It was a great day for the Blackman Wrestling team at the Region 5-AAA Wrestling tournament in Warren County. For the third year in a row, the Blaze were the top scorer and took home the TSSAA Region 5 Individual Championship plaque.
Blackman scored 243 points and qualified six region champions, 1 region runner-up and three third place medalists to the TSSAA State Wrestling Tournament next week. (10 state qualifiers in all) Region runner-up Oakland High School scored 213 points and qualified eleven while third place team Tullahoma scored 138 points and qualified six.
“There were back and forth lead changes with Oakland all day but going 9-1 in the final round locked things up for us,” said Coach Ronnie Bray.
Blackman was led by Senior State Champion Landon Fowler who had three pins and a tech fall on his way to his fifth region title. (Fowler was a region champion in his 8th grade year at Eagleville before moving to Blackman) He was voted Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament for the upper-weight divisions and also voted Region 5 Wrestler of the Year. In the finals match, Landon pinned Cookeville’s Dakota Cuccinella in just 16 seconds. He was truly dominate.
Blackman’s other region champions turned in excellent performances as well. At 152 pounds, Jalen Brown won his 2nd Region Title with a 73 second pin over Chavez Harden from Tullahoma. At 182 pounds, Junior Brooks Sacharczyk also claimed his 2nd Region Championship with a win over Issac Gillentine from Warren County. The return to the top of the podium is especially gratifying for Sacharczyk who missed last season’s region and state tournaments due to injury.
At 113 pounds Alex Rose won his first region title with a 33 second fall over Tyler Vanderheyden from Oakland. At 160, Junior Gabe Gomez won his first region championship with a strong performance over Dejon Glaster from Oakland. Gomez lost to Glaster twice earlier this season (both by injury default). This time Gomez won by major decision 14-6. And at 220 pounds, junior Bowdy Boyce won his first region title with a fall over Oakland’s Kameron Bingham. It was a tough match that went into the third period before Boyce got the pin with just seven seconds left.
Blackman Junior Austin Marlatt was the runner-up at 132 after losing the finals match to Dominic Williams from Lawrence County. Marlatt had a great tournament but wasn’t able to slow down the returning state medalist.
At 126, Senior Liam Elam also finished in third place with his one loss to second place finisher Medina from Riverdale. Along the way, Liam had two pins and an exciting consolation finals match which he won by decision over Jordan Fenton of Siegel.
At 138, Senior Evan Smart finished third by defeating Stewarts Creek’s Mohktar Abdulkarim in the consolation finals. Evan had two pins and a tech fall earlier in the tournament and his only loss was to runner-up Andrew Farrar from Oakland.
And finally, at 106 pounds freshman Adam Tibotoski surprised many with his third place finish. In both of his final two matches, Tibotoski came from behind in the closing seconds to get wins. In the third place match, Tibotoski was down 8-0 before coming up with two big throws and the pin.
And let not the wrestlers be the only ones who received awards. Blackman’s Coach Ronnie Bray was awarded the Region 5 Coach of the Year Award.
Other Superlatives were awarded as follows:
Best Match – 120 – Jacob Haney (Lawrence Co) vs Cal Rogers (Tullahoma)
OW – Light weight – Cameron Henderson (Smyrna)
OW – Upper weight –Landon Fowler (Blackman)
Freshman of the Year – Caleb Mackie (Warren Co)
Wrestler of the Year – Landon Fowler (Blackman)
Assistant Coach of the Year – Beau Wynn (Cookeville)
Coach of the Year – Ronnie Bray (Blackman)
Blackman approached a record with six region champions. The only time the Blaze have had more was in 2009. That was a special group of guys as well. To check out a list of ALL Blackman State Qualifiers, click HERE.
Photos from the Region 5 championship are on our page HERE.
Also, Painted Barn Media took some great professional shot on sale at https://paintedbarnmedia.zenfolio.com/r5aaawrestling2019
Up next for the Blaze is the TSSAA STATE CHAMPIONSHIP!!
We are so proud of all our wrestlers this season. For those who barely missed the chance to go to state or those who are yet to qualify for region, get ready!! You’re Next! Go Blaze!!
Region 5 Tournament Final Results
Championship Match
106 – Tyler South (Stewarts Creek) over Chas Stokes (Oakland) (Dec 6-4)
113 – Alex Rose (Blackman) over Tyler Vanderheyden (Oakland) (Fall 0:33)
120 – Jacob Haney (Lawrence Co.) over Cal Rogers (Tullahoma) (TB-1 5-3)
126 – Luke Dezember (Lawrence Co.) over David Medina (Riverdale) (MD 17-7)
132 – Dominic Williams (Lawrence Co.) over Austin Marlatt (Blackman) (MD 12-1)
138 – Cameron Henderson (Smyrna) over Andrew Farrar (Oakland) (TF-1.5 3:35 (15-0))
145 – Trevor South (Stewarts Creek) over Michael Williams (Shelbyville Central) (Fall 2:52)
152 – Jalen Brown (Blackman) over Chavez Harden (Tullahoma)(Fall 1:13)
160 – Anthony Gomez (Blackman) over Dejon Glaster (Oakland) (MD 14-6)
170 – Landon Fowler (Blackman) over Dakota Cuccinella (Cookeville) (Fall 0:16)
182 – Brooks Sacharczyk (Blackman) Jr. over Issac Gillentine (Warren Co.) (Dec 6-2)
195 – Jacob Dubberly (Lawrence Co.) over luis ramirez (Riverdale) (Fall 3:50)
220 – Bowdy Boyce (Blackman) over Kameron Bingham (Oakland) (Fall 5:53)
285 – Jackson Riley (Oakland) over Hector Feliciano-Torres (LaVergne) (SV-1 3-1)
Consolation Finals
106 – Adam Tibitoski (Blackman) over Jamil Omar (Smyrna) (Fall 4:46)
113 – Ethan Syler (Stewarts Creek) over Brandon Leyva (Smyrna) (Fall 2:39)
120 – Brett Francis (Coffee Co.) over Samuel Hadlock (Cookeville) (Dec 5-4)
126 – Liam Elam (Blackman) over Jordan Fenton (Siegel) (Dec 11-6)
132 – Kelani Meckes (Stewarts Creek) over Rhett Birdsong (Tullahoma) (Dec 2-0)
138 – Evan Smart (Blackman) over Mohktar Abdulkarim (Stewarts Creek) (Dec 11-6)
145 – Jesse Smith (Coffee Co.) over Nathaniel Gray (Oakland) (Dec 4-3)
152 – Christopher Grier (Shelbyville Central)over Ketwain Bowers (Oakland) (SV-1 3-1)
160 – Kenneth Phillips (Siegel) over Alek Wells (Stewarts Creek) (Fall 2:16)
170 – Trinton Partin (Tullahoma) over Cole Coughran (Oakland) (Fall 2:44)
182 – Nolan Cook (Oakland) over Reynaldo Reyes (Coffee Co.) (Fall 0:53)
195 – Caleb Perkins (Oakland) over Roy Roman (LaVergne) (Dec 4-2)
220 – Jimmy Pearson (Tullahoma) over Christopher Speagle (Coffee Co.) (Dec 8-2)
285 – Austin McBee (Shelbyville Central) over Tydrell Mitchell (Tullahoma) (Fall 3:12)