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the Greatest?????


CoachBruce
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I want to start a Nice Rowdy discussion about

 

Who is the Greatest HIGH SCHOOL wrestler in the History of Tennessee??

 

by saying HIGH SCHOOL, I mean Regular Season, Nov. thru February. thus....Freestyle doesn't count.

 

Freshman through State Tourney or Senior year--Therefore.....Senior Nationals Don't Count.

 

and.......College achievements don't count.

 

let the Wild Arguments begin!!!!!

 

PS. my vote? Phillip Simpson, simply by virtue of his 13-point win over Jake Yost Simpson's senior year.

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Who is the only wrestler to be a 4x finalist with a unified state tournament(private and public) all four years.

Tn's three 4x champs had years when only one faction competed. This not to take anything away from them; they were all great. Martin Francis didn't compete against the private(ironic isn't it) schools his first year or two. Phillip Simpson and Matt Keller didn't compete in a unified state their latter years. On a side note, they both won the state in 1999 at the same wt-125(it could have been a better match-up than any, ever- even better than Nelson vs. McTorry). If together, obviously we have one less 4x champ. Not only did this individual compete all 4 yrs in a unified state, he is the only wrestler in TSSAA history to go undefeated 3 straight years. He had 2 losses as a freshman, both by one pt, with a penalty point in the last secs. to make the difference, and both losses against state champs. He lost to Sandlin of Baylor in only his second HS match, later avenging that loss twice, the second time by a major dec. His 2nd and last loss was in the state finals 12-11(hand caught in singlet, called for grabbing the uniform). He is my pick as not only the best, but the toughest wrestler ever. This guy could have won the next 4 wt classes above him. Who is he? David Vance-3x champ, and runner-up(1988-91).

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Martin Francis did compete head to head in dual meets with both Baylor and McCallie wrestlers his first two years. McCallie and Baylor were dominant teams. There wasn't another public or private school that could stay on the mat with them. He regularly wiped the mat up with Baylor's Jimmy Weinberg. Jimmy's older brothers both won the National prep school championships and wrestled at Princeton. Martin also beat his opponents at McCallie.

 

He was a tournament wrestler and would goof off during the season and turn up several notches during the states.

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This post is about the greatest ever. Francis may have been a four time state champ without divisions, but he squeeked by barely into the state tournament twice. His senior year he was fourth in the region. The greatest ever would also have been a four time region champ if he even had a regional (Simpson and DII don't have regionals). The one thing I would look at is that Simpson was expected to win his freshman year where as Keller surprised some people in winning his freshman year. Simpson was a state qualifier in a unified state his eight grade year (95 pounds soaking wet wrestling at 103). Keller defeated two state champs in winning his freshman year (although Brewster totally overlooked him after spanking him handily at the duals two weeks prior).

 

Let the debate continue. Simpson or Keller?

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