State Wrap Up - Episode 8: The Bracket Breakers - South Carolina and Tennessee
A bracket breaker is defined differently for different states and sometimes differently by classification in the same state. Mostly it comes down to how large the bracket is as to what defines a bracket breaker and where they finish. So read each state first to understand how I have chosen to define it. Broadly speaking … it is a wrestler that comes in under the radar and goes on to win matches they either “shouldn’t” win (according to their previous weeks finish).
South Carolina
Five wrestlers (out of a possible 56) were able to come from a non-Upper or Lower State Champ position to claim a state title in South Carolina. With just a 6-man bracket … the threshold to make “bracket breaker” was climbing all the way to the top step.
1A-2A: No bracket breakers in 1A-2A. Every champ had won either a lower state title or an upper state title the weekend before.
3A: No bracket breakers in 3A. Every champ had won either a lower state title or an upper state title the weekend before.
4A:
Lane Schrader (Eastside) - Finished 2nd in Upper State to Brice Carron. Won by tech fall over Destin Freeman, a 5-4 decision over Drew Vigh, and then a fall of Alan Powell to claim the 4A 126 lb. State title.
Jack Wyland (Eastside) - Finished 2nd in Upper State to Adam Clinemeyer. Pinned Danchez McNeal and Naszeir Bellamy to make the finals. Downed Upper State 3rd place finisher Spencer Cox 2-1 to claim the 4A 132 lb. state title.
Nygel Moore (South Pointe) - Finished 2nd in Upper State to Foster Lambert. Pinned Chris Snowden before grinding an 8-7 decision over Lower State Champ Navruz Ibragimov 8-7 in the semis. Moore then pinned Aaron Miller in 2:58 to claim the 4A 182 lb. state title.
Daniel Esparza (Eastside) - Finished 2nd in Upper State to Karrington Charles. Pinned DJ Rayzor in 1:03 and then won by decision over Lower State Champ Triston Williams 6-3, and then beat Upper State Champ Charles 3-1 in sudden victory to claim the 4A 285 lb. state title.
5A:
Brayton Killiri (Summerville) - Finished 2nd in Lower State to Brandon Flory. Killiri pinned Vandiver in the 2nd period and cruised to a 10-1 major decision of Upper State Champ Colton Holmes before beating Flory 8-3 for the 5A 126 lb. state title.
Tennessee
Tennessee had different size brackets for different classifications … meaning the definition of a bracket breaker changed based on classification. Division 2 and Girls each had 8 wrestler brackets … so a #3 or #4 from either the East or West Regions that made the state finals were considered “bracket breakers”.
In 1A-2A (16-man brackets) - any wrestler that was a #3 or #4 from their region and finished top 4 at the state tournament made the list. 3A was a bit different because there are 8 regions and only the #1 and #2 advanced to the finals. Bracket breaker in 3A was any #2 that finished top 4.
D2:
Jay Eversole (Lakeway Christian) - Eversole, the #4 out of the East, downed West Region Champ Joseph Jones in the 1st round and East Region Runner-up Tate Williams in the semis to advance to the 112 lb. finals opposite Nick Corday of Baylor. Eversole finished 2nd at the state tournament after finishing 4th in the East Region the weekend before.
Lauren McDonald (McCallie) - McDonald, the #3 out of the East, pinned Gabriel Croom and East Region Champ Max Fisher before falling to West Region Champ Parker Petersen in the 285 lb. finals. McDonald finished 2nd at the state tournament after finishing 3rd in the East Region the weekend before.
Girls:
Hailey Webb (Farragut) - Webb, the #3 out of the East Region, had a fall of Crysalyn O’Connor and a 26-9 tech fall of East Region Champ Trinity Hunt to reach the finals in the Girls 160 lb. bracket. She lost to Brielle Bissonette to take 2nd at 160.
Katie McNabb (Sale Creek) - McNabb, the #3 out of the East Region, had a fall of Lily Chantler and Isabel Petty to make the Girls 170 lb. final. She lost to defending State Champ Shelby Zacharias to finish 2nd.
Chukwuedom Odeigah (Collierville) - Odeigah, the #3 out of the West Region, had a 3rd period fall of Gabriella Gray before downing the defending State Champ Ariyanna Anderson 14-9 in the semis. She lost to Ella Murhpey of Hardin Valley in the 190 lb. Final.
