EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the sixth in a series counting down the area's top 12 prep dynasties of the past 50 years.
When they were competing for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga two decades ago, little did Josh Bosken and Joey Knox realize the impact they would later have on the area's youth and high school wrestling scene.
The two best friends have helped build a dynasty with the Cleveland Blue Raiders.
Over the past six years, the Blue Raiders have done something that no TSSAA boys' athletic program has ever done by winning 12 consecutive team state championships. No other team has reached double figures, with Alcoa's eight straight football titles closest to what Cleveland has accomplished.
Knox took over as head coach of the Blue Raiders six years ago, and since then they have finished first at every TSSAA competition — duals or traditional tournament — with a state championship on the line, earning half of Cleveland's 24 team titles. The Blue Raiders are 61-0 overall in duals competition the past three seasons and 154-3 under Knox.
They have won state duals by an average team score of 43.2-22.0 over their past six championships, and they have won six straight traditional tournaments by finishing with an average of 216.3 points, compared to 156.8 for the runners-up in that stretch.
In 2021, the Blue Raiders set a program record with six individual champions, and they had 10 finalists in all. Of the program's 52 all-time individual state championships, 20 have been won since 2018.
"I got into coaching because I wanted to help out with kids," said Knox, whose team had a cumulative 3.5 GPA this past season. "Whenever I do something, I want to do it to the best of my ability. I am super competitive and love to set goals, and our kids are the same way. We just keep setting our goals higher and higher as we have more success. We have to really start our kids young and get them to buy into our culture."
Bosken has been crucial to the rise as part of the program since 2007, spending time as an assistant and the head coach. In 2017, he took over Higher Calling Wrestling Club, which is part of the pipeline for the Blue Raiders, and in 2021 he was honored as one of the AAU's top coaches. This past February, he led Cleveland High School's second-year girls' wrestling program to its first state championships, with the Lady Blue Raiders sweeping the duals and traditional titles.
Cleveland has won 19 state championships since 2008 and placed outside the top two just once in that span. The Blue Raiders set a state record with 13 pins in their 78-4 championship dual victory over Wilson Central in 2013 and beat intracounty rival Bradley Central 56-9 for a state duals title in 2019.
Bosken said Cleveland Middle School wrestling coach Evan Vermillion is also part of the process.
"Everything we do is all about Cleveland wrestling and helping our kids be successful," Bosken said. "Joey is always at my house talking about what our lineups will look like years down the road with the kids we have coming up or what can we do to improve. Coach Vermillion is always communicating with us. We are best friends and all share the same vision."
The success doesn't stop at the prep level. Just in recent years, the program has produced promising NCAA Division I wrestlers Trae McDaniel (Army) and Cody Chittum (Iowa). McDaniel, a three-time individual state champion, went 32-11 as a freshman this past winter, when he was one match away from qualifying for the NCAA tournament.
Cleveland junior Logan Fowler recently became the second Blue Raider to win a NHSCA national championship, joining four-time state champion Chris DeBien, who won as a senior in 2015. Fowler, a two-time state champ, has already been in contact with eight D-I programs.
While some of the area's prep sports dynasties of the past half-century have already come and gone, the Blue Raiders' streak is not only current, it seems far from over. They had nine sophomores in the starting lineup this past season, along with a freshman state champion.
"There's no reason why we can't win 20 state championships in a row," Knox said. "The first thing we tell our kids is to set goals and we will do everything to help them reach it. If they want to be the No. 1 wrestler in the country, that's exactly what we will work for."
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.
READ MORE: DYNAMITE DOZEN PREP DYNASTIES
No. 12: Baylor boys' and girls' tennis
No. 10: Bradley Central wrestling
No. 3: South Pittsburg football