120 — Carson Dupill (GHS) pinned James Mink, 1:10

126 — Josue Castillo (GHS) pinned Graham Carriger, 5:24

132 — Jake Ferrell (DC) won by forfeit

138 — Garrett Clark (DC) pinned Griffin Griunas, 1:45

145 — Hunter Mason (GHS) pinned Ethan Greear, 0:56

152 — Colin Dupill (GHS) pinned Felix Duncan, 0:35

160 — Dezsel Rambaad (DC) pinned Elijah Dabney, 1:08

170 — Colton Ferrell (DC) pinned Angus Herrell, 5:18

182 — David Ingle (DC) pinned Paul Anderson, 4:58

195 — Morgan Lowery (GHS) won by tech fall (16-1) over Gabe Ferrell

220 — Zac Chrisman (GHS) pinned John Laws, 2:44

285 — Christian Feltner (GHS) pinned Cameron Bailey, 3:40

106 — Blaine Smith (DC) won by decision over Gabe Oakley, 9-8

113 — Hunter Shelton (GHS) pinned Nolan Rankin, 0:43

 

I said it before and I'll say it again, a lot of people have just forgotten how talented this Greeneville team is. They are good enough to win the duals, and have got to be the favorites at the individual tournament.

Colin, Carson, Hunter, Morgan, and Zac... that's 5 champions right there to Signal's 3 with the Uhorchucks. Does Signal even have any other placers outside of maybe the Davis kid?

11 hours ago, cobrakid8 said:

I probably wouldn't but Soddy has a very formidable brain trust itself with Ulric AND Shane coaching the Soddy boys. The turnaround in just one year is kind of crazy to see, I just hope the 106 is available Friday night as the Soddy kid is ok but the new kid is a hammer. It will be interesting to see how the weights are moved about as i think that is the only way PF keeps it close, even Signal did a little bit of moving that proved to win the match last night, moving Jojo to 113 to pin Flavin and let the other 106 beat Micah worked out well for them, but if Signal is the top team in A in the state PF is going to have a tough time with Soddy because Soddy had a good chance to win last night. 

 

Also they didnt almost win it last year, they prob should have finished 2nd but they finished 3rd and lost to Signal who win it all by 2 but also Signal forfeited the last 2 matches since it was wrapped up already. Who knows who all would have won those 2 and maybe PF would have and both by pin and it turned out the same, but either way they lost to Signal.

From what I have heard Shane Turner is an excellent teacher of the sport, but I do not know many that would call him a "formidable brain trust." If this match comes down to what coaching staff devises the best game plan to get the most favorable match ups, it is a no brainer. Soddy Daisy is at a significant disadvantage in that category going up against one of the all-time most winning coaches in TN history. Again, I do give Soddy the edge simply due to the talent differential. 

I could be completely off with these predictions but I follow single A the most of the three divisions and have seen both teams wrestle this year. Here is how I see it playing out on Thursday...

106 - Hilton (SD) pins Zeglen (PF)     6-0 SD

113 - Flavin (SD) pins Rivera (PF)     12-0 SD

120 - Duncan (SD) pins Ruriboen (PF)    18-0 SD

126 - Cable (PF) dec. Lewis (SD)    18-3 SD

132 - Whalen (SD) dec. Pratt (PF)   21-3 SD *

138 - Cosper (SD) pins Monnin (PF)    27-3 SD

145 - Welch (SD) dec. Hood (PF)     30-3 SD *

152 - Rawlinson (SD) pins Lazrzbek     36-3 SD

160 - Howard (PF)  dec. Turner (SD)    36-6 SD

170 - Jackson (PF) pins Ross (SD)    36-12 SD

182 - Little (PF) pins Wade (SD)      36-18 SD

195 - Howard (PF) pins Laxton (SD)   36-24 SD

220 - Perez (PF) dec. Montgomery (SD)     36-27 SD

285 - Wolf (PF) pins Davis (SD) 36-33 SD 

 

For the Tigers to pull the upset they need to win one of the two toss ups that they lost in the first meeting at 132* or 145* or find bonus points with majors at 126 or 160.

