The Greeneville wrestling team grabbed gold on Tuesday evening by taking down Elizabethton in the Region 1-A Duals Tournament Championship.
The Greene Devils closed strong on Tuesday, winning the final five matches to capture a 51-27 win in the championship bout.
“I’m really proud of these kids and the effort they gave tonight,” Greeneville coach Randy Shelton said. “I felt like we left some points on the mat, but Elizabethton wrestled well. When you can win like this, even when it might not have been our best night, it really shows the work these guys have been putting in. These guys didn’t want to let our seniors down, and we had some guys really step up for them.”
With the win Greeneville advances to the Class A State Sectionals where they will meet Seymour on Thursday at home. Seymour lost to Pigeon Forge in the Region 2-A championship.
On December 30 Greeneville beat Seymour in a dual at Alcoa 74-6, but Shelton expects some different Eagles to be in the lineup this time.
The Greene Devils will be trying to advance to the state duals for the first time since 2022 when they finished as state runner-up.
“It’s always better wrestling at home,” Greeneville coach Randy Shelton said. “It would have been tough to go to Elizabethton tonight, and going to Pigeon Forge Thursday would have been a dangerous way to live. We ask our fans to be loud and to see them deliver is an awesome feeling. It’s just more fun at home. We’re excited for Thursday, the crowd is going to be loud and proud, and we’re going to try to get back to state.”
Tuesday’s championship match turned during the 175-pound bout where Greeneville’s James Treptow and Elizabethton’s David Wright got into a knock-down-drag-out brawl.
The Cyclones started the match holding a 27-24 advantage in the team score. The two grapplers traded points, but in the third period Wright came from five points down to swing in front 17-15.
With less than a minute left both grapplers were clearly out of gas, but Treptow was able to make one last move to work a reversal that evened the score at 17-17. Then, with 36 seconds left he some managed to get Wright on his back for the toughest pin of the night.
The win flipped the team score and put Greeneville on top 30-27.
“James is having a great season. I think he had seven total wins last year, and he’s pushing 45 wins this year. We needed something right there tonight, and James really came through for us to get a tough win,” Shelton said.
Next up Greeneville’s Hayden Moore (190) took the mat and pushed around Leif Erbach for 3:17 until he earned a 17-1 technical fall.
Hayden Matthews (215) won by forfeit to mathematically clinch the title for Greeneville with a 41-27 team score lead and two matches left.
The Greene Devils still finished out the day with two more wins. Doug Blake (285) worked a 19-6 major decision, and Christian Tomas-Padilla (106) pinned Reagan Sansom in 52 seconds.
The night started with Elizabethton’s Jacob Jenkins (113) pinning Greeneville’s Carson Hurst.
Greeneville’s Gabe Oakley (120) and Brylan Rhodes (126) each worked second-period pins, but a third-period pin by Elizabethton’s Peyton Vanover (132) evened the team score at 12-12.
The Cyclones went in front 17-12 when Landon Reedy (138) earned a 17-1 technical fall over Sonny Pryor.
A pin by the Cyclones’ Jakob Clevenger (144) pushed the team score to 23-12.
Greeneville responded with Hunter Shelton (150) working a pin in 1:40 and Mak Hall (157) pinning in 2:19. That put the Devils back in front at 24-23.
Elizabethton took the lead for the last time when Matthew Hehn (165) earned a 16-4 major decision over Gideon Ellenburg.
In the semifinals on Tuesday the Greene Devils defeated Volunteer 70-6.
In the other semifinal Elizabethon beat Chuckey-Doak 66-17. For Chuckey-Doak Jayden Britt (144) and Marcus Britt (175) each earned first-period pins. Cayden Stills (106) worked a 15-0 technical fall over Reagan Sansom.
