Red Bank Advances To Finals In A-AA State Duals

Mat Lions Win Twice Friday To Earn Showdown With Pigeon Forge

  • Friday, February 5, 2016
  • John Hunt

FRANKLIN, Tenn. – The Red Bank Lions are in the finals of the Class A-AA State Duals while the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will be battling for a little self respect here at the Williamson County Agricultural Expo on Saturday.

 

Friday was a short one for Notre Dame as they had to wrestle Red Bank in its first match.  Needless to say, it wasn’t a very positive experience for the guys in green as Red Bank won the last 10 matches en route to an overwhelming 57-7 victory.

 

That was Notre Dame’s only match, but the Irish will be back in action early Saturday with a consolation quarterfinal match against Greeneville.

 

Red Bank kept winning in the second round, but it wasn’t as easy as the Lions sent Alcoa to the losers bracket with a 37-31 win.

 

The match really wasn’t as close as the score might indicate as the Lions built a commanding 37-19 lead before forfeiting the final two weight classes.

 

The Lions will have all day Saturday to get ready for defending champ Pigeon Forge, which had a bye in the quarterfinal round before trouncing Page 58-12 in the semis.

 

Red Bank never trailed in the match against Alcoa.

 

Blake Reichel’s first-period pin put the Lions up 6-0  while a 6-4 decision from Trent Comeaux made it 6-4. 

 

Consecutive wins from Cody Slatton, Gabe McDuffie and Kaine Kell extended the Lions lead to 22-7 before the Tornadoes made it interesting with pins from Austin Renshaw at 160 and Karim Shereef at 170 to draw within three points at 22-19.

 

Robert Perry, one of eight seniors in the Red Bank lineup, may have been the hero in this match as he trailed 2-1 in the third period before getting a pin over Jack Warwick with 1:20 remaining.

 

That win took Alcoa’s momentum away and was basically the turning point in the match.

Devin Crawl then posted a hard-fought 6-5 decision at 195 before a 3:31 pin from Devon Suddeth at 220 made it 37-19 to clinch the win for the Lions.

 

“It didn’t start out like we wanted, but it finished like it and that’s all that matters,” Red Bank coach Shane Turner said to his team shortly after the  final match had been contested.

 

“I can’t begin to tell you how proud I am of the fight we had, but we still need one more,” he said in reference to Saturday’s match with the Tigers.

 

“We knew it would be tough to beat Alcoa because they have an outstanding team, but we fought our tails off and just wouldn’t give up.

 

“It’s been such an incredible journey with these guys these last four years, but God is good and faithful and I really believe he put me at Red Bank for a reason and a purpose.  It’s not just about winning, but how we win.  These guys are more than just champions on the mat,” he added with a bit of emotion.

 

The Red Bank-Notre Dame started off with the Irish winning two of the first four matches, a 14-4 major decision from Luke Mullin at 126 giving the Fighting Irish a short-lived 7-6 lead.

 

Jonah Bird gave the lead back to Red Bank with a 2-0 decision over Ned Warwick and that’s when the Red Bank Express started picking up steam.

 

Pins from McDuffie, Ashton Tubbs, David Johnson and Anthony Ottinger added to forfeits for Perry and Devon Suddeth and a win by disqualification for Crawl and the Lions ended up winning by a lopsided margin.

 

Despite the final score, Notre Dame coach Rocco Mansueto could see some sunshine through all the dark clouds.

 

“I came here today wanting to see us close the gap from the match we had with them in December and we were able to do that in spots.  You can’t tell by the score, but we’ve gotten a lot better since then.

 

“We still have some technical difficulties to overcome and I’ll be the first to tell you that I don’t like losing, but we’ll go back to the motel, talk about the mistakes we made and come back tomorrow morning ready to battle again,” he added.

 

While Mullin’s major put the Irish ahead at 7-6, Cade Holloway had given Notre Dame its first lead with an 8-2 decision at 106 in the first match.

 

Saturday night’s championship match is set to begin at 7 p.m. (CST).

 

RED BANK 57, NOTRE DAME 7

(Match started at 106 Pounds)

106 – Cade Holloway (ND) dec. Gage Swanson, 8-2;

113 – Blake Reichel (RB) dec. Grant Speer, 6-4;

120 – Gage Evans (RB) dec. Camden Dickens, 9-4;

126 – Luke Mullin (ND) major dec. Trent Comeaux, 14-4;

132 – Jonah Bird (RB) dec. Ned Warwick, 2-0;

138 – Cody Slatton (RB) dec. Alex Spraker, 6-1;

145 – Gabe McDuffie (RB) pinned David Hodges, 2:15;

152 – Ashton Tubbs (RB) pinned Brice Martin, :45;

160 – Jackson Hash (RB) dec. Daniel Hodges, 9-7;

170 – David Johnson (RB) pinned Thomas Martin, :32;

182 – Robert Perry (RB) won by forfeit;

195 – Devin Crawl (RB) won by disqualification over Doogan Boyd;

220 – Devon Suddeth (RB) won by forfeit;

285 – Anthony Ottinger (RB) pinned Sam Stovall, 5:26.

 

RED BANK 37, ALCOA 31

(Match started at 113 Pounds)

106 – Brennan Salter (A) won by forfeit;

113 – Blake Reichel (RB) pinned Paxton Pearce, 1:20;

120 – Michael Colon (A) major dec. Gage Evans, 16-2;

126 – Trent Comeaux (RB) dec. Dylan McNutt, 6-4;

132 – Ryan Verhulst (A) dec. Jonah Bird, 4-1;

138 – Cody Slatton (RB) dec. Alex Richardson, 3-1;

145 – Gabe McDuffie (RB) pinned Jalen McCord, 1:22;

152 – Kaine Kell (RB) major dec. Tim Fisher, 9-1;

160 – Austin Renshaw (A) pinned Jackson Hash, 1:07;

170 – Karim Shereef (A) pinned David Johnson, 3:52;

182 – Robert Perry (RB) pinned Jack Warwick, 4:40;

195 – Devin Crawl (RB) dec. Noah Evans, 6-5;

220 – Devon Suddeth (RB) pinned Bryson Perkins, 3:31;

285 – Samson Evans (A) won by forfeit.

 

(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

 

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