Wrestlers fall short in quest for district title
SMYRNA — Warren County wrestlers had a chance to bring home a district title Friday night, but one thing stood in their way: Smyrna’s 140-pound little big man, Spencer Sommers.
“It came down to the wire with the last match,” Warren County head coach Matt Turner said. “Smyrna’s been here before. They’ve been district champions and they know what it’s like.”
Carrying the heavy burden into the decisive match, Sommers and Warren County’s Cody Spivey grappled an exhausting three periods. However, capitalizing on every mistake, Sommers built a 7-0 lead before slamming Cody Spivey for the win.
“I didn’t really think that it would be up to me,” Sommers said. “I expect everybody to do what they need to but so many of us are out of shape. But I was kind of expecting it at the same time.
“I kept thinking that all I needed to do was keep myself from losing. I just wanted to give it my all so we could win the match.”
Preceding the Sommers-Spivey match, the Bulldogs had a 36-30 lead.
The Bulldogs’ Chris Brooks and Donnie Roach collided in the 135-pound class and the match seemed to be heading in the direction of a decision. However, a minor blunder by Brooks gave Roach an opening to slide in for the pin with just 13 ticks left on the clock.
“I was expecting Brooks to win,” Bulldog head coach Mark Gonyea said. “We were up 36-30 and I thought everything was fine, all I wanted was for Chris not to get pinned. Had Chris not gotten pinned, it would have only been 36-33 and all Spencer would had to have done is gotten a win instead of a pin.”
The 42-33 edging of Warren County vaulted the Bulldogs to their fourth district title in four years. According to Gonyea, the title was somewhat of a surprise.
“One of the reasons I’m so proud is coming into this season we talked and we knew that it was going to be a major rebuilding year,” Gonyea said. “I didn’t even expect us to win the district this year.”
Never the less, the Bulldogs bypassed the rebuilding stage and headed straight for reload.
“It’s great to win the district again but now it’s time to go and win a region title,” said Shane Inman, a senior who now has four district titles under his belt. “We’ve come so close to winning the region but we haven’t done it.
“We could stop now, but we have a chance to win (region) and go to state.”
The Pioneers were slated to travel to Soddy Daisy for a tournament Saturday, and host Tullahoma and Wilson Central in a home match Tuesday, beginning at 5 p.m.