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T.J. Duncan's Drive For Five

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With right hand high above his head, McCallie eighth grader T.J. Duncan signaled “1 of 5†to let the wrestling world know of his intentions.

 

His goal since grammar school has been to win five state wrestling championships; a feat that no other Tennessee high school wrestler has achieved.

 

Up to now.

 

That was Feb. 2007 and four years later – as the sport celebrates the 50th anniversary of its state tournament this weekend – Duncan is within three wins of reaching that illusive goal.

 

The 50th Anniversary TSSAA/United States Marine Corps State Wrestling Championships are today through Saturday at the Williamson County Ag Expo Center in Franklin.

 

(see tournament schedule at end of story).

 

“To win five state championships has been a goal of mine since elementary school,†said Duncan who is ranked No.10 nationally at 160 pounds in the latest rankings by Amateur Wrestling News which came out this week.

 

Duncan, who turns 18 in March and will wrestle for the University of Maryland next year, is one of eight Tennessee wrestlers to win four titles; Martin Francis (Notre Dame, 1969-1972), Kenny Hill (Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe in Ga. (3) and East Ridge (1), 1978-81), Phillip Simpson (MBA, 1998-2001), Matt Keller (Bradley Central, 1999-2002), Jordan Leen (Baylor, 2001-2004, Ryan Scott (McCallie, 2001-04) and Bailey Whitaker (Baylor, 2005-08), Duncan (McCallie, 2007-2010).

 

Among the Tennessee four-timers who have made their presence known at the NCAA Division I tournament are Leen (NCAA champion), Simpson (NCAA runner-up) and Keller (NCAA 4th).

 

The first Tennessee state champ to make it big at the NCAA Division I level was Bill Harlow of St. Andrew’s.

 

He won five Mid South titles (1958-62), one state title (1962, Outstanding Wrestler) in the only state tourney he competed in, one national prep championship (1962, Outstanding Wrestler and beat the tourney OW from 1961) and was a three-time All-American and 1966 NCAA champion at Oklahoma State and a World Silver Medalist.

 

It’s a short list of five time state champions across the county, due to the difficult task of defeating all comers for five years and only a few states – Alabama, Florida, South Dakota, Tennessee and Virginia to name a few – allow eighth graders to compete at the varsity level.

 

Florida allows sixth graders to wrestle for a state title, while Georgia limits varsity eligibility to ninth grade and above.

 

Going into this weekend, there are eight, five-time champs – including former World silver medalist Lincoln McIlravy (S.D.) – and two six-timers.

 

Current Webster (S.D.) High School senior Logan Storley, who wrestles at 171 and has signed with Minnesota, is one of those five-timers and competes in his state’s region tournament this weekend as Duncan goes for his fifth, and shoots for a sixth championship Feb. 25-26.

 

The nation’s first six-timer was South Dakota’s Kirk Wallman (Freeman HS), 1984-89.

 

Closer to home, Michael Sutton was a six-time Alabama state wrestling champion from Weaver High School, 1999-2004.

 

“Winning five titles means a high quality of success overt a long period of time which I believe is important," Duncan said.

 

This Weekend: Duncan’s quest for a fifth championship ring – “one for the thumb†as NFL hall of fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw once said – begins early Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals (he has a round of 16 bye) as he faces the Cody Burchwell (JP2)-Chris Richey (BGA) winner.

 

A victory there and he wrestles in the Friday night semis and about 23 hours later on center stage for the Saturday night finals where most all eyes in Williamson County Arena will be concentrating on the D-II mat and possible state history.

 

“What T.J. has done in five years is pretty special,†said McCallie coach Gordon Connell.

 

“He’s beaten several guys in the tournament two and three years older, has been a team player throughout his career, moving up a weight when we needed him to and beaten some quality wrestlers out of state, including a Fargo All-American and a top 10 ranked kid earlier this year.â€

 

Duncan’s Road To Five:

 

As a 13-year-old eighth grader and seeded second, he beat a junior state medalist (Ryan McKenzie, St. Benedict), 11-5, for his first title.

 

Then Duncan moved up three weights in 2008 to 135 to beat Father Ryan junior Cody Austell, 11-4. Austell would win a state championship in 2009.

 

“Since everyone was watching to see if I could win again after 2007, the second title was the toughest of the four,†Duncan stated.

 

In 2009, Duncan was at 140 and posted a major decision against junior state medalist Zach Johnson (Christian Brothers), 16-9, who would win a state championship in 2010.

 

Last year, Duncan moved up two weights and majored senior state medalist Tony Downs (Christian Brothers), 11-1, in the 152 final.