1A-2A:
Dakota Pattee (Nolesville): Pattee entered the 1A-2A 126 lb. bracket as the #3 out of Region 3. He won by fall and then a 4-0 decision over Region 4 Champ Dylan Davenport put him in the semis. A loss to Lewis, but wins over Region 1 Champ Charles Dabney and Davenport (again) put him on the 126 lb. podium in 3rd. 3rd in Region 3 and 3rd in the state.
Perrin Clark (East Ridge): Clark entered the 1A-2A 132 lb. bracket as the #3 out of Region 3. Clark lost in the 1st round to Garrett Haley and then proceeded to win 4 in a row (3 by fall and a forfeit) to make the consolation finals. Clark was 3rd in Region 3 and finished 4th in the state tournament at 132 lbs.
Gaberial Pennington (Eagleville): Pennington entered the 1A-2A 138 lb. bracket as the #3 out of Region 3 (notice a trend?). He had a fall of Yarbrough and a 4-1 decision over Roby Thomas to advance to the semis - where he lost to 2x State Champ Hunter Mason. Pennington then beat Magourik 9-3 and Kale Albritton 16-14 to take 3rd. 3rd in Region 3 and 3rd in the state tournament at 138 lbs.
Lucas Taylor (White House Heritage): Taylor entered the 152 lb. bracket as the #4 seed from region 4. He beat Region 2 Champ Jonas Vandergriff of Hixson by fall in the 1st round, Region 1 3rd place Dawson Jones by fall in the quarters and Region 4 Champ Daniel White by fall in the semis. He lost to returning State Champ Garrett Foreman in the finals, but finished 2nd after starting the tournament as a #4 out of Region 4.
Dalen Kimble (Sycamore): Kimble was the #3 out of Region 4 and won his 1st round matches before falling to Foreman in the semis 4-0. He won his consi semi match and his 3rd/4th place match over Daniel White to finish 3rd. 3rd from Region 4 and 3rd at the state tournament.
Carson Reep (Gibbs): Reep entered the 160 lb. bracket as the #3 from from Region 1. Reep won his 1st two matches before losing in the semis to runner-up Malachi Bennett. Reep pinned Roberts in the consi semis and then downed Region 2 Champ Kobie Smith 8-7 to finish 3rd.
Zach Sinner (Nolensville): Sinner entered the 170 lb. bracket as the #3 from Region 3. He beat Elijah Hubbs 5-0 and Region 2 Champ Kylar Chadwick by fall to make the semis. He lost to Kaden White 9-7, but beat Kyle Watts to make the consi finals. Sinner started the tournament as the #3 out Region 3 and finished 4th in the state at 170.
Nathan Montpool (Nolensville): Montpool entered the 195 lb. bracket as the #3 from Region 3. He had two falls before losing to eventual Champ Ethan Sutton 9-4 in the semis. He bounced back with a 9-8 win over John Geist and a fall over Arie Donaldson to finish 3rd.
Rob Atwood (Trousdale County): Atwood entered the 220 lb. bracket as the #3 from Region 3. He had a 1st round fall over Jeremiah Cope before losing in sudden victory to eventual Champ (and ultimately a 3x State Champ) Jonathan Morton of Elizabethton in the quarters. Atwood then won 3 in a row to make the consi finals before losing to defending State Champ Parrish Pacetti 6-0 for 3rd/4th.
3A
Logan Fowler (Cleveland): The chances that Fowler was going to make this list was pretty high. He was one of the top 106’s in the state entering the tournament even though he had finished 2nd to Bryson Terrell in Region 4. What might have been a bit unexpected was that he ran through the bracket … 2 1st period falls and a 15-0 tech fall before beating Terrell 10-8 in the finals to claim the title.
Ethan Lipsey (Bradley Central): Lipsey entered the tournament as the #2 at 113 from Region 4. He lost his 1st round match to Region 6 Champ Nicholas Mercante of Wilson Central, but then won 5 in a row (including a 3-1 decision over Mercante) to finish 3rd.
