by: Hamm

This past season ended a very competitive decade on the wrestling mat.

Courtesy of a special challenge posed by southeastwrestle.com (shout out), We, at Pin-Tn.com, bring to you the All-Decade boys wrestling team. The only stipulation is that they had to have wrestled at least 1 year in 2011-2020 and their weight for the team has to be the weight they wrestled their SR year.

106- Rodney Trent Nelson (Tennessee High, 2017)

This is a puzzling weight class in which to choose an All Decade team member. There was not a single senior from 2011-2020 to have a single State championship. This year’s state runner-up, Ethan Wilson from Bradley Central, has a very strong argument. Also in consideration was Greenville’s Josh Wallin who himself was a two-time state medalist. But what sets Nelson’s run to the 2017 state finals apart were who he defeated and who he lost to. In the first round, he won by forfeit over a future state medalist. In the quarterfinals, he defeated a wrestler who would be the state runner-up the following season, then in the semifinals, he would defeat the wrestler who took third place this season at the state tournament and became a two-time state champion himself. In the finals, he would lose to Noah Horst, who in this match would pick up his first of four straight state titles. With all considered, his state runner-up finish as a senior, paired with his third-place showing from the season before, gave him the top spot on the All-Decade team.

113- T.J. Hicks (Bradley Central, 2017)

Sullivan East’s three-time finalist and state champion Elijah Hicks, along with Bradley teammate and three-time champion Toribio Navarro, were T.J’’s top competition for this selection.  Hicks, himself, was a three-time state champion for the Bears, but he also enjoyed quite a bit of National success in the offseason.  Making the National finals as a junior set him apart from the rest and earned him the top spot on the All-Decade team.

120- Elijah Oliver (Christian Brothers, 2015)

Elijah Oliver did not compete in Tennessee his senior year.  To his three Tennessee state championships, he added an Indiana state title to make his fourth.  Jacob Stevens, a three-time state champion from Soddy Daisy, and Trey Challifoux of Nashville’s Father Ryan were also in the running.  But four state championships, a 165-3 high school record, and a Fargo National Championship were too much to overtake at this weight.

126- Zach Watson (Baylor, 2012)

Five-time state champion Zach Watson receives the honor at 126lbs.  Watson was just the second five-time state champion in Tennessee history. He owned a 200-4 high school record, and was the Most Outstanding wrestler at the 2008 and 2012 TSSAA State Wrestling tournaments – as an eighth-grader and as a senior.  He was also a three-time NHSCA All-American.

130 (Special Mention)- Alex Manley (Baylor, 2011)

In 2011, the weight classes were much different, and Manley is sort of in a class of his own.  Manley was a five-time state finalist at the Baylor School and took titles as a junior and a senior.  At the state tournament as a senior, he spent a total of 10:36 on the mat the entire tournament earning 2 pins, one tech fall, and a decision in the finals.

132- Campbell Lewis (Soddy, 2012), Chris Debien (Cleveland, 2015), Noah Horst (Beech/Baylor, 2020) (three way tie)

This is the second-hardest weight class to choose an ultimate winner.  I will get to the hardest weight later.  But this weight just happens to have three, four-time State Champions from 2011-2020.  The first to accomplish this was Soddy’s Campbell Lewis.  Campbell was the ninth four-time state champion in TSSAA history.  He was the Most Outstanding wrestler at the state tournament in 2012, an NHSCA National Champion (and 2x All American) and was nationally ranked his entire high school career.  He finished his high school career at 144-15.

Chris Debien was the first ever four-time state champion in Cleveland High School history.  He was the TSSAA Most Outstanding wrestler at the 2014 state wrestling tournament and was a NHSCA senior National Champion.  Both Lewis and Debien competed in college for UT-Chattanooga.

Noah Horst became a four-time State Wrestling Champion in 2020 — winning two at Beech High School, and the last two at The Baylor School.  He is The Baylor School’s sixth four-time state wrestling champion. Horst burst into the national rankings in 2018 with a spectacular pin over the 2017 National Prep Champion.  Like Lewis and Debien, Horst will continue his wrestling career at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.

138- Adam Connell (McCallie, 2014)

Forrest’s three-time State Champion Jeff Gross, and Pigeon Forge two-time champion and All American Matthew Kieta were strongly considered for this weight, but what sets Connell apart were his four trips to the state finals.  One of this State titles stopped the senior campaign and three-time titlist Brandon Brunner of Baylor. Adam Connell was also voted the Tennessee Wrestler of the Year in 2014.

145- Michael Murphy (the Baylor School, 2016), Eli King (Father Ryan, 2017), Knox Fuller (Bradley Central, 2017) (three way tie)

Again, a great group of four-time state champions that all deserve to represent the weight.  Bradley Central’s Knox Fuller became the second four-time state champion in the school’s history as a senior.  He wrestled 160 matches as a Bear and won a whopping 156 of them!  He was the 2017 TSSAA State Championships Most Outstanding wrestler for Class AAA.

