2020 TSSAA CLASS A/AA STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 1 Battling for the gold… Morton, Thomas earn title matches on Saturday

Published 11:56 pm Friday, February 21, 2020

By Ivan Sanders

BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
FRANKLIN – On a day where a season of blood, sweat, and tears came crashing to an end for a number of wrestlers in the TSSAA Class A/AA State Wrestling Championship taking place at the Williamson County AG Expo Park, two Elizabethton wrestlers battle against all odds to reach Saturday’s state title matches which begin at 4:30 pm CST.
Jonathan ‘Deuce’ Morton and Tyesha Thomas will be looking to bring home state titles to Elizabethton when the dust settles and the medals are handed out.
A total of six Cyclone grapplers took to the mats with Holden Roaten, Isiah King, Alex Conley, and Peyton Freeman.
Here is a breakdown of the results of the first day for each wrestler.
A-AA 106 Holden Roaten
In the championship round to open the morning, Holden Roaten (23-19) faced off with a tough opponent in local wrestler Cole Dorsett (50-18) of Nolensville.
Dorsett managed to pin Roaten with a pinfall (3:35) sending Roaten to the first round of the Consolations.
In round one of consolations, Roaten took on Gordan McCall (35-16) of Alcoa. Wrestling inspired, Roaten took McCall to the mat for a pin at 2:11 of the match.
The tournament came to a close for Roaten in round two of consolation action when the Cyclone battled to the very end avoiding being pinned by sheer determination but falling in a 6-2 decision.
A-AA 120 Isiah King
Wrestling in the 120-pound class, Isiah King (27-10) drew Tate Crowell (27-16) of Nolensville in the opening championship round and the Knight wrestler managed to gain a pinfall over King at the 4:22 mark.
King moved to round one of consolation action and after being penalized a point for not checking in properly before the match, King came out with fire in his eyes and quickly punished Noah Pinion (17-24) of Chattanooga Central in just 21 seconds.
On the pinfall, Pinion broke his arm and had to be helped from the mat after a delay to secure the fracture.
With the win, King advanced to round two where Zach Derrick (27-26) of Fairview awaited the Cyclone grappler. King fought valiantly but unfortunately, Derrick moved King into position where he recorded a pinfall at 4:23 that brought King’s season to an end.
A-AA 126 Peyton Freeman
Peyton Freeman (21-15) drew a tough opening assignment in the 126-pound weight class in Cole McCartney (33-7) of Greenbrier.
Freeman made McCartney work hard before being fell on a pinfall at 5:09 of the match.
In round one of consolation, Freeman regrouped to hand Joshua Emerson (19-3) of Polk County a technical fall defeat to go into round two with some momentum.
However, Freeman would see his season come to an end on a loss in a major decision to Blake Mitchell (43-14) of Fairview 18-10.
A-AA 170 Alex Conley
Alex Conley (37-10) came out of the gate quickly in the championship round facing off against Woodey Maynard (37-10) of Cheatham County Central.
Maynard managed to catch Conley in position for a pinfall however at 2:47 of the match.
In the first round of the consolation, Conley had his hands full with Ricardo Cancino (22-10) of Tyner Academy but looked to make up for the previous match.
Conley did just that as he put Cancino to the mat at 2:28 of the match to secure the win and advance into the second round of consolation.
Isaac Haynie (32-11) of Greeneville stood in Conley’s way in the match and after Conley somehow worked his way out of a potential pin in round one of the match holding off Haynie as time expired in the opening period.
However, Conley fell short of advancing as Haynie managed to pin the Cyclone wrestler just before the second round ended 3:47 into the match.
A-AA 195 Jonathan Morton
The Deuce ran wild as Morton, the defending state champion at 195, blew through three opponents in the championship round to earn the opportunity to go for his second straight TSSAA State wrestling title on Saturday.
Morton (44-2) took care of Logan Caldwell (7-12) of Greenback in the opening round by pinfall in a brisk 34-second match that barely broke a sweat on the confident Morton.
In the quarterfinal match, Morton had to work just a little harder against Jerry Campbell (20-3) of East Nashville Magnet.
Morton finally managed to pin Campbell 2:26 into the match.
In the semifinal showdown, Morton was going up a very tough opponent in Alcoa’s Kambell Brown who came into the match with a flashy 52-4 overall record on the season.
But in typical fashion for the Cyclone wrestler, Morton took care of Brown just 1:37 into the match with a pinfall to advance to the finals.
Morton will face freshman Caleb Wolfe of Pigeon Forge in the championship tilt. Wolfe defeated senior McKinley Wagner of Nolensville to gain the slot opposite Morton on Saturday.
Girls A-AA 119 Tyesha Thomas
Pound for pound, Elizabethton junior Tyesha Thomas (24-1) may be one of the toughest girl wrestlers in the whole state and she proved that on Friday as in quarterfinal action, Thomas took care of Northwest High’s Roseanna Vaughn (18-6) with a pinfall at 2:20 of the match.
The win put Thomas into the semifinal match against Science Hill’s Emma Wallen (19-20) for an opportunity to go for gold on Saturday.
Thomas was a quick as a leopard and as deadly as a panther as she defeated Wallen in just 18 seconds to gain the title shot.
The pin came so quick that Wallen thought the match was still ongoing before the referee stepped in to let the shocked Lady ‘Topper wrestler know she had been pinned.
On Saturday, Thomas will go opposite sophomore Annalynn Rakett of Clarksville Academy who won by a 7-5 decision over junior Divine Desilets of Tullahoma.

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