I think a lot of people will be surprised to see how good Wyatt has gotten. No knock against Turner who is an absolute stud. I think Andy has a great chance to pick up a major dec. against Lewis as well if he wrestles how he did last year in the state tournament. 

Can't wait for this one! Two blue bloods, great for TN HS wrestling!

Never smart to count out Coach Foreman and the Tigers. Think back to last year when they had a really down regular season for their standards. They nearly won it all again last year even without Garrett Foreman. 

I do give Soddy the slight edge though. Turner and Cosper will be tough to overcome as you say. 

I heard the Soddy v. Signal match was electric last night and standing room only. It Killed me having to miss it, I would have made the drive in if it hadn't been on a week day. 

Is the PF v. Soddy match tomorrow or Friday?

Great work with these and thanks for taking the time to do them. They seem spot on to me!

17 minutes ago, Ummmno said:

Oh its 100% jealousy. But only because the programs I've worked with didn't have these pockets. 

 

But, jealousy isn't spite. I've been very very clear that I do not fault Cleveland for it. Any program in the state would do the same if they had the same backers. They're where they are because of the pride they have in their program. Other schools need to look at what they do as an example. 

 

I hope that nobody took what i said as a slight on the program. They're the best in the state. Hands down. 

Thank you for your clarifying post and honesty. I can respect that. 

DII - I will go out on a limb and say Baylor lol. If FR is healthy, I could see them at least giving Baylor a little scare.

AA - Cleveland again

A - where things get interesting. So many teams with a chance to win this year, especially the duals.

Region 1/2 - Greeneville & Halls ... everyone seems to have forgotten how good the Devils are. May I remind you, Colin and Carson Dupill, Hunter Mason, Zac Chrisman, Morgan Lowery, Cooper Johnson... we'll see what they get at the other weights, but those are 6 guys that are for sure wins against the majority of the teams in the state.

Region 3/4 - Signal & Pigeon Forge ... I know Soddy Daisy beat PF earlier in the year, but Coach Foreman just always seems to have his guys peak at the right time. Unfortunate that one of these 3 teams will be left out this year. They might be the state's three best and it wouldn't shock me to see Signal being the 3rd team left out. Hard to bet against the defending champs, but I hear they have lost some of their starters. 

Region 5/6 - Page & Tullahoma ... Page has the guys to win it this year and doesn't really have any holes in their lineup. They should be viewed as a real threat and in my opinion have the most complete team.

Region 7/8 - Fairview & Sycamore ... Sycamore should be a great tournament team, but hard to see them doing much outside of making it to the dance.

With very little confidence in this given how even the teams appear, I would rank my top 8 as follows:

1. Page 

2. Signal Mtn.

3. Greeneville

4. Pigeon Forge

5. Soddy Daisy

6. Halls

7. Fairview

8. Sycamore

5 minutes ago, Ummmno said:

They have coaches that coach year round because they're paid to do so. Every other club coach I have ever known in my entire life has done it as a volunteer. 

 

Cleveland coaches get paid to be there by their "anonymous donor". 

 

They have more money coming in than any other program in the state. Bar none. This isn't a secret. If other programs had this type of money being "donated" they'd be able to build the same successful programs. 

 

Now, this isn't to take away from the quality of coaches they've brought in. Bosken and Knox are both a needle in a haystack finds. But come on guys, call it what it is. 

I'm not even a Cleveland fan, but even if that is true, so what? Good for them! The school, its alumni, donors and community are committed to be good at wrestling. If they want to raise money or have a donor pay a coach, great...the kids benefit and you shouldn't hate on that just because your school isn't as fortunate. I will be rooting for Summit or Bradley to end Cleveland's streak in February, but man, this sounds like pure jealousy...

