Blackman got back to work this week after a longer than expected bout with snow days. Snow in the mid-state area forced school administrators to cancel all events from January 12th through the 19th. Normally that is a very busy week for area wrestling teams. As such, the Blaze missed the GP West Invitational at Brentwood. That is a big tournament to miss! In addition, the Blaze missed a quad-meet with Oakland, Stewarts Creek and Cookeville, AND a tri-meet with Siegel and Riverdale. To top things off no practice was allowed all week!!
By Monday however, the snow had cleared and Blackman was able to get in a make up day with Oakland and Stewarts Creek. The district match-ups are very important as only the top two teams from districts 9 and 10 get to go to the Region 5 Duals. (Siegel and Riverdale decided not to reschedule)
In the opening dual Blackman defeated Stewarts Creek by a score of 53-20. The match opened at 145 with Stewarts Creek winning the first bout over Aaron Fisher by decision. (Normal 145 starter Dylan Stebbins was held out due to injury) Blackman came back with a vengeance and won the next eight bouts in a row. Blackman pinners were Spencer Layne, Ryan Heath, Bowdy Boyce, Jamil Hughes, and Jeremiah Savage. Jalen Brown won by tech fall. Brooks Sacharczyk and Landon Fowler won by forfeit while Alex Rose and Daniel Bradford both won by decision.
The second match with Oakland has been on the radar for a while. Oakland has been much improved this season and they have dominated most of their opponents and only lost two duals all season. The Patriots came into the match unbeaten in the district as well. The match started off at 152 and the Blaze started off strong with three pins from Jalen Brown, Brooks Sacharczyk and Landon Fowler. Spencer Layne won the next bout by decision and Ryan Heath followed with a 21 second pin at 195. At this point, the Blaze were up 27-0.
At 220, Oakland’s Branson Boone won by fall over Bowdy Boyce to finally get the Patriots on the board. However, the next four bouts went to the Blaze. Senior Jamil Hughes got a pin at 285, Freshman Alex Rose got a pin at 106, Peyton Adams got a pin at 113, and Jeremiah Savage won by tech fall at 120.
At this stage, the match was out of reach for the Patriots. Blackman forfeited 126, Shawn Wolford lost by fall at 132, Senior Daniel Bradford scored a Pin and Aaron Fisher lost by major decision.
Final Score – Blackman 56 – Oakland 22.
The win sealed the district championship for Blackman and assured the Blaze a berth in the Region Duals.
Photos from both matches can be found HERE.
Box scores from the matches can be found HERE.