A ( Small School) 2021-2022

[McNugget]

This might be the biggest area for shakeup with realignment, More quality teams/programs moving down such as Soddy Daisy, East Hamilton, Knox Halls, Tullahoma, and Page.  

Team contenders, Top ranked wrestlers, Top Incoming wrestlers

[GoTNwrestling]

11 hours ago, McNugget said:

This might be the biggest area for shakeup with realignment, More quality teams/programs moving down such as Soddy Daisy, East Hamilton, Knox Halls, Tullahoma, and Page.  

Team contenders, Top ranked wrestlers, Top Incoming wrestlers

I think Halls, PG, Greeneville, Fairview and Hixon can make some noise at the top 4 spot 

[MemphisTiger14]

On 3/2/2021 at 6:49 AM, McNugget said:

This might be the biggest area for shakeup with realignment, More quality teams/programs moving down such as Soddy Daisy, East Hamilton, Knox Halls, Tullahoma, and Page.  

Team contenders, Top ranked wrestlers, Top Incoming wrestlers

I don't know about them as a team, but Munford  (formerly Region 8) dropping will shake things up as well. "Mo" Moktani is going to be a senior next year and he is coming off a very impressive state tournament at 126 lb. Keep an eye on Christian Perez (138) and Jermyah Davis (182) as well. They didn't medal this year, but they're tough kids who I think will have a shot next season.

**Davis wrestled 195 at state, but he was a 182 who bumped up because Zuckerman and Lankford were the favorites to advance**

Edited March 4, 2021 by MemphisTiger14

[Biffmar4]

Look like some tough kids. Welcome to small school!

[Sommers]

In case you missed this 2020-2021 finals article...

Fairview wins TN dual wrestling title, finishes fourth in individual championship

By Biff Curtis

Special to The Fairview Observer USA TODAY NETWORK — TENNESSEE

 

Eight years ago, a group of parents and practice-weary Fairview Titans Youth football players gathered to listen to Coach James “Bubba” Derrick explain how wrestling would make them better football players, better athletes, and better people.  

He had a vision to grow the Fairview High School wrestling program. Those young athletes listened to Derrick and the hard work since that day culminated with Fairview winning its first state championship. The Yellow Jackets defeated Pigeon Forge 39-36 to win the TSSAA Class A/AA Dual Championship on Feb. 6 at Nolensville High School.

 

The following Fairview athletes were among the standouts that Derrick convinced with his message years ago: Riley Bennett, Jacob Clevenger, Blake Mitchell, Malachi Bennett, Kendrick Curtis, Sam Hammon, Brody Cox and Marco Pukl.

“This is huge for our kids and our program, huge for our school and Administration, huge for our county and huge for the Fairview community.  We made history today, but we also cemented the future of wrestling in our town,” Derrick said. “I love our kids. They are a mature group of young athletes who have learned that this sport prepares them for life and that when they put their toe on that red or green line, they represent more than themselves. I could not be more proud right now.”

The semifinals featured the No. 2 seed Fairview against the No. 3 seed Hixson and No. 1 seed and back-to-back State Champions, Pigeon Forge, against the No. 4 seed Signal Mountain.

Heavyweight

The match of the dual semifinal was in the heavyweight class.

The Yellow Jackets sent out Jacob Clevenger, who weighed in at 208 lbs, to battle with Landon Moore (13-1) who outweighed him by over 80 lbs. 

During the back-and-forth match, Moore took a 11-9 lead. Derrick immediately had Clevenger allow his opponent back to his feet knowing that his wrestler could tie it up with another takedown.  However, Clevenger, exhausted, was slow to return to center and was hit with a 1-point stall call extending Moore’s lead to 3. With 1 minute left in the match, both wrestlers returned to the center of the mat in neutral. Clevenger scored a quick takedown, Moore a quick escape, and Clevenger with another quick takedown knotting the bout at 13-13 with :47 left.  Clevenger now in the top position, was just too exhausted to hold his much larger opponent down and with :25 seconds left Moore recorded the escape and a 1-point lead.  In desperation, Clevenger worked for a doubled leg takedown with :14 seconds left, Moore had a tight body lock around his smaller opponent and tried to flip him over his head, Clevenger landed in an advantageous position, with Moore still on his back and Clevenger facing away from his opponent's head with both arms locked up, he dug deep, squeezed tightly, and leaned back pinning Moore with just :03 left on the clock.

Overall, Fairview defeated Hixson 44-31 in the first semifinal. 

