After sending a record 10 wrestlers to the state tournament and capturing three state titles last year, Forrest continued to rock as seven out of the ten grapplers that qualified for last weekend’s Region 3A/AA Tournament at East Ridge in Chattanooga finished in the top four to advance to the 2020 TSSAA State Wrestling Championships at the Williamson County Agricultural Exposition Park in Franklin.

Forrest senior Jesmarie Negron also qualified a couple of weeks ago and is making her return trip to the state tournament.

Negron (12-4) got a tough draw in the 122-pound weight class, opening up Friday’s first round versus back-to-back state champion Kerra Strevel (10-0) from Heritage High School.

Three-time region champion and defending state champion Nick McClendon rolled through the 170-pound region weight class with three consecutive pins and the Forrest senior is 19-1 on the season after going undefeated last year.

McClendon faces 16th seeded Tyner Academy sophomore Ricardo Cancino (22-8) in the first round on Friday.

Junior Noah Hill, the defending state runner-up won his second consecutive region title on Saturday, also pinning all three opponents he faced in the 182-pound weight class.

Hill (32-2) is also the top seed and wrestles Creek Wood junior Micah Magrecke (27-10) in the first round.

Senior Carson Blackwell and sophomore Braiden Vanderploeg both finished in fourth place at the region tournament and are making return trips to state.

Blackwell (27-10) faces Pigeon Ford sophomore Garrett Foreman (59-3), a returning state medalist who finished in second place in the 132-pound weight class last year.

Vanderploeg, a 13th seed, takes on Pigeon Ford freshman and Region 1A/AA champion Caleb Gumlick (45-6).

Forrest junior Hunter Pendley gutted his way to a state tournament berth, beginning with a 6-5 first round win over Sean Allen (Nolensville) before suffering a second round fall to Kevin Muschel (Signal Mountain).

Pendley came back strong, pinning Eagleville’s Dylan Pratt to qualify for the state tournament before losing to Nolensville’s Sean Allen in the third/fourth place region bout.

Pendley (22-13) is the 14th seed and faces Fairview’s third-seeded freshman Malachi Bennett (49-10) in round one on Friday.

Newcomers Seth McCoy and Micha McClendon both made a big splash at East Ridge with a pair of second place region finishes.

McCoy, an eighth-grader, won by injury fall in round one and by forfeit in round two to secure a spot in the state tournament and reached the region title bout after a tough 6-2 semifinal win Kyle Harper from Red Bank.

Signal Mountain’s Noah Shriner pinned McCoy in the region final.

Shriner (24-6) enters the state tournament as the fourth seed and McCoy (24-8) is the sixth seed. Both wrestlers drew byes in the first round and are on different sides of the bracket.

Micah, the last of the McClendons, won by fall over Nolensville’s Kayden Walker in the first round of the region tournament before getting a forfeit in round two to secure a state tournament berth.

Eagleville junior Gabriel Pennington won a 9-0 major decision over McClendon in the 132-pound region title bout.

McClendon (11-8) is the sixth seed and faces Pearl-Cohn senior Deondre Lewis (4-1) in Friday’s first round while Pennington (34-10) is the fourth seed and takes on Creek Wood junior Weston Garland (19-7).

Watch out for three-time returning state medalist Wyatt McLemore from Eagleville, who has two third place finishes and a second in three years.

The Eagleville junior is undefeated at 45-0 on the season and faces Pigeon Ford senior Jason Heth (21-23) in round one on Friday.

