The Brother Martin Crusaders win the award for traveling the longest distance to participate in the annual Soddy Daisy Showdown on Saturday and they also took home the biggest award as they finished first among the 20-team field with 217.5 points.
The Cleveland Blue Raiders were second with 190.5 while McCallie claimed third with 173.5. Soddy Daisy and Walker Valley were fourth and fifth with 159 and 125.5 points, respectively.
Those top three teams all had three individual champions while Cordova, Brentwood, Hewitt, Signal Mountain and Oakland all had one apiece.
The Crusaders are the two-time defending state champs in Louisiana as they're from New Orleans. Coach Robert Dauterive had been looking for a quality out-of-town tournament and he found what he was looking for.
And when he found out that UTC was hosting the Southern Scuffle earlier in the week, that was just an added bonus for his team.
"We were looking for some good out-of-state competition and we found it here," the veteran coach suggested long before the championship finals began.
"We've always gone to Memphis, but we know that Chattanooga is the hotbed of wrestling in Tennessee and we're glad that we came. It's been a really good day for us. In addition to outstanding competition, the referees here are really good.
"Cleveland has a very good team and I think they would have beaten us in a dual meet, but we're pretty solid in tournaments. We won't face kids this good in our state tournament, but we'll get on the bus here in a few minutes and start the long ride home," he added, knowing that the ride is right at 500 miles and will take most of eight hours.
Brother Martin is an all-boys school with about 1,200 students. Who knows how good the rest of their athletic program is...their wrestling team is solid from top to bottom.
The Crusaders ended up with 10 medalists for the day, including three firsts, three seconds and four thirds.
Those winning titles for the winners included Paul Klein at 132, Mason Williams at 152 and Yehia Riles at 182. Mason Mauro (113), Nicholas Comardelle (170) and Joshua Tapia (195) all finished second while Steven Shields (106), Taylor Gambill (126), Austin Meyn (138) and Travis Quarterman (160) all finished third.
Cleveland's three champions included Chris Debien at 126, Josh Hamilton at 170 and Ethan West at 195 while McCallie's three winners included Addison Cornell at 113, Ethan Dendy at 120 and Adam Connell at 138.
Other individual champions included Cordova's Aaron Carter at 106, Brentwood's Luke Hamilton at 145, Hewitt's Fred Denson at 160, Signal Mountain's Micah Pressley at 220 and Oakland's Jeff Benson at 285.
Cleveland's second-place finishers included Austin Stevison at 132 and Koran Kennedy at 220 while Colton Landers and Ezra Taylor were fourth at 106 and 138, respectively.
Cleveland coach Jake Yost wasn't the happiest guy in the gym when the tournament ended.
"We showed up here today wanting to win, but we didn't do what we had to do to take it. It seemed like we came out on the bad side of every close match we had and that's really frustrating for me," he said matter of factly.
"I thought that Ethan and Josh did a pretty good job, but we still have a ways to go and we have to get back to work," Yost nodded.
The Best Match awards went to the 132-pound final for the lower weights and the 182-pound final in the upper weights.
Brother Martin's Klein, a junior who is a two-time defending state champ, edged Cleveland's Stevison by a 6-4 final for the title at 132 while Brother Martin's Riles posted a 3-1 victory over McCallie's Nathan Hoodenpyle at 182.
There were also a pair of Outstanding Wrestler awards and they went to Cleveland teammates Debien and West, who both won with pins in the finals.
THREE MATCHES in the consolation finals were not contested due to the five-match rule, which states that an individual can not wrestle more than five matches on the same day. Those affected included Walker Valley teammates Joseph Munoz at 132 and Lawrence Cotton at 160 in addition to Centennial's Tarrick Walker at 195.
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
1.
Brother Martin 217.5; 2. Cleveland 190.5; 3. McCallie 190.5; 4. Soddy Daisy 159; 5. Walker Valley 125.5; 6. Hewitt 107.5; 7. Brentwood 77.5; 8. Centennial 70.5; 9. Oakland 54.5; 10. Signal Mountain 52.
11. Pigeon Forge 49; 12. Cookeville 47; 13. Grissom 36.5; 14. Dobyns-Bennett and Cordova tied with 34; 16. Independence 27; 17. Gibbs 25; 18. Notre Dame 24.5; 19. Tullahoma 21; 20. Rhea Co. 9.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
106 -- Aaron Carter (Cordova) pinned Chase Payne (Soddy Daisy), 2:15;
113 -- Addison Cornell (McCallie) dec. Mason Mauro (Brother Martin), 7-5;
120 -- Ethan Dendy (McCallie) pinned Campbell Brown (Centennial), 3:41;
126 -- Chris Debien (Cleveland) pinned James Westbrook (McCallie), 2:37;
132 -- Paul Klein (Brother Martin) dec. Austin Stevison (Cleveland), 6-4;
138 -- Adam Connell (McCallie) pinned Tucker Russo (Soddy Daisy), 5:58;
145 -- Luke Hamilton (Brentwood) dec. Gage Richmond (Soddy Daisy), 8-7;
152 -- Mason Williams (Brother Martin) dec. Austin Williamson (Soddy Daisy), 3-1;
160 -- Fred Denson (Hewitt) dec. Garrett Alexander (Soddy Daisy), 8-1;
170 -- Josh Hamilton (Cleveland) pinned Nicholas Comardelle (Brother Martin), :42;
182 -- Yehia Riles (Brother Martin) dec. Nathan Hoodenpyle (McCallie), 3-1;
195 -- Ethan West (Cleveland) pinned Joshua Tapia (Brother Martin);
220 -- Micah Pressley (Signal Mountain) dec. Koran Kennedy (Cleveland), 2-1;
285 -- Jeff Benson (Oakland) dec. Zach Miller (Walker Valley), 3-1.
CONSOLATION FINALS FOR THIRD PLACE
106 -- Steven Shields (Brother Martin) won by default over Colton Landers (Cleveland);
113 -- Luke Mullin (Notre Dame) dec. Heath Williamson (Hewitt), 1-0;
120 -- Matthew Kieta (Pigeon Forge) major dec. Jacob McClure (Soddy Daisy), 9-1;
126 -- Taylor Gambill (Brother Martin) dec. Austin Houser (Soddy Daisy), 7-5;
132 -- Brock Herring (McCallie) over Joseph Munoz (Walker Valley), five-match rule;
138 -- Austin Meyn (Brother Martin) dec. Ezra Taylor (Cleveland), 9-7;
145 -- Griffin Davis (McCallie) dec. Dalton Meadows (Hewitt), 9-6;
152 -- Davis Perry (Hewitt) dec. Ryan Hager (Walker Valley), 6-1;
160 -- Travis Quarterman (Brother Martin) over Lawrence Cotton (Walker Valley) five-match rule;
170 -- Nathaniel Campbell (Hewitt) dec. Tyler Hixson (Soddy Daisy), 12-7;
182 -- Cale Shelton (Signal Mountain) dec. Billy Raulston (Walker Valley), 6-2;
195 -- Ric Kennett (Walker Valley) over Tarrick Walker (Centennial), five-match rule;
220 -- Corey Tonini (Grissom) dec. Jay Roberts (McCallie), 3-1;
285 -- Paul Hunt (Brentwood) pinned Bobby Brown (Grissom), 2:04.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@comcast.net)