The casual wrestling observer will see that the Cleveland Blue Raiders beat the Soddy Daisy Trojans by a 42-16 final score in prep wrestling Thursday night and think that it was a lopsided romp by the winners.
Granted, the Blue Raiders did win nine of the 14 matches and they earned bonus points in six of them, but the match was really a whole lot closer than the final score might make you think.
Cleveland coach Josh Bosken wasn’t convinced that his team is 26 points better than the Trojans.
“I thought we brought the fight in 12 weight classes and we’re glad to get this match behind us, but I can guarantee you this isn’t the same Soddy Daisy team you’ll see in three weeks at the Region Duals,” the first-year head coach said with confidence.
“Our goal is to have fun, score as many points as we can and win a bunch of matches, but we want to perform well in all 14 weight classes and we’ll have to do better if we want to win the state. It’s always nice to get bonus points, but we were also glad to have won some really close matches,” he added.
It’s been a difficult week for the Soddy Daisy team as one of their leaders quit on Monday. The rest of the team did their best to adjust, but Cleveland was simply the better team Thursday night.
“Cleveland wrestled a good match and looked really good while we didn’t wrestle our best,” said Soddy Daisy coach Jim Higgins following the battle at the Soddy Daisy Wrestling Arena.
“I saw a lot of resilience from my guys tonight. Nobody understands what we’ve been through this week, but I can promise you that we will bounce back. We gave our best effort and that’s all I ever ask for, but we made some dumb mistakes that can be corrected.
“I’d rather win the last one than the first one, but we’re more concerned with how we finish in February rather than the result on January 5. We went to plan B and did the best with what we had. We just fell a little bit short, but we’re not finished yet,” Higgins said with confidence.
Garrett Bowers got Cleveland off and running with a forfeit at 113 and the Blue Raiders proceeded to win four of the next five matches for a commanding 25-3 following a first-period pin by Caleb Eachus at 145.
Tony Wilson and Cade Ghaffari both recorded two point regular decisions and Cleveland was docked a team point when Bosken complained too loudly to an out-of-bounds call, but three straight wins by the Blue Raiders, including decisions from Dylan Jones and Logan Strickland wrapped around a pin from Jack Hicks sealed the deal for Cleveland, which improves to 16-0 with the win.
Other winners for Cleveland included Colton Landers and Titus Swafford with pins, Bryce Pond with a major decision and Cody Mathews with a regular decision.
Soddy Daisy’s other winners included Cole Prestwood and Landon Wheaton with regular decisions and Ty Boeck with a major decision
Both teams are scheduled to participate in the Soddy Daisy Showdown on Saturday, but a decision hasn’t been made yet concerning the weather.
Both will also face big matches next Thursday with Cleveland hosting cross-town rival Bradley while Soddy Daisy will host Walker Valley.
BRADLEY WAS an easy 66-10 winner over Walker Valley Thursday night as the Bears recorded eight pins.
Ryan McElhaney’s fall in just 37 seconds was the quickest while others came from T.J. Hicks, Gaven Hughes, Ethan Anderson, Andy Robinson, Knox Fuller, Austin Mathews and D.J. Gibson.
CLEVELAND 42, SODDY DAISY 16
(Match began at 113 Pounds)
106 – Cole Prestwood (SD) dec. Burns Meagher, 7-5;
113 – Garrett Bowers (Clev) won by forfeit;
120 – Bryce Pond (Clev) major dec. Jacob Pratt, 10-0;
126 – Landon Wheaton (SD) dec. Jayce Mullin, 8-3;
132 – Colton Landers (Clev) pinned Jacob Kilgore, 2:43;
138 – Cody Mathews (Clev) dec. Slater Daniel, 1-0;
145 – Caleb Eachus (Clev) pinned Austin Crowe, 1:43;
152 – Tony Wilson (SD) dec. Austin Sweeney, 10-8 in overtime;
160 – Cade Ghaffari (SD) dec. Zach Brezna, 8-6;
170 – Dylan Jones (Clev) dec. Hayden Maynor, 9-4;
182 – Jack Hicks (Clev) pinned Caleb Addison, 4:46;
195 – Logan Strickland (Clev) dec. Bryce Settles, 13-9;
220 – Ty Boeck (SD) major dec. Seth Garcia, 12-2;
285 – Titus Swafford (Clev) pinned Addison Roberts, :57.
BRADLEY 66, WALKER VALLEY 10
106 – Chandler Davis (WV) major dec. Wesley Devaney, 10-1;
113 – T.J. Hicks (BC) pinned James Jur, 1:24;
120 – Gaven Hughes (BC) pinned Mario Acevedo, 3:33;
126 – Ethan Anderson (BC) pinned Cameron Dwyer, 1:25;
132 – Ryan McElhaney (BC) pinned Ethan West, :37;
138 – Andy Robinson (BC) pinned Dillon Clark, 5:22;
145 – Knox Fuller (BC) pinned Zeth Haynie, 2:43;
152 – Austin Mathews (BC) pinned Joey Vecchione, :56;
160 – Mikel Gregory (WV) dec. Caleb Adkins, 3-0;
170 – Henley Headrick (BC) won by forfeit;
182 – Ed Elkins (BC) won by forfeit;
195 – Kevin Gentry (BC) won by forfeit;
220 – D.J. Gibson (BC) pinned Cody Duggan, 3:49;
285 – Koby Hooker (WV) dec. Christopher Cash, 10-3.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)