FRANKLIN – Four Greeneville wrestlers battled on Saturday afternoon and finished on the medal stand at the Class A State Tournament.
Brylan Rhodes (126) finished in third place, Hayden Moore (190) was fourth, Gabriel Oakley (120) sixth, and Hunter Shelton (150) sixth.
“I think we did really well this weekend,” Greeneville coach Randy Shelton said. “We’re a top 10 team, we’re leaving with four state medalists and both my seniors finished with medals. Brylan earned a medal for the second year in a row. Hayden missed all year last year with an injury and came back to earn a state medal. You would always like to have a few more, but I’m really proud of those four guys.”
Rhodes, a sophomore, missed out on a chance to win his second state championship with a loss on Friday, but he came back determined on Saturday and dominated his two matches in the consolation bracket.
He started the day by earning a 13-5 major decision over Ryan Jones-Camp of Samuel Everett.
In the third-place match Rhodes was in control the whole way as he earned a 19-2 technical fall over Matthew Pennington of Eagleville. The two points he allowed were both give aways while he took Pennington to the mat five times.
“It takes a lot of mental toughness to lose a match you really want to win, and come back the next day,” Shelton said. “It’s a long day and it’s a mentally challenging day. It’s probably tougher mentally than it is physically. Brylan came back and wrestled at a really high level. today”
Moore also advanced to the third-place match on Saturday at the Williamson County Ag-Expo Center, and he had to take the long path to get there. After falling in the quarterfinals on Friday he had to win twice on Saturday just to make it to the medal round.
He did not spend much time on the mat to advance to the medal round on Saturday, first pinning Curtis Qualls of White House Heritage in 55 seconds, and then pinning Grayson Reid of Northview Academy in 1:55.
In the consolation semifinals Moore needed just 49 seconds to pin Cory Hatcher of Alcoa.
In the third-place match Soddy-Daisy’s Logan Rawlinson had the right game plan and took a 20-7 lead before earning a pin in 2:38.
“Hayden has worked hard all year,” Shelton said. “He’s a pinner. You saw that in the first three matches, but we just never got in that position in the third-place match. I’m proud of that kid, he missed the whole year last year and came back really strong this year.”
Greeneville only had two seniors on the roster this year and both Shelton and Oakley got the chance to end their careers as state medalists.
“I’m super proud of those two. They are both great kids and team captains. I couldn’t ask for two better kids to represent Greeneville High School,” coach Shelton said.
Shelton started Saturday by pinning Owen Hassler of Greenbrier in 3:34. He then earned a 15-6 major decision over Elliot Davisson of McMinn Central to advance to the medal round.
In the consolation semifinals Shelton dropped a 10-0 major decision to Max Cable of Pigeon Forge. In the fifth-place match Tanner Aldridge of Harpeth beat Shelton by Major decision 18-6.
Oakley started Saturday in the medal round after advancing to the semifinals on Friday.
In the consolation semifinals Oakley fell to Harold Ward of Greenbrier by major decision 11-0. In the fifth-place match Oakley was pinned by Oliver Green of Signal Mountain.
Greeneville’s Mack Hall (157), Gideon Ellenburg (165) and Hayden Matthews (215) all advanced to Saturday’s action but came up short of earning medals.
Shelton is hopeful that his younger guys learn from their experience at the state tournament, and use this weekend to come back stronger next year.
“For some kids losing here is what fires them up, and this weekend is what propels them to come back as a state champion next year,” Shelton said. “We talk about it a lot, but you have to see this tournament before you can believe it. This is the biggest stage most of these kids have ever been on. You have to see this first before you are really ready to handle it.”
In the team standings Greeneville finished in eighth place. Soddy Daisy was first, Signal Mountain was second and Station Camp was third.
