The last time Red Bank's wrestling Lions faced the Hixson Wildcats in the Hixson gym, Hixson won a close match to earn a spot in the State Duals.
These same two teams squared off at Hixson Saturday afternoon in the championship match of the Vandergriff Duals, but the results were different as the Lions rallied for a 34-31 win.
Red Bank had won its pool at Hixson Middle School with wins over Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe by 67-12, Brainerd by 78-6, East Ridge by a 73-6 final and a commanding 69-10 win over pool runner-up James Clemens.
Hixson won three matches in its pool with a 64-12 win over East Hamilton, 64-16 verdict over Shelbyville and a harrowing 40-39 win over Walker Valley in the match to determine who the first-place team would be.
But in the championship match where action began at 126 pounds, Hixson used a decision from Spencer Groves, a pin from Isaac Yates and a major decision from Cederick Harris to build a 13-0 lead.
Gabriel McDuffie put the Lions on the board with a first-period pin at 145 before Hixson made it 19-6 with a first-period pin from Landon Goforth.
Red Bank then won the next four matches -- including pins from Kaine Kell and David Johnson, a major decision from Robert Perry and a forfeit to Devin Crawl to lead for the first time at 29-18.
Hixson won three of the final five matches, but it was a stirring 6-4 victory by Red Bank's Blake Reichel at 113 pounds that ultimately clinched the win for the Lions.
Red Bank then forfeited the final match at 120 for the final three-point margin.
"That was a great team effort, probably the best we've had since I've been at Red Bank," said Lion coach Shane Turner, who is now starting his fourth season in charge.
"We left some points out there, but we got bonus points in critical spots and we were able to keep it close in matches where I wasn't sure we could. This is the season we've been waiting on as we've taken our lumps to get here and this is the first tournament we've won since I've been their coach.
"It's the next one on January 14 (at Red Bank) that counts as the winner of that one goes to the State Duals," Turner concluded.
Hixson coach Garrick Hall knows that the next one is the one that counts, so he and his team didn't do anything out of the ordinary to win.
"I didn't think we did a good job of finishing today. Some of our guys fought really hard and stepped up, but we didn't get as many bonus points as last year and Red Bank did," Hall said following a post-tournament pep talk with his team.
"We have a big target on our back and we're aware of that, but we didn't move anybody around as we just wrestled them straight up to see what we could do. I felt like we had a good day as tournaments like this let us know what we need to work on.
"I was really proud of Jerrold Higginbottham in our match against Walker Valley. We was getting beat pretty good and came back to get a pin and that put us in position to win. But we're 5-1 now and still working to get better," Hall concluded.
The Walker Valley Mustangs also had a good day as they finished with a 3-1 record, including a convincing 64-17 win over James Clemens in the battle for third place.
"We're improving, but we still have a long way to go," said Walker Valley coach Alan Morris after that last win.
"We lost a close one to Hixson, but it's still November. We learned two things from that Hixson match. First off, we have to learn how to wrestle tough in matches that matter and we have to get in better shape," Morris added.
Other teams in Saturday's tournament included Shelbyville, East Hamilton, Brainerd, East Ridge and Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe.
RED BANK 34, HIXSON 31
126 -- Spencer Groves (H) dec. Gage Evans, 5-0;
132 -- Isaac Yates (H) pinned Justin Lanham, 1:21;
138 -- Cederick Harris (H) major dec. Jonah Bird, 22-9;
145 -- Gabriel McDuffie (RB) pinned Jonas Shackleford, 1:15;
152 -- Landon Goforth (H) pinned Ashton Tubbs, 1:23;
160 -- Kaine Kell (RB) pinned Nick Underwood, 1:51;
170 -- David Johnson (RB) pinned Jerrold Higginbottham, 4:55;
182 -- Robert Perry (RB) major dec. Hunter Ali, 15-3;
195 -- Devin Crawl (RB) won by forfeit;
220 -- Brody Gregory (H) dec. Devon Suddeth, 6-1;
285 -- Anthony Ottinger (RB) dec. Guiliano Palacio, 7-1;
106 -- Rylie Hart (H) dec. Zackary Gee, 7-5;
113 -- Blake Reichel (RB) dec. Jacob Newman, 6-4;
120 -- Jordan Lewis (H) won by forfeit.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)