The TSSAA Class A/AA State Wrestling Championships on Wednesday at the Chattanooga Convention Center was a one-day event this season due to the Covid-19 restrictions.

There were six county wrestlers at the event as Forrest sent senior Noah Hill, freshman Seth McCoy and juniors Braiden Vanderploeg and Asa Nance while seniors Aaron Foster and Colton Haun qualified from Marshall County High School.

Hill, the defending Class A/AA defending champion, swept through the tough 182-pound bracket for the second season in row to finish his senior campaign with a 31-0 record.

“Like I said at region, it’s surreal, it’s amazing to do it with my dad as the coach as well, it brings our bond even closer,” Hill said. “I was really nervous even going in to the region actually seeing Kevin Muschel there, he is a great wrestler and I knew he would be in the championship a lot and Skidmore too and the guy I wrestled Kendrick in the final, he was tough, but I got a great pull here at state and only had to face one of those guys to make it to the finals.”

There were five returning state medalists in the bracket including Hill, who also finished in second place in the 185-pound bracket in 2018-2019.

Hill pined Alcoa junior Aaron Tipton in round one and came back with a 7-1 decision win over Gibbs senior Kirk Parsons, who was the fifth-place finisher last season.

In the semifinal round, Hill gutted out a tough 4-0 decision win over Nolensville sophomore Hayden Sinner before putting his title on the line versus Fairview sophomore Kendrick Curtis, who came in to championship bout with a 40-2 record and was a fourth place finisher last season in the 152-pound weight class.

Hill led 3-2 after the first period and 6-2 with one period remaining when Curtis tried to close the gap, but Hill came up with a takedown and strategically held on for an 8-4 win.

“That match was reminiscent of last year when he was really hyped up and let him get an early takedown, but he didn’t give up the back points this time and he settled down and wrested his match,” Forrest coach Jason “Shooter” Hill said. “Not only was he is a two-time state champion, he went undefeated in the regular season and undefeated for the year, so that is just amazing to me.”

Hill is the second Forrest wrestler with two state titles along with Nick McClendon (2019, 2020), while Jeff Gross still holds the school record with three consecutive wins from 2017 thru 2019.

Wesley McCoy won at 160-pounds last season and Tyler McClendon was the first Forrest wrestler to win a state title when he captured the 195-pound weight class in 2014.

McCoy’s younger brother Seth had an incredible eighth-grade campaign last year, finishing in fourth place in the 113-pound weight class and came in to the 2020-2021 state championships with a 15-9 record in the 138-pound weight class.

McCoy fell by a 21-5 major decision to Sycamore’s Luke London in the first round before rallying back with a pin over Hixon’s Cole Shackleford.

McCoy followed that up with a tough 4-2 win over Roby Thomas from Chattanooga Central and in the consolation round three, McCoy won another close bout via 6-4 decision over Greenbrier’s Nick Payne.

McCoy was pinned by Signal Mountain senior Kale Albritton in the consolation semifinals and the Forrest freshman finished with a sixth-place spot on the medal stand when he lost a 6-1 decision to Whitwell’s Benton Magouirk.

“That 138 bracket was pretty stacked this year, when I looked out there the third/fourth and fifth/sixth place matches were all kids from our region and that’s pretty stout,” Coach Hill said. “I felt like he should have won his first match today, but he came back and fought and he is a two-time state placer as a freshman and not a lot of people can say that, so I expect big things out of him.”

Junior Braiden Vanderploeg was making his second state appearance for the Rockets, but lost the all-important first round match by a major decision to eventual champion Logan Heckert from Sycamore.

Vanderploeg had to battle his way back through the 132-pound consolation bracket and started his journey with a fall over Upperman’s Ryan Leonard and followed that with a close 5-4 consolation round two win over Garrett Haley from Millington Central.

Vanderploeg (23-10) fell one spot short of the medal stand when lost a 7-1 decision to Hixon’s Caleb Miller.

Another Forrest junior, Asa Nance (9-8) made his first state tournament appearance and went 2-1 with losses to Greenville’s Charles Dabney and Sycamore’s Dylan Davenport, sandwiched around a win over Polk County’s Demeerio Brock.

“Seth, Asa, and Braiden all lost their first round matches so they had to go to the consolation matches and they all won to extend their day,” Coach Hill said. “They had a lot of heart and determination and they fought hard, we just have to get them through those blood rounds next year.”

The Marshall County Tigers sent two seniors to the state championships as Aaron Foster made his second consecutive appearance and Colton Haun was competing for the first time.

Foster (18-5) lost by a fall to Greenbrier’s Elliot Counasse in the first round, but came back with a pin over Marcus Pedde from Cumberland County, only to see his career end when he was pinned by Pigeon Ford’s Aiden Littles in the second round of consolation bouts.

Colton Haun also started with a loss in the tough 182-pound weight bracket when he was pinned by Tyner Academy’s Ricardo Cancino.

Haun (17-6) came back with a vengeance, winning two matches in a row by falls over West Green’s Roger Marshall and Creek Wood’s Micah Magracke.

Haun’s wrestling career came to a close when he was pinned by Kirk Parsons from Gibbs in consolation round three, one spot short of the medal stand.

“It was great being here, it was great bringing two guys with Marshall County just getting back going in our third year,” MCHS coach Nathan King said. “I’m very proud of Colton Haun and Aaron Foster and their leadership and skills they showed all year.”

Eagleville’s Wyatt McLemore finished off his stellar wrestling career with a clean sweep of the 170-pound weight class and went undefeated at 38-0.

“To be honest, I’m glad we got this tournament in because I know there are other states out there and other people who aren’t getting to wrestle like we are, so I’m glad we just got to wrestle,” McLemore said. “Representing Eagleville has been great, they treat us well, take care of us, and we are a family.”

“The principal came all the way from Eagleville, the mayor has been here all day…he is one of my teachers at the school…they all came just to watch today.”

It was the second consecutive state title for the Eagle senior, who won the state title at 160-pounds last season.

McLemore also finished in second place once (2017) and third place twice (2018, 2019) in his storied five-year career.

“He is undefeated the last two years, so he has had a good run, a five-time state placer, he put the work in and this is what happens,” Eagleville coach Jay McLemore said.

The Eagles, who regularly train with the Rockets, sent eight wrestlers to the championships as Gaberial Pennington finished third in the 138-poind wright class and Brody Mclemore came in fourth place at 145.

Wyatt McLemore talked about the close relationship that has developed with Forrest wresting, saying, “It is great, we made that connection in our eighth-grade year when we started wrestling and we would go over and practice with them and they would come and practice with us. You will see my dad over in Noah’s corner and Noah’s dad in my corner behind my dad and coach Jerry (Rzemieniewski) whenever I was wrestling, we are just close, people say Eagleville/Forrest rival in football, but after football wrestling is different, we are close in wrestling.”

Coach Hill and McLemore cemented Wyatt’s statements on the Forrest/Eagleville wrestling relationship.

“Those kids are my kids and my kids are Jay’s kids, even my older daughter Morgan is in Murfreesboro and lives close to Jay and she talks to them as much as she does to me,” Hill said.

“Wrestling with them has made us all better wrestlers, we have to have the best wrestling room available to do what we do, it’s hard to win it once much less back-to-back and undefeated two years in a row like Noah and Wyatt, so we have to have the best of the best all the time,” Mclemore said. “We might be rivals in football, but we are a family in wrestling.”