4 hours ago, cbg said:

The TSSAA has made is very clear that if you have the money that a few of the elite prep schools in Tennessee have you don’t have to play by the rules and they will not challenge those schools. The facts are the following:  1. Many of the elite private schools in Tennessee have more money than the TSSSAA. 2.  The attorneys for the elite prep schools are often considered the best attorneys in Tennessee and are better than what the TSSAA is able to afford.  3.  The TSSAA and Board of Control could really care less about private schools and if the issues do not involve football or basketball they could really care less. 

This is all about money or the lack thereof.  As an example; what is the TSSAA going to do to a school that receives 100 million dollar donations?  A school that has that much in their endowment could not only retain the very best legal eagles but they would also have the ability to purchase the political influence needed and they could keep prolonging any legal proceedings for years to come.  The result would be the TSSAA would either crumble or file bankruptcy. 

Great point, cbg. From my time following this message board, you always seem to provide great insight and share intelligent posts. 

To the topic of Cleveland, I would add that they haven't just be handed success on a silver platter. Coach Bosken isn't denying that Mr. Jones has helped the program, but many schools receive help from donors (I admit maybe not to that level). As Coach Bosken noted, they raised $100k this year supposedly that Mr. Jones had nothing to do with. I suspect that type of budget is greater than most if not all high school football teams in the state (including the private schools). BUT that is money they earned from THEIR hard work and commitment (there is no rule against that). Money helps, make no mistake about it, but that is not why Cleveland and Bradley have been so good for so long. It's the buy in from top to bottom that has made them so great. They understand that success starts at the youth level and they've built their programs around that. The coaching aspect is also one of the main drivers of that success. Cleveland and Bradley's youth programs have better coaches than the majority of the high school programs across the state. As the old saying goes, if you built it, they will come, and these programs have done that with the coaches they have had over the years.

 Another thing I thought of that goes to the point that money isn't everything and doesn't always buy success...look at what Montgomery Bell Academy has done in D2 since Simpson's son took over. That program has as much money as any school in the state. You get a young qualified coach in there like they have now and they have been on the rise ever since. Even in the small school classification, it's the teams with the good coaches that attract the top talent. Greeneville (Randy Shelton/Sid Mason), Signal Mtn (Houston Clements/Matthew Cate), Pigeon Forge (legendary Greg Foreman), Soddy Daisy (Ulric Winesburg/Shane Turner), etc. This concept is nothing new and applies to all level of sports. Kids want to play for the coaches they believe give them the best chance to accomplish their goals. If you live in the Chattanooga area, who wouldn't want to wrestle for Coach Knox at Cleveland or Coach Smith at Bradley? They have proven to have the most success, which you can't blame folks for wanting to be a part of.

I see what you are saying, but I will say that I favor Hamm's rankings over the computer. College Football likely agrees with me choosing the CFP over the old BCS computer rankings. LOL. Hamm, please don't stop your rankings if you read this. I always look forward to your take!

Lipsey v. Cable would be a great match. Cable is a super entertaining guy to watch. Redford v. Wolfe should be good, too. It will be interesting to see Caleb at HWT this year. Best of luck to that young man. I really hope he gets that title that's eluded him. You won't find a better kid.

Preview of a potential state finals matchup between Magness and Bennett at 160. Brenot v. Heckert should be epic as well. So many great matches across the state this weekend. Does anyone know if Harpeth, Black Horse, or Catholic will be streaming matches on Flo or Track?

Just saw the list of teams for this one and did a little research on the out of state teams... very stout competition. Great to see West TN attract this type of talent from across the state and southeast. 

• Arab (AL) - 5-6A State Duals Champions, 2nd in traditional
• Blackman - 3rd in traditional 
• Brother Martin (LA) - Traditional State Champions
• Christian Brothers - 4th in traditional
• Cabot (AR) - 2nd in traditional
• MBA
• Grissom (AL)
• Oak Mountain (AL)
• Nolensville
• Paducah-Tilghman (KY) - 4th in Traditional
• Page
• Signal Mountain - A State Duals Champions, 2nd in traditional
• Summit - 4th in State Duals, 6th in traditional
• Zachary (LA)

 

3 hours ago, oceansize42 said:

Maybe.   Max was a state champ at 145 last year, Fargo AA, multiple wins overly nationally ranked opponents at the elite 8 duals, national duals AA in Greco and freestyle, just won the King Open as a true sophomore, was ranked 16th on Flo in the month of September at 152, and is generally on an absolute tear.  Love Hamm and I know he can't watch all the kids on the far side of the state but Max has got to be number one until shown otherwise.  Seems like an easy one but I know stuff happens.

