Blaze are Fired Up on 1st Day at State

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Jamil Hughes Imposing His Will
Jamil Hughes Imposing His Will

Blackman grapplers stepped up and had a solid first day at the TSSAA State Tournament. At the end of day 1, Blackman has 54 points and sits in 6th place.

Current Scores:
1 Cleveland 75
2 Science Hill 67
3 Wilson Central 65.5
4 Heritage 65
5 Bradley Central 58
6 Blackman 54
7 Knoxville Halls 50
8 Beech 49.5
9 Arlington 48.5
10 Brentwood 39.5

Landon Fowler gets a Win over Hardin Valley
Landon Fowler gets a Win over Hardin Valley

It is very hard to win a match at state and today, for maybe the first time, all of the Blaze wrestlers scored points for the team. That means that everyone who wrestled won at least one match!
Blackman started the day with ten wrestlers and still has eight alive. Alex Rose (106) and Peyton Adams (113) both lost their opening matches. They both won their first match in the consolation round and were both beaten in the next match. They will both be back next year.

Daniel Bradford puts Harvey from Centennial to his Back
Daniel Bradford puts Harvey from Centennial to his Back

Senior Daniel Bradford (138) scored two major decisions over Dobyns Bennett and Centennial. He will be in the quarterfinals tomorrow morning. Joining him in the quarters will be Jalen Brown (152), Landon Fowler (170), Ryan Heath (195), and Jamil Hughes (285). These five wrestlers were all undefeated on day one.

Jalen Brown Wrestles Isaiah Ryans from Science Hill
Jalen Brown Wrestles Isaiah Ryans from Science Hill

Brown had a pin over Dickson County and a Major over Science Hill. Fowler had two pins over Rhea County and Hardin Valley. Heath also had two pins over West Creek and Franklin. Jamil Hughes also pinned both of his guys from Knox Halls and Beech.

Five guys in the quarterfinals is awesome!!

There is more good news! Anthony Gomez (160) pinned Region Champ Blake Hunter in the first round. He lost a close match to Northwest and then won a 4-0 decision over Walker Valley. He is still alive in the consolation rounds tomorrow.

Ryan Heath gets a Pin over Franklin Wrestler
Ryan Heath gets a Pin over Franklin Wrestler

Junior Spencer Layne Had a fall over Bolton and then lost to 4th ranked Satterfield from William Blount. He bounced back with a win over Northwest to keep his hopes alive!

Sophomore Bowdy Boyce lost his first round match with Linderman from Clinton. He rebounded nicely with wins over Dobyns Bennett and Mt. Juliet. Boyce has come a long way this season and he is still battling!

Saturday Quarter-Final Match-ups
138 – Daniel Bradford (Blackman) vs Alex Pergande (Wilson Central)
152 – Jalen Brown (Blackman) vs Austin Sweeney (Cleveland)
170 – Landon Fowler (Blackman) vs Parker Bennett (wilson Central)
195 – Ryan Heath (Blackman) vs Devin Gibson (Bradley Central)
185 – Jamil Hughes (Blackman) vs Brenton Salyers (Dobyns Bennett)

These are going to be some exciting matchups!!

Other Region 5 wrestlers in the quarter-finals:
120 – Semaj Burton (Oakland)
120 – Lucas Gaines (Stewarts Creek)
120 – David Medina (Riverdale)
126 – Luke Dezember (Lawrence County)
132 – Cameron Henderson (Smyrna)
152 – Michael Moultry (Siegel)
182 – Christian Salter (Siegel)
220 – Branson Boone (Oakland)
285 – Luke Champion (Tullahoma)

Christian Salter from Siegel wrestles Palmieri from Northwest
Christian Salter from Siegel wrestles Palmieri from Northwest

There is still a ton of great wrestling left!! Matches start at the Ag Center tomorrow at 10am!! If you want to follow some of the action, follow us on Twitter – https://twitter.com/BlazeWrestling

Photos from Day 1 can be found on our PHOTOS page
Go Blaze!!