While posing for photos Saturday, Fairview High School junior Jacob Clevenger jokingly admitted to not knowing what to do. Queen’s iconic “We are the champions” song had just finished playing and family members were crowding for a glimpse of the newly minted TSSAA Class A-AA State Dual Wrestling champions. “None of us have done this before,” Clevenger said as the team tried to organize for a victory picture on the mats at Nolensville High School. He wasn’t wrong. However, that all changed Saturday because the Yellow Jackets edged Pigeon Forge 39-36 for the school’s first team title. That’s right, the Fairview wrestlers made school history – again – and this time the Yellow Jackets finished on top after their first runner-up showing against the same Pigeon Forge team last year. “This just shows how hard work can get you anywhere in life,” said Clevenger, who emphatically rallied for two pins Saturday despite giving up nearly 70 pounds in both his matches in the heavyweight division. “I feel like a state champ. It’s amazing honestly. It’s surreal.” Based on the trajectory of the program over the last four years, Clevenger and the rest of the Yellow Jackets might need to get used to the spotlight. The Fairview coaching staff continues to develop a youth program and the results keep coming. This is a team roughly eight years in the making, according to head coach James Derrick. “I’m happy for the kids, happy for the adults who have supported us and happy for the administration,” Derrick said. “It’s a fun time to be a Yellow Jacket and hopefully we continue to grow from here.” Fairview reached the state duals for a fourth consecutive season after never reaching the state stage prior. The team has taken strides toward the title in each trip, finishing third in 2018, reaching the state semis in 2019 and earning that runner-up nod last year. This year was for the black and yellow, though. “It feels amazing,” said 138-pound Fairview senior Riley Bennett, a three-time state runner-up individually. “It means everything to be out here with my brothers who have been with me for four years – they have put in all the work and finally getting it done just feels so good.” The title didn’t come easy against the Tigers, who have wrestled for the championship in 10 of the last 12 years, including winning it all five times since 2014. Saturday’s outcome was ultimately decided by an official’s decision in the second-to-last match after Fairview’s Keegan Seaver picked up a technical fall at 120 late in the third period for a 33-30 edge. Pigeon Forge’s Andy Cable, who placed third overall at 113 last season, built a quick 8-2 lead over Jeffery Anderson. Early in the second period, Cable illegally slammed Anderson to the mat and the Fairview sophomore was awarded an injury disqualification victory that ultimately put the win out of reach for Pigeon Forge with just one weight remaining. “It’s a tricky call and in a situation like that, it’s tough,” Derrick said, noting the weight the call carried. “It is what it is and I hate it for them, but we don’t need any asterisk for what we accomplished today.” Bennett opened the championship with his second pin of the day at 138, but Fairview had to bump up weight classes after 152. Blake Mitchell (160) and Malachi Bennett (170) – Riley’s younger brother – added wins for a 16-10 lead, but Pigeon Forge gained momentum against lighter opponents, including wins over Fairview’s returning state medalists Marco Pukl at 182 and Ken Curtis at 195. Pukl lost in overtime against Joseph Skidmore – last year’s runner-up in the division, while Curtis suffered a rare setback by falling to Ethan Sutton late in the third period. The Wildcats gained a 25-16 lead through eight matches after returning individual state runner-up Caleb Wolfe posted a quick pin at 220 over Arie Donaldson. Pigeon Forge senior Mustafi Algarawi took to the mat next. He placed fifth at 285 last season and had roughly a 65-pound advantage on Clevenger, who has consistently filled in at heavyweight despite weighing in at 208 Saturday. The Fairview junior said he is used to battling bigger opponents, especially after getting plenty of mat time against his older brother, Jackson – the school’s only repeat individual champion who graduated in 2019. “Last year and the year before I was able to roll around with my brother a lot,” Clevenger said of Jackson, who wrestled at about 275. “I was starting to get used to the weight really, but it’s different when you get out there with other guys on the mat. That extra 60-70 pounds, it’s rough.” Clevenger had to reach deep to rally past Hixson’s Landon Moore in the semifinals earlier Saturday. Fairview scored a 44-31 win in that one. Clevenger battled back from an early takedown and mustered up just enough energy to snag a single leg up the middle with 13 seconds remaining and ultimately pin Moore in the final seconds. Clevenger trailed early against Algarawi in the finals as well, including a smashing slam that left the junior sprawled on his back for an injury timeout, but a later near fall vaulted Clevenger in front 10-9 after two periods. Forty-nine seconds later, he surprised Algarawi by turning into a throw and ending up on top to secure a quick pin and shift the momentum back to Fairview. “I just kept a hold of his left arm and I realized he was just as gassed as I was,” Clevenger said. “We have worked so hard in the wrestling room, I was used to being tired and wrestling hard.” The pin at the 4:49 mark re-ignited the Fairview faithful and closed the Wildcats lead to 25-22. Sam Frank, the Yellow Jackets 106-pounder, followed with a pin of his own before Josh Helm got caught underneath Pigeon Forge’s Caleb Wolfe midway through the second at 113. The Wildcats regained the lead, but the abrupt pin resulted in a point deduction for unsportsmanlike behavior leaving Fairview within 30-28 and just three matches remaining. “We had a lot of unsung heroes out there tonight,” Derrick said, pointing out Brody Cox’s ability to avoid a fall against Pigeon Forge’s defending champion Josh Parton at 145 as well as his nephew Jacob’s pin in the final seconds of the first period stepping up at 170 against Hixson. “Keeping those 4s and 3s is just as important as us getting those 6-point matches because you can really control and keep a match close.” Keegan Seaver pushed late and was able to secure a third-period technical fall at 120 for a 33-30 Fairview edge with two matches to go and set up the tough finish. Seaver is one five Yellow Jacket sophomores who wrestled in the championship. “There’s no group of guys I’d rather be with, practicing with, bleeding with, beating people up with – I just love these guys,” he said. “We had to fight all kinds of things to get here, but we did it.” The Yellow Jackets shift their focus to the traditional tournament in Chattanooga. The Class A-AA tournament is on Thursday, Feb. 18, with Division II taking to the mats that Friday and Class AAA closing the season on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets finished runner-up in the team standings at the traditional state tourney last year. Bennett said Saturday’s win only means Fairview will push harder with the season’s close on the horizon. “Knowing that we are state champions, we are going to put extra hard work into each practice and go out there and win individuals, too,” he said. Signal Mountain bounced back from a 42-33 semifinal loss to Pigeon Forge to capture third 47-32 over Hixson. 

