Rural Retreat wrestlers nabbed an eighth-place finish on Jan. 7 at the Bill Brimer Brawl in the Hall. The Indians piled up 124 team points. Chilhowie finished in 22nd place with 45.5 points, and Marion took 28th with 33 points.
Dobyns-Bennett finished first with 265 points.
Caleb Gibson, the 106-pound freshman for Rural Retreat, led the Indians with a second-place finish. After pinning Evan Brinkley of Central Wise, Gibson stuck his teammate, Justin Walker and Emmanuel Marin-Mendiola of Patrick Henry Roanoke before losing to Cooper Foster of Avery County in the finals. Gibson dropped a 9-2 decision in the championship bout.
After Walker’s loss to Gibson, he fell 6-3 to Blaine Smith of David Crockett. Before the loss, Walker picked up pinfall wins over Noah Davis of John S. Battle and Aidan Smith of Tennessee High.
Chilhowie 120-pounder Nate Widener came home with a bronze medal.
Widener kicked off his tournament with a nail-biter, taking an overtime sudden victory take down win over Isaac Carpenter of Heritage, 4-2.
Things got easier for Widener after that, as the Warrior picked up pinfall wins over Graham Carriger of David Crockett and Ryan Spates of John S. Battle before falling by pin to Benjamin Jordan of Avery County.
In the consolation rounds, Widener stuck Ravenswood’s Jordan Varney and beat Parker Stone of Rural Retreat by medical forfeit.
Prior to the forfeit, Stone started his tournament with quick pins over Elizabethton’s Jacob Presley and John Clements of Patrick Henry-Roanoke. He also picked up a pin over Knox Halls’ Ty Davis before falling by pin to Luke Wells of Powhatan. In the consolation round, Stone pinned Gabe Miller of Elizabethton before losing to Widener.
Fellow Rural Retreat 120-pounder Rustam Badziev fell by pins to Benjamin Jordan of Avery and Aiden Calton of Volunteer.
The Indians picked up fifth-place finishes at 152 pounds and at 170 pounds.
Mason Via earned fifth at 152. The senior picked up a string of pins over Griffin Moore of Daniel Boone, Lukas Roberts of Sullivan East and Johnson Zhang of Dobyns-Bennett before falling by pin to Jacob Bowling of Ravenswood. In the consolation rounds, Via dropped a 7-5 decision to Barrett Whaley of Knox Halls before hanging a 10-6 loss on Dezsel Rambaad of David Crockett to earn fifth.
Also at 152 pounds, Christopher Sapp of Rural Retreat fell by pins to Whaley and Seth Sifford of Castlewood.
At 170 pounds, senior Joey Olender stuck James Roberts of Sullivan East and Benjamin Whaley of Knox Halls before losing 7-0 to Avery County’s Cael Dunn. In the back of the bracket, Olender fell 6-3 to Jake Dempsey of Dobyns-Bennett before taking fifth with a pin over Bennett McDougal of Whitwell.
Marion 285-pounder Austin Coe finished in sixth place.
After pinning Kage Price of Chilhowie and Zachary Carroll of West Green, Coe dropped a pinfall loss to Chris Harris of Dobyns-Bennett. On the back of the bracket, Coe pinned Cal Johnson of Powhatan and Seaton Tallent of Jefferson County before losing by pinfall to Brady Sturgill of Central Wise.
Coe lost the fifth-place bout by pinfall in a rematch with Dobyns-Bennett’s Harris.
Rural Retreat’s Gabe Crewey, wrestling at 113 pounds, finished in seventh place.
After pinning Deagan Bolling of Central Wise, Crewey fell by pin to Rylan May of Knox Halls. On the back side of the bracket, Crewey took a pin over Dodger Sluder of Holston and stuck Arrogya Pradhan of Patrick Henry Roanoke. He also pinned Chilhowie’s Jaxson Guinn before dropping a 6-4 decision to Wyatt Rogers of Dobyns-Bennett. In the battle for seventh, Crewey picked up a 9-1 decision over Natalia Sanchez of Powhatan.
Crewey’s 113-pound teammate, William Rose started off his tournament with a pair of pins, beating Cayden Estep of Elizabethton and Kale Hess of Virginia High, before he lost twice by pin, falling to Mason Jakob of Dobyns-Bennette and to Sanchez.
At 138 pounds, Chaz Penwright gave the Indians an eight-place finish.
After pinning Riley Price of Tennessee High, Penwright fell by pin to Brady Chatman of West Ridge. In the consolations rounds, Penwright penned Jake Campbell of Lebanon and Jeremiah Gray of David Crockett before taking a 12-0 decision from Giovanni Bautista of Morristown-Hamblen West. Penwright then picked up a forfeit win over Slade Castle of Castlewood before dropping a 6-2 decision to Abingdon’s Michael Maxfield. In the seventh place bout, Penwright fell by pin to Caylek Vann of Jefferson County.
