It’s been a long time!! But we made it!! Wrestling season is here!!
Blackman opened the 2020-2021 season this week on Tuesday with dual meet wins over LaVergne and Rockvale. The Blaze followed up that effort with two more wins on Wednesday night against Franklin and Smyrna.
Because of COVID-19, Blackman was forced to cancel all pre-season tournaments and cancel their summer work schedule. This has led to everyone being far behind where they would normally be at this time of year. Despite the obvious rust, the Blaze performed very well and showed a lot of promise in the opening week.
On Tuesday, Blackman defeated LaVergne 75-6 in the opening dual of the season. LaVergne has several holes in their lineup but the guys they have are some scrappy athletes. Blackman scored pins by Justin Brown (160), Josh Chew (170), Mason Sells (132), Adin Heathcott (138), and Alex Rose (145).
In the second match with Rockvale, Blackman won 69-10. Rockvale still has a relatively young team but they have a lot of passion and several good wrestlers. Blackman scored pins by Cole Hays (170), Julian Childress (182), Tytus Kirby-Reach (220), Aslan Nadeau (106), Hugo Sanchez (126), Mason Sells (132), Adin Heathcott (138), Alex Rose (145), Brayden James (152), and Josiah Pajarillo (160). Rockvale’s wins came from their upper-weights at 195 and 285.
All three teams took advantage of the mat time and there were several exhibition matches wrestled by the girls and JV wrestlers. It turned out to be a long night, but very beneficial to the freshman and others who got an unplanned match.
On Wednesday, it was more of the same, Blackman beat a very spirited Franklin team 62-12 and defeated Smyrna 78-0.
As a whole, the team looked a lot more comfortable on Wednesday. And for the second night in a row, Coach Bray opted to try to get as many matches as possible in varsity and exhibition.
“I thought our guys had a solid start”, said Assistant Coach Byron Smith. “We definitely have something to build on and are heading in the right direction”, Smith continued.
There were a lot of bright spots for sure. Freshman Alex Bigelow had the move of the night with a nice single leg takedown which drew lots of oohs and aahhs. Another Freshman, Aslan Nadeau, showed a lot of promise with his tech fall victory over Franklin’s Nate McAdams.
What’s next for the Blaze? Blackman had to cancel an appearance at the Blackhorse Invitational in Memphis this coming weekend (because of COVID). Instead, the Blaze will travel to Williamson County on Saturday for what will be a tough individual tournament at Centennial High School.
Interested in seeing pictures from this week? Visit the PHOTOS page on the website.
Go Blaze.