Fairview def. Pigeon Forge, 39-36, Class A-AA Championship 

138 – Riley Bennett, FVHS, pinned Colin Gray, 3:00; 145 – Josh Parton, PF, maj. dec. Brody Cox, 10-2; 152 – Garrett Foreman, PF, pinned John Spicer, 2:40; 160 – Blake Mitchell, FVHS, pinned Aiden Littles, 1:12; 170 – Malachi Bennett, FVHS, maj. dec. Khumovn Sattorov, 15-4; 182 – Joseph Skidmore, PF, dec. Marco Pukl, (SV-1) 7-5; 195 – Ethan Sutton, PF, pinned Ken Curtis, 5:17; 220 – Caleb Wolfe, PF, pinned Arie Donaldson, 0:16; 285 – Jacob Clevenger, FVHS, pinned Mustafi Algarawi, 4:49; 106 – Sam Frank, FVHS, pinned Samuel Hadder, 2:16; 113 – Hunter Gentry, PF, pinned Josh Helm, 3:09; 120 – Keegan Seaver, FVHS, tech. fall James Justice, 25-9; 126 – Jeffery Anderson, FVHS, won by injury default over Andy Cable, 2:12; 132 – Noah Dyer, PF, pinned Mathew Blaylock, 3:31. PF 113 -1 unsportsmanlike conduct. 

Source:  Williamson Herald