Tennessee D1 A
We have reached the Elite 8 and if we believe the ranking we have a couple of “Cinderellas” still dancing after the opening weekend of the state series.
So what is a Fan’s Guide?
The Fan’s Guide is a look at the tournament as a whole (at least from this point moving forward since two rounds have already been wrestled) … from a fan’s perspective. But it is not a prediction of who will hoist the trophy on Saturday. Because all of the rounds will be wrestled on Saturday we will talk about the tournament overall as well as who is the favorite, which team is a darkhorse, and then a more in-depth look at the Elite 8 matchups.
A Fan’s Guide is a little different. It is a look at a few individual pieces from each bracket … they include:
Favorite: the team (of the 8 that remain) that look (at least on paper) as the team to beat.
Darkhorse: a team a little off the radar … everyone seems to be talking about this team or that and this team has all the pieces to surprise some people.
The most in-depth part of the dual Fan’s Guide is a look at the possible lineups for the 8 teams. We try to breakdown each of those matchups and tell you which team might have an edge … projecting to possible final 4 matchups or the finals more difficult - so like each team below we will focus on the next match. The favorite, the darkhorse, and the overall summary gives you an idea of what we think might happen the rest of the week.
Elite 8
Overall
Favorite: Signal Mountain
Signal Mountain are the top seed and the defending champs, but they are not the clear favorites in what should be a very competitive D1 1A field. Signal Mountain draws a good Gibbs squad that beat Greeneville to advance to this weekend. Signal Mountain has a solid 40-33 win over Soddy Daisy as well as tough losses to Bradley Central and Baylor. Fairview in the 2 seed and is 39-5 with wins over Tullahoma, Summit, and others as well as losses to Brentwood, Page, and others. Page vs. Knoxville Halls is the best first round matchup (although Page beat them 45-18 a few weeks ago, but Halls won an earlier meeting). Two very good squads that could pose a problem for anyone in the bracket.
Darkhorse: Page
Several really good squads and could pick any number to be the darkhorse. We go with Page because if they are on then they can beat both Knox Halls and Fairview (in fact they have wins over both teams this season … they’ve also lost to both squads). Keep an eye on Tullahoma as well … they are solid from top to bottom as well and could pose problems for the bracket as well.
Summary: Like we said above - this bracket could go a number of different ways with several teams really having an opportunity to take the title. It will come down to team matchups (and individual matchups in each dual), bonus points, and which weight each duals starts at. Each of the first round matchups should be exciting.
Signal Mountain Strengths: Uhorchuk’s as well as Ian Bryant, Jackson Davis, and Jaxon Quails.
Gibbs Strengths: Up top with Elijah Hubbs and Landon Brooks as well as Ezra Finstad and Owen Deluca.
Expect Signal Mountain to look to neutralize Deluca in the middle with one of the Uhorchuk’s. Will we see Jojo vs. Finstad at 113 or Hubbs vs. Quails at 182? Signal Mountain should have at least 3 wins in their back pocket, but who else will push them to the win? Expect some toss-up matches to decide this one. Higdon vs. Allen at 106 or if Signal Mountain works to put Oliver Green on Brody Ford at 120 are the type of matchups that might push one team through.
Tullahoma’s strengths: Jerzy Hendrix and Cody Agnell are both returning placers and lead the way. Banks, Adkins, Frank, and Avans are all returning qualifiers … meaning the strength of the Tullahoma lineup is in the middle from Banks through Connor Avans at 182. If Tullahoma is going to advance then the middle of the lineup must come through.
Sycamore’s strengths: Heckert is a returning champ and one of the best 182’s in the SE. London and Davenport are returning placers with Moreland as a returning qualifier. The biggest challenge for Sycamore are the potential holes at 106 and then in the middle (fully expect to fill 152 - they may just give up 160 to Hendrix if they control the other parts of the dual).
At least one very good matchup in Agnell vs. either Davenport or London. Sycamore will need to make up any forfeits that they have … Heckert is almostt a guaranteed win (his only loss this year is to SE #1 Aidan Brenot), but getting bonus would be huge for Sycamore (he pinned Avans a few weeks ago). This dual leans Tullahoma simply because of the possible forfeits, but their hammers still must do work in order for them to advance.
Maybe the best dual in an exciting first round. Knox Halls beat Page 54-30 in December, but Page turned the tables on them a few weeks ago with a 45-18 win. Those two scores seems crazy (n that they are very different), but it all comes down to matchups and bonus points as well as momentum. In the January dual both teams forfeited 106, but in December neither team forfeited the weight. In the December dual Knox Halls got out to a huge lead with falls at 113-152 and they ran away with the match. In the January dual, the match began at 132 and although Page lost 3 of the first 4 matches they were able to get to 160 with the dual still in doubt and built a lead from 160-285.
In both matches - bonus points were huge. Page won 9 matches in the January dual (Halls won 5) … in the December dual that was flipped (Halls won 9 and Page won 5), but in reality the falls were huge and that will be the difference in who advances and who doesn’t.
A rare occurrence in this bracket where the two teams haven’t faced one another this season. But just like every other matchup … this one could go a number of different ways.
Fairview’s strengths: Returning State Champ Kendrick Curtis as well as Malachi Bennett at 160. Keegan Seaver is a returning qualifier and is a big part of the lineup down low.
Soddy Daisy’s strengths: Drew Lewis is a returning placer at 126 and Duncan is a returning qualifier at 120 … but the strength of the team is really that they have few holes - good from top to bottom.
Soddy’s best wrestlers are from 113-126 with Cooper, Welch, and Rawlinson being key to them advancing. Duncan vs. Ribble and Spicer vs. Rawlinson could be an important match in the dual. Seaver, Bennett, and Curtis will lead the way for Fairview, but they will need to get some wins elsewhere to down Daisy. Sanderson will play an important role in how far Fairview goes this weekend.
