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STOUT COMPETITION is what Cleveland’s Seth Snyder faced Tuesday night as he squared off against the second- and fourth-ranked wrestlers in his weight class. Banner photo, Reece Rutland
Continuing what has been a fairly strong start, the defending state traditional champions defeated the Governors 70-3 and plucked the Owls 66-9.
Raider 220 man Seth Snyder, ranked sixth in the state, faced some particularly stout competition, taking on both the second and fourth state-ranked wrestlers in his weight division.
Both contests were low-scoring matches that went to decision with Snyder defeating second-ranked T.J. Satterfield 3-1 before falling to Ooltewah’s fourth-ranked Jay Rudwall by the same score.
“I a so happy for Seth. That Satterfield kid is as good as anyone out there. Then he had a great match with the Rudwall kid, and I think looking at that match Seth will learn and improve. It was a great night for him,” stated Cleveland wrestling coach Eric Phillips.
Overall, it was a strong team effort by the Raiders. Only two matches were lost all night (one each meet) and both loosing wrestlers won their other contest.
Six different Raiders scored falls in both of their matches; Ezra Taylor, second-ranked Austin Oliver, second-ranked Aaron Lopez, Matthew Herd, third-ranked Jordan Hines and top-ranked Chris DeBian all posted a pair of pins.
Third-ranked Austin Stevison, fourth-ranked Brandon Strickland, second-ranked Haden Hamilton and Jesse Jones also put their opponent on the mat for wins.
“I was impressed with our intensity out there tonight. We got exposed a little over the weekend at UTC so we came in yesterday and had a ‘humdinger’ — it was pretty much boot camp,” said Phillips.
“They responded really well today with a lot of tempo. This time of year winning and losing are not as important to me as the body language and intensity I see during the match.”
Raider wrestlers will face another huge challenge this weekend as they host defending state Alabama champion Thompson on Friday.
Then Cleveland will face off in a home tournament over the weekend that features 16 teams, five of which are defending state champions with more than a few second- and third-place teams in the mix as well.
“Everybody better be ready to wrestle, because everyone is going to get plenty of quality opponents on Saturday,” Phillips explained.
Raiders 70, Governors 3
(meet started at 113)
113 — Austin Stevison (CHS) pinned Franklin Kirkland, :53; 120 — Austin Oliver (CHS) pinned Avery Hawk, 1:37; 126 — Ezra Taylor (CHS) pinned Danny Jensen, 1:08; 132 — Haden Hamilton (CHS) pinned Nick Blake, 2:52; 138 — Brandon Strickland (CHS) pinned Josh LaForty, 2:20; 145 — Aaron Lopez (CHS) pinned Samuel Wood, 1:27; 152 — Josh Hamilton (CHS) forfeit; 160 — Chuck Norwood (CHS) dec. Cody Gregory, 12-1 ; 170 — Matthew Herd (CHS) pinned Jouston Hooken, 4:33; 182 — Xavier Satterfield (WB) dec. Oley Stukanov, 15-12; 195 — Jesse Jones (CHS) dec. Khris Burk, 13-6; 220 — Seth Snyder (CHS) dec. T.J. Satterfield, 3-1; 285 — Jordan Hines (CHS) pinned Michael Jones, 1:10; 106 — Christopher DeBien (CHS) pinned Richard Morton, 1:29.
Raiders 66, Owls 9
(meet started at 126)
126 — Ezra Taylor (CHS) technical fall Dain Thomas, 17-2 4:10; 132 — Haden Hamilton (CHS) pinned Elliot Blizzoco, 0:43; 138 — Brandon Strickland (CHS) forfeit; 145 — Aaron Lopez pinned Hunter Lynn, 1:49; 152 — Josh Hamilton (CHS) forfeit; 160 — Chuck Norwood (CHS) dec. Erik Thomas, 3-1; 170 — Matthew Herd (CHS) pinned Matt Sealor, 2:50; 182 — Oley Stukanov (CHS) dec. Jordan Zink, 12-4; 195 — Jesse Jones (CHS) pinned Mack Fairley, 2:48; 220 — Jay Rudwall (OHS) dec. Seth Snyder, 3-1; 285 — Jordan Hines (CHS) pinned Joseph Dill, 3:45; 106 — Christopher DeBien (CHS) pinned Dillon Dowler, 0:59; 113 — Austin Stevinson (CHS) forfeit, 1:35; 120 — Austin Oliver (CHS) pinned Joshua Brooks, 0:55.