Chas Stokes (Oakland): Stokes entered the 3A 113 lb. bracket as the #2 from Region 5. He had a fall and a 7-5 decision over Devin Lozdoski before falling to Bentley Ellison in the semis. He beat Owen Gobel 7-2 in the consi semis to make top 4 in a very deep 3A bracket.
Easton Lipsey (Bradley Central): Lipsey entered the 126 lb. bracket as the #2 out of Region 4. He had a forfeit and an 11-0 decision before falling to 3x State Champ Trey Bates in the semis 7-3. Lipsey beat Justin Noll 6-2 and Wemawamungu Moktani 7-2 to take 3rd.
Wemawamungu Moktani (Munford): Moktani entered the 126 lb. bracket as the #2 out of Region 8. Moktani lost his opening match to Mason Sells 2-1 before winning 4 in a row (including a sudden victory win over Sells) to make the consi finals.
Riley Fort (Wilson Central): Fort entered the 132 lb. bracket as the #2 out of Region 6. He beat Adam Tibotski 12-0 and pinned Taron Patterson before falling in the semis to Brennan Watkins 3-2. Fort pinned Hunter Davis in the consi semis before losing to Sam Shires and finishing 4th in a deep weight.
Luke Belcher (Bradley Central): Belcher entered the 138 lb. bracket as the #2 out of Region 4. It wasn’t a surprise to see him handle the bottom side of the bracket as he had a fall, a 6-3 decision over Jacob Roaten, and a 9-1 major decision of Alan Fort before getting a rematch with Cleveland’s Trae McDaniel. McDaniel won the rematch 10-3 and Region 4 went 1st and 2nd at 138.
Anthony Lynn (Bradley Central): Lynn was 2nd out of Region 4 at 145. He won his 1st two matches by fall before losing to Landon Fisher of Jefferson County in the semis. A 2-0 win over Alex Rose of Blackman in the consi semis put him on the podium at 145.
Aidan Brenot (Clarksville) - Brenot was 2nd out of Region 6 at 152. He won his opening match against Laxton 8-6 in sudden victory and then pinned Henry Tate and earned a major decision over Elijah Cowan to make the finals. He lost a 10-5 decision to finish 2nd at 152.
Logan Fisher (Jefferson County) - Fisher was just the 3rd wrestler that was 2nd in his region (Region 1 in this case) to advance to the finals … where he faced the Region 1 Champ in Tre Morrisette. Fisher had two 3rd period falls on his way to the finals including a tight match vs. Justin Brown of Blackman in the semis. He, like Belcher and Brenot (the other two #2’s), would fall in the finals and finish 2nd.
Anthony Pyron (Mt Juliet) - Pyron, 2nd out of Region 6, won his 1st round match by fall over Region 5 Champ Justin Chew and his quarterfinal over Region 1 Champ Clint Morrisette 11-6. He lost by major decision to Matheson Meade, but rebounded to finish 3rd … not surprisingly the #1 out of Region 6 - Mason Smith was the returning State Champ at 152 and went on to claim his 2nd title.
Tetoe Boyd (Cleveland) and Owen Zuckerman (Houston) - Boyd and Zuckerman - both #2’s - advanced to the finals at 182. Neither had a particularly easy path, but both came in as returning State Placers. Boyd ended up winning it with a 7-2 decision to become the only 3A wrestler that finished as a Region runner-up to go on to claim a title in 2021.
Donovan Rich (Beech) - Rich was 2nd in Region 6 and fought his way through the top side to face Dominic Love of Green Hills in the finals. Love was the Region 6 Champ - so we had another region rematch at 195. Love got up 6-3 before getting the fall at the end of the 2nd period to claim the 195 lb. title.
Austin McClure (Bradley Central) - McClure was 2nd in Region 4 and fought through the bottom side with tough wins over Region 5 Champ Graham Keating and Keimel Redford before losing to Joshua Cummins in the semis. A win over Keating (again) in the consi semis and 2-1 over Harness in the consi finals put him on the podium in 3rd.
Samuel Harness (Cookeville) - Harness was 2nd in Region 5. He downed Region 6 Champ Jesse Richardson 5-4 and Region 1 Champ Sonny Watson 1-0 before losing to Jaden Langford in the semis. Another hard fought 5-4 decision over Richardson in the consis semis put him in the top 4.