I do agree with Oceansize on this one. "Mad" Max would beat Fowler, and I do not suspect it would be that close of a match. 

Great work with these Hamm!!! 

Great job with these rankings! Any chance we get to see Colin Dupill v. "Mad" Max or Logan Hecker v. Omaury Alvarez this year? Better question, are there any tournaments that these teams will see each other at this year? I would drive anywhere in the state to see either of those matches.

 

Looking at the entries on the website we have 40 guys participating. That's got to be a record number from TN. I love to see it! Of those 40, I give the following 10 guys (in order) the best chance to place.

1. Cooper Hilton (Baylor)

2. "Mad Max" Norman (Dobyns-Bennett)

3. Aiden Brenot (Clarksville)...his big win at WNO over Alverez showed how good he is on his feet which is where matches at tournaments like this are decided

4. Bryson Terrell (Bradley Central)

5. Logan Pardice (Baylor)...listed as Georgia

6. Hunter Sturgill (Baylor)

7. JoJo Uhorchuk (Signal Mtn.)

8. Logan Heckert (Sycamore)

9. Logan Fowler (Cleveland)

10. Caleb Uhorchuk (Signal Mtn.), Jarvis Little (Summit), Bentley Ellison (Cleveland) - depending on the day

 

And I agree with WrestlingGod, you're crazy if you don't think seeds matter at this event. You will probably see a good number of first round matches where you have two state champs going at it. When you have 100+ guys in a bracket and lose an opening round match, you've got to win like 8-10 matches just to get on the podium. 

12 hours ago, Mason422 said:

You are correct on one thing.  Families move to areas that they believe can make their wrestlers better.  Cleveland is a super solid program and the coaches travel the country with their kids and the same can be said about Baylor.  Why wouldn’t anyone want to be a part of that?
 

As far as recruiting is concerned. Bosken, Knox or anyone from Cleveland hasn’t ever tried to recruit my son “Hunter Mason”. They have invited him to summer camps and even coached him at a few tournaments, but haven’t ever even hinted at Hunter coming to their school.  Very professional in my opinion and I am just using him for example because I have first hand knowledge of that haha  

Everyone likes to complain about certain schools recruiting. I will say this, a kid can’t be recruited if they are happy with the school they are at. Kids go to places that they believe gives them the best chances to reach their goals. Hunter stayed at Greeneville because Randy Shelton has done wonderful by my son.  He’s gotten him is some of the toughest tourneys in the country and has been an excellent coach to my son.  Even though he had offers from private schools up north he didn’t feel the need to move because Greeneville has given him the opportunity to reach his National Goals. 
 

It’s my opinion that most of the kids who transfer schools have D1/D2 goals and they go to a place who has proven to produce college athletes. If you don’t want to loose kids from your program, get a tough schedule, have a year around program and challenge your wrestlers.  
 

let’s let not forget if it’s truly about the kids why wouldn’t you want them to transfer to a place that they feel is better?  People worry about Baylor for example because they are a boarding school and offer a great program and a great education and I guess to a certain extent is allowed to recruit “ not sure how much so please don’t beat me up if I am wrong”. But colleges don’t give out team scholarships.  

Let’s face it.  Kids are getting scholarships for winning a TN state title.  They are getting them from wrestling nationally and there are only a hand full of schools in the state that travel nationally to some  of the toughest tourneys in the country. I don’t blame the kids or the parents at all. 
 

Sid Mason 

Hard to argue with this. Great post and thank you for sharing your thoughts!