Despite only qualifying the top two wrestlers from the Region 7-AAA tournament this year, Summit High School still continued to impress with nine Spartans reaching the Class AAA state stage next week in Chattanooga. Seven Summit grapplers clinched region titles Saturday at Independence High School, while two others bounced back from finals losses to capture a true-second place match and secure set berths. “It’s the greatest feeling in the world to have a family of brothers out there who you can really depend on,” said junior Ryan Smith, the Spartans heavyweight who improved to 30-1 overall after three pins in the regional. “This is definitely a good feeling.” Freshman Jarvis Little may have been buzzing the most Saturday. The 113-pounder’s route to a state berth featured a third match against Franklin’s returning state medalist Owen Gobel as well as a battle against Chris Calvin of McGavock, a three-time returning state medalist. In the final seconds of his semifinal against Gobel, Little was credited with a takedown to advance to face Calvin where the freshman again came through in the crunch. Trailing 4-2 with about 30 seconds remaining in the final, Little scored a stalling point and then secured a reversal as the final buzzer sounded. “I had to dig deep down and honestly I was about to give up,” the Spartans youngster said. “Something happened. Something happened in me and I just said, ‘I’m going to turn him right now.’ “I felt the whole gym explode. It just felt amazing.” Little’s win at 113 triggered a string of five straight region title wins for the Spartans. Jackson Masters, wrestling in his third consecutive region final, clinched the title with a third-round pin of Spring Hill’s Isaiah Brooks at 120. Justin Noll (126), Landon Desselle (132) and Austin Noll (138) all followed with wins as well. The 126-pound Noll fended off a late surge from Brentwood’s Arash Yazdani by securing a quick pin to open overtime in his final. Summit coach Pete Miller said his group has built off of two things all season: to compete and to love each other. “This is a fun group and this is what it’s all about,” said Miller, who was named the region coach of the year. “This team is just fun. I’m excited for our fans. Our wrestlers, our coaches, everybody, this is a fun group, and we’re not done yet.” Summit collected 277.5 team points, while Brentwood (176) was second, Franklin (174) third and Page (170.5) fourth. The tournament featured 17 schools, however, the Williamson County contingent garnered 26 of the 28 state berths against a Metro group still getting used to the mats after a shortened season that had them sidelined until this month because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We feel very fortunate,” Franklin coach Andrew Tomlinson said. “To not even know if you’re going to have a season and now to push through all of this, everything that we have dealt with all year and be able to have four guys go to state is big just for us. "Take that 113-pound weight class, four kids in my opinion could go forward and medal at state from there." Gobel bounced back from his third loss to Little to pin Nicholas Sebastian of Independence. He stopped Mason Hitt of Page to clinch third place while also earning a shot at another state berth thanks to Little’s win over Calvin. “It was hard to focus and I know Jarvis is tough, but after that loss, I knew I still had a chance,” said Gobel, who placed fifth at state last year at 106. He pinned Calvin early in the second round to earn a return trip to state. “He was really good on his feet, but he left his head a little too exposed and I know I’m not supposed to, but I just kind of reached back and was able to get it,” Gobel said. “My adrenaline was probably the highest it’s ever been after that.” Gobel was one of four Admirals to wrestle for second place. Six Franklin wrestlers reached the semifinals, but only 182-pounder Daniel Helton reached a final. Football standout Fisher Anderson bounced back from a semifinals loss to another Spartan champ – heavyweight Smith – to score three straight pins. He stopped Ravenwood’s Carter Miller in just 15 seconds for second. Rylan Schroeder, a transfer who had to wrestle JV all season, recovered from a quarterfinal loss to eventual 160-pound champion Tanner Willett of Independence to win his next five matches, including a second-round pin of Luis Herrera of McGavock for second. Helton fell to Gabriel Hall of Independence in the final, but already had beaten Brentwood’s third-place finisher Hunter Meade in consolation to hold on as runner-up. Hall, Willett and 106-pounder Russell Ford will all represent at state for Indy as region champs. “This is rewarding,” said Willett, who placed fifth at state at 138 last year. “I’m looking forward to getting back there.” Page is sending five to state, led by region winners Mitchell Lambert (220) and Will Parcel (170). Lambert, a two-time region winner after claiming the 182-pound title last season, improved to 25-0. “This means a lot to get back there,” he said. “It’s a great feeling and comes from a lot of hard work in the practice room … I couldn’t have done it by myself. "All of us, Jack Mundt, Will Parcel and Grant Hawkinson, who came back to make it, and Collins Fiscus – a seventh seed – but he proved everybody wrong. I think we all did a great job." Parcel, a junior, is fueled by a sibling rivalry. His brother Chris, who graduated in 2019, placed fifth as a senior at state and was on hand to watch Saturday. “I’m hoping to just get on the podium again like this,” the younger Parcel said. “Hopefully beat my brother’s fifth place showing, too. He was rubbing it in that he was better, but I’m like, no way, that’s me.” Other area state qualifiers include Brentwood’s Zach Ordonez (106), Yazdani at 126 and Clark Vaughn (138) – all winners of the true second place match. Both Centennial and Ravenwood will have one wrestler apiece in the state tournament with returning third-place finisher Alex Ables collecting his third region title by winning at 152. He was named most outstanding wrestler for the upper weights, while Little earned that title at the lower weights. Drew Dodson claimed the 145-pound title for the Raptors. The state tournament begins Thursday at the Chattanooga Convention Center with Class A-AA, followed by Division II and girls championships on Friday. Class AAA wrestlers close the tournament Saturday. “This is exciting for us,” Miller said. “We qualified nine, well, 10 after Navaen (Brinson) qualified in our girls program. I know they are all already chomping at the bits. I’m sure they are already texting me for game plans. So we’ll get to work.” 

