Wednesday, December 22, 2021 – by John Hunt
There were no team champions crowned or even individual ones for that matter as seven high school wrestling teams gathered at McCallie’s Athetic and Activities Center on Wednesday morning for a Day of Duals.
We’re almost to Christmas and there are no tournaments or dual meets in the coming days, so all of these coaches decided to come to McCallie for a few extra matches and a chance to just see which newcomer might make a difference in the coming weeks.
McCallie and Tullahoma both won three matches while Pigeon Forge headed home with three wins in four matches. Notre Dame and Boyd Buchanan were both 1-2 while Soddy Daisy was 1-3 and Walker Valley 0-4.“This was just a chance to get a few extra matches as there’s just too much time between now and our next dual meet,” said McCallie coach Jake Yost, noting that his team’s next match is on Jan. 6 at Notre Dame.
“I thought we did a good job for the most part, but we always have something to work on. Right now, we’re young and inexperienced, but we’re getting better,” Yost added.
Tullahoma coach Al Morris had similar feelings.
“This is a great way to go out before Christmas,” he said.
“We needed to get some work in and this was a good chance to do that. Also, it gives us a chance to wrestle teams that we normally wouldn’t face, so it was a good experience for us,” he added.
Pigeon Forge has won the last three Division I, Class A-AA state titles and right now the don’t even have a winning record, but it was a good decision for coach Greg Foreman as he prepares his team for another championship run.
“This is a great opportunity for our kids to get some extra matches before Christmas and it’s been a good day for us,” Foreman said between matches.
“We have a bunch of kids who played football and they’re not all in wrestling shape yet, but it was very much worth our while to come here today. It’s all about what we do in February that counts, but events like today help us get ready for that,” Foreman said.
“We have to get better, but this is one way of doing that,” said Notre Dame coach Tim Voiles.
“We just needed more match time before Christmas and this was the perfect chance for that, but we’ll take a few days off and then come back ready to work again,” he explained.
It has certainly been a challenging early season for Soddy Daisy and young coach Eric Winesburgh.
“For what we brought here today, I thought we fought hard, but we can’t seem to shake the flu and other illnesses. We had a few bright spots as some of our younger kids did well, but we just have a bunch of kids with very little wrestling experience and that learning process isn’t always easy,” he said with a positive note.
Walker Valley coach Allan Morris is facing the same challenge with young and inexperienced wrestlers.
“We’re missing some kids as some are out of town, but we certainly have a lot of growing to do. We had a couple of young guys who went out and really battled today while we also had some of our older kids who are ready for the Christmas break,” Morris said before heading toward the parking lot.
Boyd Buchanan coach Michael Sutherland doesn’t have very kids on his team, but he’s working hard to change the culture at a school where wrestling never has been a focal point of the athletic program.
“We have some good ones, but just not enough to field an entire team,” he explained.
“Forfeits hurt as there is nothing we can do about that, but we’re going our best to change the culture at our school. I’m really proud of our effort and I feel like we won more than we lost. We just have to get more kids on the mat,” he added.
Wednesday’s dual-meet scores included:
McCallie 50, Soddy Daisy 30
Boyd Buchanan 48, Walker Valley 30
Pigeon Forge 52, Notre Dame 22
Soddy Daisy 48, Walker Valley 30
Tullahoma 43, Notre Dame 27
Pigeon Forge 42, Boyd Buchanan 30
McCallie 42, Boyd Buchanan 35
Tullahoma 47, Soddy Daisy 27
Pigeon Forge 33, Walker Valley 29
McCallie 66, Walker Valley 18
Tullahoma 41, Pigeon Forge 37
Notre Dame 49, Soddy Daisy 30.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)
