Morton claims 220-pound title in 2021 TSSAA state wrestling
Published 4:41 pm Thursday, February 25, 2021
Photo Contributed Elizabethton wrestler Deuce Morton on the champion's podium holding up three fingers to represent his third consecutive TSSAA state wrestling championship.
Photo Contributed The Elizabethton Cyclone wrestling team had a successful run in the 2020-2021 TSSAA State tournament held in Chattanooga. Wrestling in the event were Logan Watson, Holden Roaten, Deuce Morton, Trenton Taylor, and Darris Reece.
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BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
Even a change in venue could not stop Elizabethton’s Deuce Morton from taking the championship podium as the senior Cyclone wrestler picked up this third consecutive state wrestling title, this time in the 220-pound weight class, in Class A-AA action.
Morton (32-1) was just one of five Cyclone wrestlers to participate in the event at the Chattanooga Convention Center on Wednesday.
On his way to the championship match, Morton won by fall over Phillip Vetter of Creek Wood in only 15 seconds. In the quarterfinal round, Morton had to go to sudden victory in his match with Rob Atwood from Trousdale County.
In the semifinals, it was Mason Keel from Whitwell who stood in Morton’s way to the final match. Morton took care of Keel with a pinfall at 2:48 of their contest.
It was a familiar foe in the championship match as Pigeon Forge’s Caleb Wolfe was the only thing standing between Morton and his third championship ring.
In 2019, Morton defeated Wolfe in the 195-pound weight class for the title and Wolfe was responsible for the lone loss of the 2020-2021 season for Morton in a tournament.
In a tightly contested match, Morton got leverage on Wolfe and put him on his back where Morton quickly worked for the pin 5:15 seconds into the match to claim the title.
Holden Roaten participated in the 120-pound class and made it to the second round of the Consolation Round falling to Alcoa’s Gordon Metcalf by pin at 3:45 of the match. Roaten finished the season with a 17-11 overall record.
In the 126-pound class, Logan Watson also made it to the second round of the Consolation Round where he faced off with Greeneville’s Charles Dabney. Dabney came out on top with a pin at 3:38. Watson’s overall season record was 13-17.
Darris Reece was the Cyclone representative in the 138-pound class and made it to the second round of the Consolation Round where Millington Central’s Milton Yarbrough defeated Reece in 3:46 with a pin. Reece finished 16-19 on the season.
Finally, in the heavyweight class (285-pound) Trenton Taylor wrestled his way to the third round of the Consolation Round where Keanum Cummings of Whitwell won in a tiebreaker over Taylor.
Cummings went on to claim a fifth-place finish in the tournament.
In his first season of wrestling, Taylor accumulated an impressive 28-5 overall mark for the Cyclones and will be a force to be reckoned with in the 2021-2022 wrestling campaign.
