Cleveland off to good start
For 26 high school wrestlers from the Chattanooga area, the dream of winning an individual TSSAA state championship still remains.
On Thursday at the Williamson County Ag Expo Center in Franklin, the state traditional tournaments for Class A, Class AA and girls’ competition got underway, and the area was once again well represented in what has been a dominant sport for the Scenic City and its surrounding region.
In search of their 10th consecutive team state title — including both duals and traditional championships — the Cleveland Blue Raiders advanced an area-best seven wrestlers to Friday’s state semifinals round, which starts at 1 p.m. Eastern. Those semifinalists are Chase Walker (106 pounds), Bentley Ellison (120), Logan Fowler (126), Arlo Laxton (132), Lucas Szymborski (160), Tetoe Boyd (195) and Ashton Davis (285).
At the end of the first of three days in Franklin, coach Joey Knox’s Blue Raiders led the Class AA field with a commanding 75 points, with Wilson Central (57.5) and Cleveland rival Bradley Central (56.5) duking it out for second.
Bradley Central has five state semifinalists — Bryson Terrell (113), Easton Lipsey (126), Ethan Lipsy (138), Luke Belcher (145) and Austin McClure (285) — while Signal Mountain advanced four to the same round in Class A. The Eagles’ semifinalists are Jojo Uhorchuk (106), Ethan Uhorchuk (113), Caleb Uhorchuk (120) and Noah Shriner (126).
The state finals are set for 3 p.m. Eastern on Saturday.
Greeneville was atop the Class A standings with 68 points and six semifinalists, while Signal Mountain was second with 48, trailed closely by Pigeon Forge (46.5) and Page (45).
Rossview leads the girls’ team title race with 62 points, with Clarksville (52) and St. Andrew’s-Sewanee (48) following.
Other local semifinalists: East Hamilton’s Maclain Otting (160), Hixson’s Zander Hutson (132), McMinn County’s Austin Cooley (182), Red Bank’s Kobe Smith (182), Rhea County’s Francisco Molina (170), Soddy-Daisy’s Hunter Bankes (126) and Whitwell’s Benton Magouirk (145), and in girls’ competition, Cleveland’s Piper Fowler (152) and Diamond Young (235) and Bradley Central’s Gabriella Rincon (126).
BASEBALL
› Ringgold 5, Heritage 1: Connor Christopher had a three-run double in a five-run fifth inning to lead the Tigers (2-4). Ross Norman earned the pitching win by going four innings and allowing no hits and striking out nine batters while also going 2-for-4 at the plate with an RBI.
› Trion 7, Dade County 3: Cayden Watson went 3-for-5 with an RBI and Brantley Willbanks was 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs as the Bulldogs won their season opener. Zeke Wheeler hit a pair of solo homers for the Wolverines.
› LaFayette 23, Southeast Whitfield 6: James Withers went 4-for-4 with a home run, drove in four runs and scored four times, while Case Davis hit a pair of homers and drove in four for the Ramblers.
Compiled by Patrick MacCoon and Lindsey Young. Contact them at sports@ timesfreepress.com.