Day one of the 2016 TSSAA State Wrestling Tournament has come to a close and if anyone had any doubts about how hard it is to win a match at the state tournament, they know now.
Blackman qualified 11 and by the end of day one, only 5 were still in the tournament. I am sure there were many hearts broken across the Ag Center tonight and it certainly hurts to see our guys suffer disappointment and loss. Unfortunately, disappointment and loss are a part of life and there is no better way to learn to deal with that than to experience it. For those whose season came to an end, they must know that their effort and commitment was more important than their result. That is true for anyone.
Blackman has 3 in the quarter-finals and those guys will wrestle at 10:00 Friday morning for a chance to get into the semi-finals.
Tre’von Thomas(120) won his first match by pin over Fields from Tennessee High. The bout lasted 1:42 and it set up a bout with Summit’s Cole Klingensmith. Tre’von pinned Klingensmith at their last meeting at the Bradley tournament but the Summit wrestler had different ideas this time around. After a very close and exhausting 3 periods, the match was decided in triple overtime with Tre’von winning 8-7. Talk about close. Thomas will wrestle #2 seed Ryan McElhaney Friday morning.
In his first match, Matthew Sells(160) pinned Lincoln Dillman from Karnes in 37 seconds. Matthew’s second match was Henley Headrick from Bradley Central. Headrick, a sophomore, is certainly an up and comer and he gave Sells all he wanted for a full three periods. We all knew the Bradley wrestler was going to be tough as nails and he sure was. For the most part, Sells controlled the match and he earned a 5-2 decision. He will wrestle Cedric Lynn from Memphis East next.
Andre Bravo had a great first match with Huichan Yun from East Hamilton. Bravo controlled the tempo and earned a fall in the second period at 3:07. His next match with Brentwood’s Ben Kazmierowicz would test his resolve a bit. Bravo and Kazmierowicz had not wrestled this season and this one went to double overtime before Bravo was able to secure the victory. Final Score – 5-3. Bravo will face Dylan Carney from Northwest next.
Jalen Brown(132) knew his draw wasn’t ideal. The Blackman freshman drew Cleveland’s state medalist Colton Landers for his first match. Jalen wrestled tough but Landers is all that and he pinned Brown in the first period. In the consolations, Jalen went 2-0 with pins over Farragut’s Barnett (1:09) and Powell’s Wallace (2:36). Freshman Landon Fowler(145) won his first round match against Tyler Henry from Knox Halls in less than a minute by pin. His second round match with Tennessee High’s Henly proved tougher than expected. Tennessee High placed 3rd at the state duals a couple of weeks ago and Henly showed why. Landon got down early and couldn’t really get anything going and lost a decision 6-1. He rebounded nicely with a strong 8-2 decision over a very tough Joshua Stiles from Soddy Daisy.
Wrestling starts at 10:00 Friday. Get there early if you want a good seat. On Friday, AAA boys, A-AA boys, Division II, and Girls will all be wrestling.