 

Duncan’s Stats: Breakdown of Duncan’s 15 state tournament wins: pins (8), technical falls (1), major decisions (3), regular decisions (3) and no decision closer than six points.

 

South Dakota Wrestling Legacy: The Wallman family has 18 state championships as Kirk Wallman has his aforementioned six, his dad, Gary (Miller HS), was SD’s first four-time state champ and Kirk’s two brothers, Troy and Cory, also won four each.

 

A few household names who have made the four or five-time state championship list.

 

5x – Lincoln McIlravy; Phillips HS in SD ... 3x NCAA champ at Iowa ...

2000 Olympic Bronze … World Silver medalist

 

4x – Cael Sanderson Wasatch HS in Heber City, Utah ... 4x NCAA champ at Iowa State . 2010 Olympic champion

 

4x – Gene Davis, Missoula (Mont.) County HS ... 1966 NCAA champion at Oklahoma State ... 1976 Olympic Bronze medalist … longtime Athletes in Action wrestling coach

 

4x – Kenny Monday; Washington HS in Tulsa, 1977-80 … 1988 Olympic Gold Medalist

 

 

TSSAA/United States Marine Corps State Wrestling Championships

 

The D-I tournament starts today at 2 p.m. (EST) as wrestlers compete in round of 32 and round of 16, while the D-II tourney and the Girls Invitational begins Friday.

 

Championship semis in all three divisions are set for Friday at 8 p.m., the Girls finals are Saturday at 1 p.m. with the D-I and D-II championship finals are Saturday at 7 p.m.

 

Tickets: $10 each day.

 

On The Web: Go to TSSAA.org for weight-by-weight brackets and team and individual results.

 

Recognizing the Past: Seven individual state champions from the first state tournament in 1961 will be recognized at 6:25 p.m. Saturday before the parade of champions which preceeds the finals.

 

 

contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net

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LynxWrestler Advanced Member

LynxWrestler

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ok i heard about duncan doing a celebration after winning state his 8th grade year, any truth to the story?

 

 

Yeah, it was one of the most classless things I've ever seen on the wrestling mat. He took his headgear off and "buried" it at the center of the mat. Since then when I've seen him wrestle, which is few and far between since I didn't wrestle in the Chattanooga area, I didn't see any sort of celebration of that magnitude. Although when I wrestled him in 2008 at a tournament, he only minored me and he would not look at me or my coach when we shook hands. That is not as bad as what he did as an 8th grader, but it still showed poor sportsmanship.

 

Now I am not saying he's a bad person, I was not a teammate or classmate of his. But he is an amazing wrestler to pull what he has, 5 state titles. Granted those championships are in DII, but I have not looked to see if I think he would beat the DI wrestler at each weight.

 

Either way, he is an amazing wrestler who teams can only hope to find once in a generation.

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two4takedowns Manager

two4takedowns

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Yeah, it was one of the most classless things I've ever seen on the wrestling mat. He took his headgear off and "buried" it at the center of the mat. Since then when I've seen him wrestle, which is few and far between since I didn't wrestle in the Chattanooga area, I didn't see any sort of celebration of that magnitude. Although when I wrestled him in 2008 at a tournament, he only minored me and he would not look at me or my coach when we shook hands. That is not as bad as what he did as an 8th grader, but it still showed poor sportsmanship.

 

Now I am not saying he's a bad person, I was not a teammate or classmate of his. But he is an amazing wrestler to pull what he has, 5 state titles. Granted those championships are in DII, but I have not looked to see if I think he would beat the DI wrestler at each weight.

 

Either way, he is an amazing wrestler who teams can only hope to find once in a generation.

Hey thanks for the response Lynx! Is it true that he had started out his middle school years at Baylor, then switched to Mccallie because the Baylor coaches were not going to allow him to wrestle in states his 8th grade year?

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2blLeg Contender

2blLeg

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Hey thanks for the response Lynx! Is it true that he had started out his middle school years at Baylor, then switched to Mccallie because the Baylor coaches were not going to allow him to wrestle in states his 8th grade year?

 

Why are you so concerned with the past? TJ is one heck of a wrestler, and everything I've seen one heck of a nice kid. Leave the past alone, and celebrate the accomplishments.

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slingshot Trainer

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Why are you so concerned with the past? TJ is one heck of a wrestler, and everything I've seen one heck of a nice kid. Leave the past alone, and celebrate the accomplishments.

Probably is a nice kid and undeniably a very good wrestler. Just funny how we conveniently want to just "forget the past" when it suits us, yet will use it in the drop of a hat if it can help an argument of our own. Did you hate History class in High School? After all, that's all in the past. :roflol:

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