2021 TSSAA Region 7-AAA Wrestling Tournament

at Independence High School Feb. 12-13, 2021

Team Scores (Top 10)

1, Summit, 277.5 points; 2, Brentwood, 176; 3, Franklin, 174; 4, Page, 170.5; 5, Independence, 164; 6, Ravenwood, 117; 7, Centennial, 111; 8, McGavock, 63; 9, Overton, 62.5; 10, Spring Hill, 47.

Individual Results (Top 2 qualify for state)

106

1st Place Match – Russell Ford, IHS, tech. fall Zach Ordonez, 3:11 (16-0); 2nd Place Wrestleback – Zach Ordonez, BHS, dec. Lucas Martin, Hillwood, 7-2; 3rd Place Match – Lucas Martin, Hillwood, dec. Grayson Miller, 12-7; 5th Place Match – Elijah Benfield, CHS, dec. Sachin Sashti, RHS, 7-0.

113

1st Place Match – Jarvis Little, SHS, dec. Chris Calvin, McGavock, 5-4; 2nd Place Wrestleback – Owen Gobel, FHS, pinned Chris Calvin, McGavock, 4:25; 3rd Place Match – Owen Gobel, FHS, pinned Mason Hitt, PHS, 1:53; 5th Place Match – Judiah Ward, RHS, dec. Nicholas Sebastian, IHS, 16-13.

120

1st Place Match – Jackson Masters, SHS, pinned Isaiah Brooks, Spring Hill, 4:51; 2nd Place Wrestleback – Isaiah Brooks, Spring Hill, pinned Cole Moss, BHS, 1:50; 3rd Place Match – Cole Moss, BHS, maj. dec. Christian Brown, Hillsboro, 14-4; 5th Place Match – Ammr Albarati, RHS, won by disqualification over Isaiah Calvin, McGavock.

126

1st Place Match – Justin Noll, SHS, pinned Arash Yazdani, 6:11; 2nd Place Wrestleback – Arash Yazdani, BHS, dec. Timothy Ford, IHS, 4-2; 3rd Place Match – Timothy Ford, IHS, pinned Jeremiah Savage, McGavock, 3:23; 5th Place Match – Trisan Hebb, Hillwood, pinned O’Neal Sebastian, PHS, 3:46.

132

1st Place Match – Landon Desselle, SHS, pinned Spencer Kon, IHS, 4:25; 2nd Place Wrestleback – Grant Hawkinson, PHS, maj. dec. Spencer Kon, IHS, 9-0; 3rd Place Match – Grant Hawkinson, PHS, pinned Brock Wittman, FHS, 1:52; 5th Place Match – Noah Kang, RHS, dec. Andrew Donelson, BHS, 5-1.