·   132 - Caleb Miller (Hixson) over Jeffery Anderson (Fairview) Maj 15-7

·   138 - Riley Bennett (Fairview) over Cole Shackleford (Hixson) Fall 0:55

·   145 - Bradley Woodall (Hixson) over Mathew Cox (Fairview) Fall 3:34

·   152 - Blake Mitchell (Fairview) over Jonas Vandergriff (Hixson) Fall 1:55

·   160 - Malachi Bennett (Fairview) over Kobie Smith (Hixson) Dec 8-3

 

·   170 - Jacob Derrick (Fairview) over Barrett Seldon (Hixson) Fall 1:58

·   182 - Marco Pukl (Fairview) over Maddox Gilkey (Hixson) Fall 0:28

·   195 - Kendrick Curtis (Fairview) over Logan Woodall (Hixson) TF 18-2

·   220 - Parrish Pacetti (Hixson) over Sam Hammon (Fairview) Fall 1:40

·   285 - Jacob Clevenger (Fairview) over Landon Moore (Hixson) Fall 5:58

·   106 - JuJuan McCrary (Hixson) over Sam Frank (Fairview) Dec 7-2

·   113 - Josh Helm (Fairview) over Grant Finch (Hixson) Fall 0:36

·   120 - Jase Moses (Hixson) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

·   126 - Trevor Lewis (Hixson) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

Dual Championship vs. Pigeon Forge

Pigeon Forge defeated Signal Mountain 42-33 in the other semifinal dual setting up a rematch of last year’s State Championship Dual.

 

In the championship, Bennett was also the first to toe the line for the Jackets and made quick work of his opponent for his second pin of the day. Fellow Senior Brody Cox stepped up to the mat next to take on a well-seasoned, #2 ranked opponent. Cox battled like the true warrior he is staving off attack after attack to lose small and only give up 4 team points. 

 

The Jackets gave up 6 at 152 and Pigeon Forge took a 10-6 lead. The coaching strategy now came into play as Derrick and his staff agreed the best option for winning big and losing small was to bump all of his remaining wrestlers up a weight class. Junior standout and returning State Placer Blake Mitchell bumped up to 160 lbs and quickly pinned his opponent, explosive Sophomore Malachi Bennett bumped up to 170 lbs and majored his opponent, and Marco Pukl wrestled up to 182, narrowly losing in Sudden Victory to lose only 3 team points maintaining Fairview’s lead 16-13.  Kendrick Curtis bumped up to 195 and suffered only his second loss of the season giving up the pin halfway through the third period, and the weight difference was also too much for Taz Donaldson to overcome at the 220lb weight class, getting pinned by his No. 2 ranked opponent.  With these two losses, the Jackets were now down 25-16 heading into Heavyweight.  

 

 

 

Again, the Jackets Coaches asked Clevenger to toe the line, but this time against the No. 1 ranked Heavyweight in the state. This was another epic battle where Clevenger gave up nearly 80 pounds and 6 inches in height to his opponent.  This match was filled with underhooks, throws, body locks and clenching from neutral. Clevenger again fought off adversity and made it to the 3rd period, taking advantage of his own conditioning and stamina he was able to overcome a throw attempt from his weary opponent, landing on top of him and finishing off the match with a pin.  

 

Freshman standout Sam Frank pinned his opponent at 106 lbs giving the Jackets a narrow lead 28-25. The Jackets gave up 6 at 113, but a celebration by the Pigeon Forge wrestler cost them a team point for Unsportsmanlike Conduct. Sophomore Keegan Seaver was able to secure 5 more for the Jackets at 120. The score was now 34-31 Jackets with just two bouts left.

Fairview’s Jeffery Anderson has been a solid competitor all season for the Jackets and faced a No. 1 ranked opponent. He found himself down 8-2 after the first period, but knew he had a chance to come back. However, shortly into the second period, his opponent illegally returned him to the mat with a trapped arm landing him hard on his head and shoulder. After an evaluation by trainers, he was unable to continue giving Fairview the 6 points due to the illegal slam.  

 

Fairview defeated Pigeon Forge 39-36

·   138 - Riley Bennett (Fairview) over Colin Gray (Pigeon Forge) Fall 3:00

·   145 - Josh Parton (Pigeon Forge) over Mathew Cox (Fairview) Maj 10-2

·   152 - Garrett Foreman (Pigeon Forge) over John Spicer (Fairview) Fall 2:40

·   160 - Blake Mitchell (Fairview) over Aiden Littles (Pigeon Forge) Fall 1:12

·   170 - Malachi Bennett (Fairview) over Khumovn Sattorov (Pigeon Forge) Maj 15-4

 

·   182 - Joseph Skidmore (Pigeon Forge) over Marco Pukl (Fairview) SV-1 7-5

·   195 - Ethan Sutton (Pigeon Forge) over Kendrick Curtis (Fairview) Fall 5:17

·   220 - Caleb Wolfe (Pigeon Forge) over Arie Donaldson (Fairview) Fall 0:16

·   285 - Jacob Clevenger (Fairview) over Mustafi Algarawi (Pigeon Forge) Fall 4:49

