Wildcats shine in last home matches of season
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Tullahoma High School Wrestling hosted the District Duals at the Welsh Wrestling Center and dominated winning all three matches to claim the District Title.
Since the Wildcats’ matches from last week were cancelled, they had moved the Senior Night celebration for prior to the first match on Tuesday. After weigh-ins Tullahoma honored all of their seniors; Payton Agnell, Connor Avans, Beau Banks, Andres Hamilton, Zoe Holley, Caiden Mears, Roman Sintic, DeCarlos Slaughter and Matthew Swiger. The team also honored Jack Damron, a senior who has been unable to wrestle this season. Damron was a part of the team and was in attendance in the stands for the ceremony and the district matches.
Tullahoma faced Community for their first dual of the night and won 75-6. Mears got it started for the ‘Cats winning the 144 pound match by pin in the first period. Corbin Avans followed that up with another win via pin in the first period. Hunter Roberts had the first matchup that went the distance. Roberts won on points, 5-4. Sintic then won the next match by first round pin. Connor Avans won with a pin, to give the Wildcats a 27-0 win. Swiger and Slaughter both received wins from forfeit. Brodie Minor started a run of five straight pins by Tullahoma. Minor, Justin Frank and Kiivon Butler finished their opponent in the first period. Zachary Murphy and Hamilton both pinned their opponent in the second period, then Banks received a win via forfeit to end the match.
After taking down the Vikings, the ‘Cats dominated the Rebels 81-0. Before the boys’ dual, the Lady Wildcats wrestled the Rebelettes and won 12-0. Agnell did not waste any time, pinning her opponent in the first period. Prudence Peterson took the other match with a pin in the second period after losing the first period 1-2. Corbin Avans started the shutout for Tullahoma with a pin in 41 seconds into the match. Roberts and Sintic received wins from forfeit. Then Connor Avans bested his brother’s performance by winning from a pin in 33 seconds. Swiger and Chandler Kile followed suit winning by pin in the first period. Swiger won in 22 seconds and Kile in 19. Robert Tatum won his match 3-2 in the ultimate tie-breaker period. The UTB is a sudden death period, whoever scores the first point wins the match. Minor won the next match with a pin in the second period. Sayvion Surles won the 113 pound match on a pin in the first period. Butler pinned his opponent in the second period. Murphy pinned his opponent just 28 seconds into their match. Hamilton won his second match of the night with a pin in the first period. Banks dominated his opponent, pinning him in the second period while up 8-0. Mears ended the match with a pin 58 seconds into the match.
The win over Franklin County gave the Wildcats a 20-7 record on the season in dual and put them one win away from claiming the district title. The wins also put head coach Bob Callison at 499 career dual wins.
Tullahoma took down Cascade 53-18, claiming the district championship and giving head coach Callison 500 career dual wins. This was the most competitive dual for the Wildcats on the night. The Champions took the first match and then Sintic and Connor Avans won back to back matches with a first period pin to go up 12-6. Cascade won the next match to tie the dual up at 12. Then with three wins and two forfeits Tullahoma separated from Cascade. Kile won his match by points 8-5. Tatum also won on points, 4-0. Then Minor and Surles were awarded wins by forfeit. Frank pinned his opponent 57 seconds into the match to give the ‘Cats a 36-12 lead. After Cascade scored 3 points, Hamilton pinned his opponent in 32 seconds. The Champions scored 3 more points before Mears and Corbin Avans added 11 points for the Wildcats to finish with a score of 53-18 and gave coach Callison his 500th career win.
Tullahoma went to Cascade for the Region Duals on Thursday. They beat Marshall County 69-12 and then beat Cascade 54-18 to claim the Region title. The Wildcats will be hosting Greenbrier Saturday, Jan. 27, at 11 a.m. at the Welsh Wresting Center. The winner advances to State duals on Feb. 3.
