All of those long grueling practices are over. Challenge matches are a thing of the past. It's to that point in the season where either you're ready or you're not.
As the old saying goes, the hay is in the barn and now is the time to reap the benefits of all the hard work that's been done in the past few months.
In other words, it's post-season time for high school wrestling teams who will gather at the Williamson County Agricultural Expo this weekend for the annual State Duals.
Locally, Bradley and Soddy Daisy are the representatives while Red Bank and Notre Dame are in the seven-team field for A-AA competition.
Soddy Daisy and Bradley will see action in Friday's first match, which is set to begin at 3 p.m. (CST) The Trojans will face Independence in the first round while Bradley faces Bartlett. The winner of Soddy Daisy's first match will tackle the winner of Siegel and Arlington at 7 with the loser waiting until 9 on Saturday morning before returning to action. The Bradley match winner then faces the winner of Gibbs and Centennial.
The A-AA field will wrestle in the second round at 5 with Notre Dame and Red Bank facing each other in the first match. The winner advances to a semifinal battle with the Greeneville-Alcoa winner while the loser faces the loser of that match on Saturday at 9.
"We feel like we have as good a shot at winning as anyone, but we're as healthy as can be expected this time of year and the kids are believing we have a shot. I think we'll make a run," said Red Bank coach Shane Turner, whose team enters the fray with a record of 21-2, those losses coming in early December against Halls and Ooltewah.
"We've had great practices these last two weeks and I feel like we're peaking at the right time, but the key for us is not giving up any pins and getting any bonus points where we can. You just never know what will happen in a situation like this as all teams are pretty good.
"All I know is that it's been 16 years since Red Bank went to the State Duals. We were runner-up in 1995, but we've never won it. Maybe this is our year," Turner added.
Rocco Mansueto, Notre Dame's first-year head coach, knows that the biggest challenge for his team is awaiting in the first match.
The Fighting Irish got beat pretty good by Red Bank early in the season, but Mansueto is just anxious to see how far his kids have progressed since early December.
"We know that Red Bank has a strong team, so it will definitely be a tough match for us," he said early Thursday afternoon.
"We're excited about the chance to meet them again and it's just another wonderful opportunity for us to compete at a high level. To see just much we've progressed since that first match really excites me.
"Our kids don't get too high or too low, but we just have to take it one match at a time. We've gone above and beyond what we've done in recent years and we're not happy by just going. We're hoping to come back with some wins.
"There's no pressure on us whatsoever, so we'll shake hands and battle. We just have to show up ready to compete," Mansueto added.
The Bradley Bears have more State Duals titles than anyone. They got beat by Wilson Central in the semis last year, but coach Ben Smith is just hoping that his kids are ready to make another run at a state title.
"I know they have some good kids and they have to be decent to even get here, but we can't overlook them and look ahead," Smith said in reference to the first match with Bartlett.
"We just want to relax. have some fun and wrestle hard. If we keep doing what we've done all year, we should be okay. We're really confident at this point, but not overconfident as we're just focusing on ourselves.
"The pressure is not there like last year. We really thought we had a shot at winning last year, even though we knew we'd have to wrestle over our heads. We're in a pretty good spot right now and our goal is to enjoy the journey and the process," Smith nodded.
Unlike the other teams, Bradley made the trip to Franklin on Thursday and had a late-afternoon workout scheduled with Father Ryan.
"Coach Pat Simpson and I have become pretty good friends and we've developed a friendly rivalry with Father Ryan, so it will be nice to roll around with someone we're not so familiar with," the Bradley coach concluded.
Soddy Daisy coach Jim Higgins feels the same way as the other three: just take care of business and see what happens.
"We're in and ready as we can be," he began shortly after noon on Thursday.
"I feel great. I like our draw and feel good about it, but as I've said all along, it we wrestle the way we're capable, we'll fare just fine. We certainly have a lot of respect for every team in the field, but we just need to focus on bringing our "A" game and to be consistent. That's hard to maintain at times.
"We're in as good a shape as possible and some of our guys who have been sidelined with injuries are back on the mat. We just want to wrestle to our potential. If we do that, we'll be just fine and the results will take care of themselves," he added with a note of confidence.
Bradley and Red Bank are both 21-2 while Soddy Daisy enters with a 14-3 record and Notre Dame at 15-7.
Pigeon Forge won the A-AA title last year while Cleveland made it three straight in AAA. The Blue Raiders did not make it this year after losing a tough match to Soddy Daisy in the Region Duals semifinals.
The championship matches for all classifications are set for 7 p.m. on Saturday.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)