Region 3A/AA Tournament

Saturday, February 15

East Ridge High School

Chattanooga, TN

106 Pounds-Layne Bowman

Champ. Round 1 - Benjamin Strausbaugh (Stratford) over Layne Bowman (Forrest) (Fall 0:47)

Cons. Round 2 - Layne Bowman (Forrest) over Brendyn Garton (Whitwell) (Fall 2:22)

Cons. Round 3 - Layne Bowman (Forrest) over Johnathan Grissom (Tennessee School for the Blind) (Fall 2:26)

Cons. Semis - Malikhi Johnson (Red Bank) over Layne Bowman (Forrest) (Dec 7-5)

113 Pounds-Seth McCoy (2nd Place)

Quarterfinals - Aiden O`Neal (Nolensville) vs. Seth McCoy (Forrest)

Semifinals - Seth McCoy (Forrest) over Kyle Harper (Red Bank) (Dec 6-2)

1st Place Match - Noah Shriner (Signal Mountain) over Seth McCoy (Forrest) (Fall 1:43)

120 Pounds-Braiden Vanderploeg (4th place)

Quarterfinals - Braiden Vanderploeg (Forrest) over Drake Hodge (Cascade) (Fall 3:08)

Semifinals - Brody McLemore (Eagleville) over Braiden Vanderploeg (Forrest) (Dec 10-3)

Cons. Semis - Braiden Vanderploeg (Forrest) over Jalen Ellis (East Ridge) (Dec 10-3)

3rd Place Match - Tate Crowell (Nolensville) over Braiden Vanderploeg (Forrest) (Fall 0:30)

126 Pounds-Asa Nance

Quarterfinals - Brice Barton (Whitwell) over Asa Nance (Forrest) (Fall 0:22)

Cons. Round 3 - Asa Nance (Forrest) over Jordan Sostom (Eagleville) (Fall 5:00)

Cons. Semis - Perrin Clark (East Ridge) over Asa Nance (Forrest) (Fall 4:51)

132 Pounds-Micah McClendon-(2nd place)

Quarterfinals - Micah McClendon (Forrest) over Kayden Walker (Nolensville) (Fall 0:47)

Semifinals - Micah McClendon (Forrest) over Dan Tumlin (The Howard School) (For.)

1st Place Match - Gabriel Pennington (Eagleville) over Micah McClendon (Forrest) (MD 9-0)

138 Pounds-Carson Blackwell (4th place)

Quarterfinals - Carson Blackwell (Forrest) over Benton Magorrik (Whitwell) (Fall 4:33)

Semifinals - Erik Johnson (Eagleville) over Carson Blackwell (Forrest) (SV-1 7-5)

Cons. Semis - Carson Blackwell (Forrest) over Isaiah Smith (Cascade) (Fall 1:18)

3rd Place Match - Clay Gallant (Signal Mountain) over Carson Blackwell (Forrest) (MD 13-1)

145-Hunter Pendley (4th place)

Quarterfinals - Hunter Pendley (Forrest) over Sean Allen (Nolensville) (Dec 6-5)

Semifinals - Kevin Muschel (Signal Mountain) over Hunter Pendley (Forrest) (Fall 1:19)

Cons. Semis - Hunter Pendley (Forrest) over Dylan Pratt (Eagleville) (Fall 1:27)

3rd Place Match - Sean Allen (Nolensville) over Hunter Pendley (Forrest) (MD 15-4)

152 Pounds-Sean Paul Febus

Champ. Round 1 - Colletin Bollin (East Ridge) over Sean Paul Febus (Forrest) (Fall 1:28)

Cons. Round 2 - Kaleb Edwards (Sequatchie) over Sean Paul Febus (Forrest) (Fall 1:19)

170 Pounds-Nick McClendon (1st place)

Quarterfinals - Nick McClendon (Forrest) over Colton Haun (Marshall Co.) (Fall 0:47)

Semifinals - Nick McClendon (Forrest) over Donevin Darnell (Eagleville) (Fall 0:50)

1st Place Match - Nick McClendon (Forrest) over Caden Cline (Red Bank) (Fall 0:15)

182 Pounds-1st place

Quarterfinals - Noah Hill (Forrest) over Jonathon Keesee (East Nashville Magnet School) (Fall 1:28)

Semifinals - Noah Hill (Forrest) over Nathan Montpool (Nolensville) (Fall 2:00)

1st Place Match - Noah Hill (Forrest) over Jason Dennis (Eagleville) (Fall 2:47)