·   106 - Sam Frank (Fairview) over Samuel Hadder (Pigeon Forge) Fall 2:16

·   113 - Hunter Gentry (Pigeon Forge) over Josh Helm (Fairview) Fall 3:09

·   120 - Keegan Seaver (Fairview) over James Justice (Pigeon Forge) TF 25-9

·   126 - Jeffery Anderson (Fairview) over Andy Cable (Pigeon Forge) Inj 2:12

·   132 - Noah Dyer (Pigeon Forge) over Mathew Blaylock (Fairview) Fall 3:31

·       Pigeon Forge's team score was adjusted by -1.0 for unsportsmanlike 113

 

Fairview finishes fourth in individual championships

Twelve Jackets took to the mats one last time for their 2020-2021 season at the TSSAA Individual Class A/AA State Championships Feb. 24 at the Chattanooga Convention Center.

Riley Bennett, the senior and three-time state runner up, led five junior teammates, five sophomore teammates, and a freshman teammate into a strong field that featured two nationally ranked wrestlers and some of the best wrestlers in the state across all divisions.

 

Sam Frank (106 lbs), the lone Yellow Jacket freshman to qualify for the state championships, won his first two matches and advancing to the semifinals where he dropped his first match to No. 1 ranked and eventual State Champion, Ethan Uhorchuk. He fought back to place fourth overall in the state.

Keegan Seaver (120lbs), a Fairview sophomore, pinned his first opponent in :16, but lost a very close 8-6 decision to eventual state finalist, Spencer Reep, in the quarterfinals. He won his next two matches on the consolation side of the bracket, dropped another match by 2 points, and finished with a win by decision to place fifth.

 

Jeffrey Anderson (126lbs), sophomore, won his first two matches to advance to the semifinals  where he lost to the eventual state champion, Daniel Uhorchuk. He battled to a 5th/6th placement bout, where he was illegally returned to the mat knocking him out momentarily causing him to be wheeled out on a stretcher for further evaluation.  Due to the illegal nature of the slam, Jeffrey was awarded the victory and captured a fifth place finish.

 

Taz Donaldson (195lbs), junior, battled his way to a semifinals appearance where he met with his first defeat of the tournament. He won the consolation semifinals before dropping his last match landing him in 4th place.

For the first time in Fairview High School history, the Jackets had four wrestlers earn their way to the state finals:

Malachi Bennett (160lbs), sophomore, won his first three matches with a Fall and two Major Decisions to reach the finals where he squared off with a Nationally ranked hammer from Greeneville, Kodiak Cannedy.  Malachi came up short in this match to finish as State Runner Up.  Bennett is now a two-time State Placer after finishing 3rd last year.

 

Kendrick Curtis (182lbs), sophomore, defeated his first three opponents with 2 wins by all and one major decision. He met returning State Champion, Noah Hill from Forrest, in the finals. Curtis jumped out to an early lead, but eventually lost by an 8-4 decision earning a 2nd place finish. Curtis is also a two-time state placer after finishing 4th last year.

Jacob Clevenger (heavyweight), junior, used a combination of speed and strength to pin his first three opponents.  

 

In the finals, he had a rematch from the TSSAA State Dual Championships with Mustafi Algarawi from Pigeon Forge whom he beat with a 3rd period Fall.  However, history did not repeat itself and Algarawi was able to pull ahead with a late takedown to win 5-4 landing Clevenger in 2nd place. Clevenger is a three-time State Placer after finishing 5th his Freshman and Sophomore seasons.

Fairview adds another Individual State Champion to their resume:

 

Riley Bennett (145), senior, was on a mission after being runner up the last three times in the individual state championships.  He won by fall over his first opponent to advance to the quarterfinals where he met John Pittman of Gibbs. The two wrestlers matched up very well, but Bennett was up for the challenge securing a 6-3 decision in what would be his toughest match of the tournament. In the semifinals, he faced Brody Mclemore from Eagleville. Bennett won takedowns when needed while managing his effort and saving some gas in the tank for his finals match. 

 

In the finals, Bennett wrestled Josh Parton from Pigeon Forge. Bennett was able to secure a few takedowns early before he and Parton collided on a shot causing Parton’s nose to bleed. Twice the match had to be stopped to rewrap Parton’s face, which was done to hold the gauze in his nostrils, and to clean up blood. Bennett continued to wrestle hard, working an arm bar in. Just as he was about to turn Parton to his back, Parton’s father came out of the crowd and onto the mat and forfeited the match for his son. 

Other Fairview state qualifiers

Josh Helm (113lbs), Sophomore

Blake Mitchell (152lbs), Junior

Marco Pukl (170lbs), Junior

Sam Hammon (220lbs), Junior

 

Edited March 5, 2021 by Sommers