Marion’s James Hash opened his tournament at 106 pounds with a pin over West Greene’s Drew Pursley before falling by pin to Cole Dipietro of Holston. On the back of the bracket, Has pinned Noah Davis of John S. Battle before falling by pin to Castlewood’s Terrance Jones.
Chilhowie’s Jaxson Guinn started off his tournament with a tech fall win over Abingdon’s Gavin Barrett, 18-1, at 113 pounds. Guinn then took a 12-8 win over Wyatt Rogers of Dobyns-Bennett, before falling by pins to Adam Gibson of Castlewood and Gabe Crewey of Rural Retreat.
At 120 pounds, Marion’s Jordan Perkins fell by pins to John Clements of Patrick Henry-Roanoke and Jacob Presley of Elizabethton.
Marion’s 126-pounder Tyler Pierce fell by pin to Brock Shelby of Elizabethton before pinning Dalton Mullins of Volunteer and Logan Boggs of Central Wise. Pierce’s tournament ended with a pinfall loss to Nahzcier Smith of Patrick Henry-Roanoke.
Also at 126 pounds, Brennan Orr of Marion fell by pins to Mason Harrington of Virginia High and Dylan Gray of Jefferson County.
Kevin Shumate, Chilhowie’s 132-pounder, fell by pins to Parker Cilek of Patrick Henry-Roanoke and Zackary Grubb of West Ridge. Gabe Kell of Marion took a pinfall win over Gavin Francis of Tennessee High before losing Merrick Kestner of Holston by pin. In the backside of the bracket, Kell pinned Jack Lehmann of Culpeper before losing by pin to Jefferson County’s Jace Ison.
At 138 pounds, Chilhowie’s Blake Vanhoozer fell by pins to Wyatt Davis of Whitwell and John S. Battle’s Tristan Faidley. Marion’s Alex Dalton fell by pins to Slade Castle of Castlewood and Brandon Campbell of Powhatan at 138 pounds. Aiden Conway, also of Marion, lost by pins to Jeremiah Gray of David Crockett and Lane Bartley of Abingdon.
At 145 pounds for the Canes, Ethan Conway fell by pins to Cannon Mullins of Dobyns-Bennett and Peyton Hilton of Chuckey Doak, and Conner Barr fell by tech fall to Trevor Sexton of Knox Halls and by pin to Ravenswood’s Gavin Price.
Marion’s Garrett Moore fell by pins at 152 pounds to Lukas Roberts of Sullivan East and Griffin Moore of Daniel Boone.
At 160 pounds, Chilhowie’s Chris George kicked off his tournament with a pin over John Battle’s Arrow Brooks before being disqualified in a match against Gage Jordan of Morristown-Hamblen West. He was then pinned by Holston’s Brian Cordell.
Marion 160-pounder Sean Stuart fell by pins to Felix Duncan of David Crockett and Silas Warren of Carroll County.
Rural Retreat 160-pounder Odell Stroupe picked up a pin over Dakoda Harkleroad of West Ridge before falling 6-2 to Knox Halls’ Gabe Freeman. Stroupe also stuck Battle’s Thomaz Struskinski before losing 6-2 to Felix Duncan of David Crockett.
At 170 pounds, Jordan Crisanto of Chilhowie pinned Jacob Ferguson of Chuckey Doak before losing 9-6 to Carroll County’s Tony Lugo and by pin to Lebanon’s Aiden Goode.
Killian Martin, Chilhowie’s 182-pounder, fell by pins to Chris White of John Battle and Alijah Robinson of Culpeper. Marion’s 182-pounder fell by pins to Knox Halls’ Elijah Stowell and Whitwell’s Jacob Willis.
Grayson Irvin, Rural Retreat’s 182-pounder, fell by pin to Matthew Ledford of David Crockett before winning by pin over Jacob Smith of Elizabethton. He then fell by pin to Aiden Morley of Elizabethton.
At 195 pounds, Chilhowie’s Isaiah Dancy fell by pin to Andrew Myers of Carroll County and lost 6-0 to Tennessee High’s Wesley Keesee.
At 220 pounds, Derrick McGee of Chilhowie lost by pins to Richard Huber of Powhatan and Ethan Doss of Chilhowie.
Doss took an opening pin over Lawson Leonard of John Battle before losing by pin to Jefferson County’s Destiin Reliford-Adams. In the consolation rounds, Doss pinned McGee and then fell by pin to Noah Mentz of Chuckey Doak.
Chilhowie had three 285-pounders competing at Bristol.
Aeman Cress opened with a pair of pins, beating Logan Bottomley of Carroll County and Bo Tyree of David Crockett before losing by pins to Brady Sturgill of Central Wise and Orrin King of Virginia High.
Kage Price fell by pin to Marion’s Austin Coe before pinning Sam Alsalim of Daniel Boone and beating Bryson Crumbley of West Ridge 9-6. Price then fell by pin to Orrin King of Virginia High.
Nate Hahn fell by pins to Phillip Szymkiewicz of Elizabethon and Samuel Bowman of David Crockett.
