State bound… Elizabethton qualifies four for state wrestling tourney

Published 2:30 am Monday, February 21, 2022

By Ivan Sanders

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BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
KNOXVILLE – After more than 150 wrestling bouts, several bloody noses, and many bruised and battered bodies, the TSSAA Section 1 Class A tournament came to a close with four qualifiers from each weight class gaining a trip to the 2022 TSSAA Wrestling Championships at the Williamson County Expo Center in Franklin Thursday, Feb. 24 through Saturday, Feb. 26.
The Elizabethton Cyclones wrestling team will be sending four wrestlers seeking state titles after the outcomes of their matches Saturday at Knox Halls High School.
Isiah King signed his name on the dotted line for the trip in the 120 weight class when he finished in third place with a pin fall at 1:51 of his match against against Cooper Johnson of Greeneville.
King received a bye in the first round and in the semifinal round lost to Marcus Smith of Gibbs who pinned King at 3:56 of their match.
In the consolation semifinal, King took a technical fall over Graham Carriger of David Crockett to reach the third place match.
Holden Roaten secured a spot by finishing fourth in the 132 weight class as he was pinned by Greeneville’s Malik Harris in the third-place match.
In his quarterfinal match, Roaten won by pin fall over Shane Miller of Carter in only 17 seconds. Roaten fell to Sam Hutchinson of Knox Halls by pin fall at 1:46 in his semifinal bout.
In the consolation semifinal, Roaten took a pin fall over Clinton’s Justice Snyder at the 1:34 mark of their match to secure a spot in the state tournament.
Trenton Taylor was the third Cyclone boy’s wrestler to seal a spot in the state championship as the Cyclone strongman went toe-to-toe and nose-to-nose with Fulton heavyweight Seth Vaughn for the sectional championship at the 285 weight class falling in a heart-breaking 4-3 decision after the two fought from the opening whistle to the final horn for the title.
Taylor received a bye in the quarterfinal round and took Gibbs Jalen Wright to the mat for a pin fall at the 1:22 mark to set up the classic championship battle.
Other Cyclone wrestlers who just missed out qualifying for state included Logan Watson (126), Roman Shelby (138), and Darris Reece (145).
On the girl’s side, Sophia Perry qualified for the state championships by finishing in third place in her weight class during the Girls regional held on Friday.

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