Christian Brothers Edges Baylor in Semis

[bbb]

While Soddy Daisy rolled into the D-I AAA semis (Saturday at 1 p.m. and Chattanooga Central won twice to make the D-I A-AA finals (Sat. 7 p.m.), it was Christian Brothers in D-II who stole the spotlight at the 25th annual TSSAA state wrestling duals and hope to make the third times the charm come true in Saturday nights final.

 

The Purple Wave held off a Baylor rally to stop the defending state champs, 27-26, in the semis and will face Father Ryan, a 43-21 winner against McCallie in the other semifinal, in the 8 p.m. (EST) final Saturday at the Williamson County Ag & Expo Center in Franklin.

 

All Results: Go to TSSAA.org for all scores and results.

 

For Christian Brothers and coach Chris Lewis is this the "third time is the charm" as the guys from Memphis placed second to Father Ryan in 2010 and to Baylor in 2011?

 

In one of the most anticipated matches of the tournament, Baylor took a 6-0 lead with wins at 220 (Ryan Seaberg won in overtime) and 285, but then saw the Purple Wave win five of the next seven weights, including pins by Elijah Oliver (106), Nick Gray (120) and Kaleb Baker (145), for a 24-12 lead.

 

Baylor then closed within two (24-22) on regular decisions by Houston Clements (152) and Spencer Craig (170) and a major decision by Matthew Cate (160),

 

Corbin McOglan then stopped Baylor's Ellis Huff, 6-2, at 182, for a five-point Christian Brothers lead at 27-22.

 

Baylor needed at least five points (tech fall or pin) from Matt Bodine in the final match for the victory, but sophomore Jeremy Brandon fought off his back in the first period and scored a late takedown in the third period to lose 21-9 which gave Baylor four team points (major decision) and the Purple Wave moved into the finals for the third year in a row.

 

If Bodine had won by 15 or more points to earn the five team points the match would have bee tied at 27-27 and the Red Raiders would have won due on the first tie-breaker of most individual matchs won, 8-6.

 

"Jeremy wrestled a great, gutty match to give us the win," shouted coach Lewis to his wrestlers after the win.

 

"We got the monkey off our backs for tonight, but we have to do it again in the finals to get it off our backs for good," stated Lewis whose team also beat a three-time defending state champion Baylor team in the semis in 2010.

 

Christian Brothers has never won a state wrestling title. Father Ryan has won seven state duals crowns, including the first one in 1988.

 

Match of the Night: Baylor four-time state champion Zach Watson rallied from down four (5-1) and scored an overtime takedown to win, 8-6, against state champion Tate Robinson. Watson has four losses in five years, but has never lost to a wrestler from Tennessee.

 

Bonus Points: The Purple Wave won only six matches, but gained nine bonus points (three each in three pins) in those wins, while Baylor only had two bonus points in eight wins.

 

In D-I A-AA, Pigeon Forge upset Hixson, 33-32, and will face Chattanooga Central for the title.

 

In D-I AAA, Soddy Daisy meets Independence and Cleveland faces Science Hill in the 2 p.m. semis with the finals at 8 p.m.

 

In the D-II Invitational, Franklin Road Academy faces Briarcrest in the finals at 5 p.m.

(all times EST)

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

[coachknepper]

Probably the two most exciting matches of the night were Zach Watson vs. Tate Robinson (dec 8-6 for Baylor) and Brandon Brunner vs. Matt Johnson (dec 5-2 for CBHS).

 

Both teams are top-notch heading into the last few weeks of the season.

[first]

wow too bad holloway was out at 120 or this would have likely been a baylor victory..he did beat gray last yr at 103

[2blLeg]

wow too bad holloway was out at 120 or this would have likely been a baylor victory..he did beat gray last yr at 103

 

They split last year, so don't be saying that's a give me.

[first]

agreed --im not even saying holloway was a sure win .. as a matter of fact i believe that would have been a 3 pt decision either way..still giving baylor the victory by pts..

[GoBrothers]

Shoulda coulda woulda... fact of the matter is that this time of the year it can always come down to one match, and if that match doesn't go your way... you lose.

 

I wasn't there personally but from what I gather it was a great duel. Why not chalk it up to that and give a little credit to the team that did enough to WIN on a day thats important to achieving a teams overall goal?

[CFRT]

Pulling ahead of FR with 3 matches left in the final