Soddy Daisy Turns Out The Lights On Region 4 Wrestling

Trojans Advance 13 To State; Central, Notre Dame Second, Third

Saturday, February 11, 2012
John Hunt

The Soddy Daisy Trojans literally turned out the lights on the rest of the field in the Region 4 wrestling tournament Saturday afternoon.

Windy conditions caused a couple of trees to fall in the area and the power was interrupted several times for short periods, but it didn't seem to affect the way the host Trojans were wrestling.

They weren't quite as dominant as they were on Friday, but they still managed to win half of their championship finals matches while claiming one third-place among three consolation matches.

Soddy Daisy's five champions included Campbell Lewis at 132, Gage Richmond at 138, Blaike Henry at 170, Brett Ervin at 182 and Billy Swanson at 220.

Austin Houser (106), Jacob Stevens (120), Josh Deckelman (126), Turbo Smith (145) and Alex Seeley (285) all finished second while Garrett Alexander was third at 152. Adam Brewer (113) and Luke Reno (195) both finished fourth.

The Trojans finished the two-day event with 277.5 points, which was 102 ahead of runner-up Central.

Notre Dame was third with 147 while Hixson and East Ridge were next with 118 and 106.5 points, respectively.

Soddy Daisy coach Steve Henry knows what it takes to win on the state's biggest stage. The Trojans won the AAA State Duals last weekend and they're hoping to add a traditional title next weekend, but Henry knows that his team needs to be a little more focused if they plan to bring home the top prize next time.

"I wasn't totally happy with the way we wrestled in the finals, but we have a tough region. All the ones we lost were close matches, but other teams like Notre Dame brought it to us. We have to be ready for the challenge," Henry explained later.

"We would have liked to have 10 region champs, but what matters is how many we take next week and what we do with them. Notre Dame was outstanding this weekend and we had some real battles with them. Central brought their "A" game as well.

"I'm kind of disappointed with the way the finals turned out, but our kids racked up a lot of points and overall did pretty well," Henry added.

Marquis Dotson is Central's first-year head coach. His Pounders also won last weekend with the A-AA State Duals title, so he naturally has high expectations for his team.

"I thought we finished strong as we came through at the end. Soddy Daisy is a tough team and we knew coming in that it would be really hard to beat them. Trumond (Martin) getting a first place was a big deal and our finishing second as a team pleased me. We were hoping for 11 or 12 qualifiers, but nine isn't too bad," he added.

Notre Dame coach John Mullin has been around wrestling circles for a long time and he too knows what it takes to prevail at this stage of the season. He was happy with the way his Fighting Irish battled.

"For us to qualify seven is strong for us. We showed and did well and I'm pleased with the results," he said.

"Soddy Daisy did great and they've been the top-ranked team all year and they lived up to it.

We won five of seven in the last two rounds, including three of four in the championship round.

"We were pumped as we experienced a lot of positives. We definitely left with a big smile on our face," Mullin added.

While Soddy Daisy led the way with five champions, Central and Notre Dame both had three each. Hixson, Tyner and Silverdale had one apiece.

Central's three included Cody Bowman at 106, Larry Dickerson at 152 and Martin at 195. Notre Dame's three included Packy Mullin at 120, Jack Boone at 126 and Grayson Mullin at 145.

Other winners included Hixson's Justin Mathieson at 160, Tyner's DeAngelo James at 113 and Silverdale's Josh Mackey at 285.

James was the only wrestler to enter the tournament undefeated. He's now 38-0 with three more pins, including a fall in 57 seconds in the finals.

While Friday's action only produced two upsets for top seeds, there were five number ones who got beat in the finals, including Soddy-Daisy's Stevens, Smith and Seeley. Others included Red Bank's Logan Sharp at 152 and Signal Mountain's Tyler Montgomery at 195.

The top four finishers in each weight class advance to the state tournament, which begins on Thursday at the Williamson County Ag Expo Center in Franklin.

LEGEND, FINAL TEAM SCORES & NUMBER OF QUALIFIERS

1. Soddy Daisy (SD) 277.5 with 13; 2. Central (Cen) 175.5 with 9; 3. Notre Dame (ND) 147 with 7; 4. Hixson (Hix) 118 with 4; 5. East Ridge (ER) 106.5 with 5; 6. Ooltewah (O) 99 with 5; 7. Red Bank (RB) 89.5 with 5; 8. Tyner (T) 65.5 with 2; 9. Signal Mountain (SM) 56 with 3; 10. East Hamilton (EH) 31.5; 11. Chattanooga Christian (CCS) 31 with 1; 12. Howard (How) 30; 13. Silverdale (Sil) 24 with 1; 14. Sale Creek (SC) 16 with 1; 15. Boyd-Buchanan (BB) and Sequatchie County (Seq) tied with 7; 17. Brainerd (Bra) 3.

CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

106 -- Cody Bowman (Cen) dec. Austin Houser (SD), 4-2 in overtime;

113 -- DeAngelo James (T) pinned Brandon Whitley (ER), :57;

120 -- Packy Mullin (ND) dec. Jacob Stevens (SD), 10-9;

126 -- Jack Boone (ND) dec. Josh Deckelman (SD) 3-1 in overtime;

132 -- Campbell Lewis (SD) won by technical fall over Chase White (ND), 5:24;

138 -- Gage Richmond (SD) dec. Logan Griffith (Cen), 11-5;

145 -- Grayson Mullin (ND) dec. Turbo Smith (SD), 4-2 in overtime;

152 -- Larry Dickerson (Cen) dec. Logan Sharp (Cen) 5-3;

160 -- Justin Mathieson (Hix) dec. Zac Sharp (RB), 8-1;

170 -- Blaike Henry (SD) major dec. Matt Sealor (O), 11-3;

182 -- Brett Ervin (SD) pinned Brandon Cantrell (ER), 3:33;