138

1st Place Match – Austin Noll, SHS, maj. dec. Clark Vaughn, BHS, 10-2; 2nd Place Wrestleback – Clark Vaughn, BHS, won by no contest over Alton Cates, OHS, 9-1; 3rd Place Match – Alton Cates, OHS, dec. Nathan Alcoch, CHS, 3-2; 5th Place Match –Ma`Kel Holloway, Hillsboro, dec. Jayden Sutton, DCHS, 13-12.

145

1st Place Match – Drew Dodson, RHS, dec. Collins Fiscus, PHS, 6-4; 2nd Place Wrestleback – Collins Fiscus, PHS, won by no contest Gabriel Green, FHS; 3rd Place Match – Gabriel Green, FHS, pinned Ceron Campbell, CHS, 2:53; 5th Place Match – Austin Grooters, SHS, dec. Azai Aremdula-Chavez, OHS, (SV-1) 11-9.

152

1st Place Match – Alex Ables, CHS, pinned Finley Jameson, SHS, 2:51; 2nd Place Wrestleback – Finley Jameson, SHS, pinned Maverick Marmol, IHS, 0:42; 3rd Place Match – Maverick Marmol, IHS, maj. dec. Matthew Massaro, RHS, 15-4; 5th Place Match – Dean Klueppelberg, BHS, pinned Cooper Lambert, 1:19.

160

1st Place Match – Tanner Willett, IHS, maj. dec. Luis Herrera, McGavock, 14-5; 2nd Place Wrestleback – Rylan Schroeder, FHS, pinned Luis Herrera, McGavock, 2:56; 3rd Place Match – Rylan Schroeder, FHS, pinned Seth Wright, PHS, 1:55; 5th Place Match – Wyatt Gibbs, BHS, won by forfeit over John Campbell, DCHS.

170

1st Place Match – Will Parcel, PHS, maj. dec. Luke Justice, SHS, 12-4; 2nd Place Wrestleback – Luke Justice, SHS, pinned Sawyer Robinson, FHS 6:49; 3rd Place Match – Sawyer Robinson, FHS, pinned Cannon Roberts, IHS, 2:04; 5th Place Match – Jake Beightol, BHS, pinned Thomas Monroe, Hillwood, 3:26.

182

1st Place Match – Gabriel Hall, IHS, pinned Daniel Helton, FHS, 5:04; 2nd Place Wrestleback – Daniel Helton, FHS, won by no contest over Hunter Meade, BHS; 3rd Place Match – Hunter Meade, BHS, dec. Marquill Green, OHS, 11-8; 5th Place Match – Cayden Buchanan, Spring Hill, won by forfeit over Jensen Schreiber, SHS.

195

1st Place Match – Maddox Reed, SHS, dec. Jack Mundt, PHS, 3-2; 2nd Place Wrestleback – Jack Mundt, PHS, won by no contest over Patrick Styblo, CHS; 3rd Place Match – Patrick Styblo, CHS, pinned Dominic Green, FHS, 1:08; 5th Place Match – Dylan Rogers, BHS, pinned Cameron Rouse, Hunters Lane, 2:45.

220

1st Place Match – Mitchell Lambert, PHS, pinned Hassan Mizoury, OHS, 0:59; 2nd Place Wrestleback – Hassan Mizoury, OHS, won by no contest over Tyler Garber, SHS; 3rd Place Match – Tyler Garber, SHS, pinned Noah Dixon, BHS, 2:05 – 5th Place Match – Richard Shelton, Cane Ridge, pinned Micah Oltmanns, IHS, 2:42.

285

1st Place Match – Ryan Smith, SHS, pinned Carter Miller, RHS, 0:31; 2nd Place Wrestleback – Fisher Anderson, FHS, pinned Carter Miller, RHS, 0:15; 3rd Place Match – Fisher Anderson, FHS, pinned Nathaniel Hampton, Hunters Lane, 2:30; 5th Place Match – McKaleb Frazier, DCHS, won by forfeit over Duncan Frye, CHS.

Source:  Williamson Herald