By CHRIS SIERS ~ sports@t-g.com
The Cascade Champions continued their strong start to the 2021-2022 season on Tuesday night, splitting a pair of matches in a tri-match at Shelbyville Central.
The Champs edged out a 33-30 win against the Eagles, but suffered a 57-21 defeat to Rockvale.
Against Rockvale, three Champions recorded wins via pin against the Rockets, while a fourth won a 2-1 decision.
Taylor Dowell pinned Caison Jones at the 152-pound weight class at the 3:08 mark.
Isaiah Smith added a second pin for the Champs at the 160-pound class. Smith flattened Aden Clemons less than a minute into the match for the back-to-back pins for Cascade.
Rockvale answered with a victory at the 170-pound class before Cascade notched a third win in four matches, with Hayden Dowell defeating Nathan Weinrauch at the 182 pound weight class in a 2-1 decision.
During the Bedford County match between the Eagles and the Champions, Shelbyville took an early lead with a win via forfeit at the 126-pound class.
After a double forfeit at the 132-pound class, due to neither squad having a wrestler in that weight division, Shelbyville saw Kevin Ramos pin Shade Williams just 12 seconds in to the bout at the 138-pound class.
The Champions responded with six-straight victories over the Eagles , beginning with a pin by Michael Martin at the 145-pound class over Shelbyville’s Keaton Woodard.
Martin finished the match at the 2:20 mark, while Taylor Dowell recorded his second win via pin of the night, beating Ricardo de Osio just 45 seconds into the match at the 152-pound class.
Smith also notched his second win of the night, beating Nolan Day in a 3-1 decision.
After David Bass won via forfeit a the 170-pound class, Hayden Dowell battled Caleb Andrews in a thriller at the 182-pound class before recording the win via pin at the 4:13 mark.
Shelbyville Central recorded the final two wins against the Champions on the mat, with Lukas White pinning Dylan Warren 1:11 into the 285-pound class match before Bryant Garcia pinned Landon King 1:17 into the 120-pound class.
Like Cascade, the Eagles had their share of struggles against Rockvale.
The Rockets posted a commanding 60-24 win over Shelbyville.
In the three victories posted against the Rockets, the Eagles recorded three pins, beginning with Orion Sadler’s victory at the 126-pound class.
He pinned Rockvale’s Jerell Johnson 2:33 into the match.
Gavin Day followed with a pin against Aden Clemons in the 160-pound weight class.
Day needed just 1:28 to secure the six points for the Eagles.
The final individual victory came in the 220-pound class when Logan McBee pinned Nicholaus Crowell in 1:27 for the final Eagle victory of the night.