At the same moment Fuller was wrapping up his senior year, winning his fourth straight title, Father Ryan’s Eli King was doing the same thing only a few feet away. King is the very first four-time state wrestling champion in Father Ryan history, and only the second four-time wrestling champion in the entire Nashville area. Also a high school wrestling All-American, King retired from the sport after high school.  He’s currently pursuing a career as a dentist.

Baylor’s Michael Murphy won his fourth title in 2016.  Murphy placed at the prestigious Kansas City Stampede, National Preps Championship, NHSCA Nationals, and also placed three times at Fargo. Murphy will be a senior in 2020-2021 for the University of Virginia wrestling Cavaliers.

152- Garrett Bowers (Christian Brothers, 2020)

Christian Brothers would have gotten the nod either way at this weight class.  Also making a strong case for this weight class is Christian Brothers class of ’13, Kaleb Baker.  Baker was the champion at the Kansas City and Granite City Invites during the 2012-13 season, two tournaments that were ranked as being in the top-15 most competitive high school tournaments of the season.  He also added a pair of TSSAA State Championships and an All-American showing in Fargo.  But what sets Bowers apart is his status as a four-time state medalist, only losing one match at the state tournament in all four years — winning three State Championships, Flo-Nationals All-American, Prep Nationals All-American, Pre-season Nationals All-American in Iowa, 2019 Kansas City Stampede Champion, and being Nationally ranked by WIN Magazine.

160- T.J. Duncan (The McCallie School, 2011)

There’s a very strong list of candidates at this weight class, including Baylor’s Blake Sutherland, Tennessee’s Dominic Fields, Blackman’s Matthew Sells, Soddy’s Tucker Russo, and Independence High School’s All-American McCoy Newberg.  But T.J. Duncan’s is on a list of only two wrestlers to win a TSSAA State Wrestling Championships five times!  He was the very first Tennessee wrestler to accomplish this feat, and as a senior, he was only the ninth wrestler to do this in the entire country.  As mentioned earlier, Baylor’s Zach Watson would become the second wrestler in Tennessee to accomplish this one year later in 2012, but eight years later, this has not happened since.

170- Khamari Whimper (Baylor, 2017)

Khamari Whimper wins the nod at 170 over a star-studded group of young men. Five-time State Champion Michael Hooker from Ryan, Cayman Seagraves and Mason Reiniche of Baylor, three-time champion Kareem Shereef of Alcoa, and two-time champions Sean Kennedy of Riverdale and Chase Diehl of Science Hill all make very strong arguments.  But Whimper’s list of accomplishments — ranking as high as No. 10 in the country at 170 pounds by InterMat, 2017 National Preps champion and Most Outstanding Wrestler at National Preps, 2016 and 2017 Tennessee state champion, Most Outstanding Wrestler at 2017 Tennessee state tournament, placing third at 2016 National Preps, fifth at 2016 Super 32, second at 2016 Kansas City Stampede, winning 2017 Prep Slam, two-time Fargo All-American, fourth at 2016 NHSCA Junior Nationals and fourth at 2015 NHSCA Sophomore Nationals — are all ahead of the rest of the class.

182- Chad Solomon (Maryville, 2015)

Four-time medalist and two-time champion Thomas Sell of McCallie, two-time champions T.J. Holmes of Father Ryan and Judah Duhm of McCallie, and three-time champion Trent Knight of Greenville were strongly considered, but Solomon set himself apart.  Chad was a three-time TSSAA State Champion, and two time NHSCA placer.

195- Ryan Parker (Baylor, 2016)

Two-time State Champion Bradley Williams of Clarksville, State champions and multiple All-Americans Montana Doty and Tommy Brackett – both from Christian Brothers — Riverdale State Champion Scottie Boykin and Pigeon Forge two-time state champion Cody Davis were all considered for this weight class, but Ryan Parker had a career at The Baylor School during which he captured SIX total state championships.  Allow me to ATTEMPT to explain.  Parker was not only a Mr. Football winner as a lineman on the football team, but he added two track and field individual state championships, and oh yeah, he managed to work in four straight individual state wrestling championships to go along with it all.

220- John Kramer (Wilson Central, 2015)

John Kramer of Wilson Central wins a tight race at 220, simply by resume.  A talented group of 220s, highlighted by two-time state champion Al Wooten of Christian Brothers and four-time state medalist Grayson Walthall, who placed fourth twice, was a runner-up as a junior, and State Champion as a senior.  Walthall also added All American with an eighth place at National preps.  Javier Salvador, who was a two-time TSSAA State finalist, and All American for Heritage High, was also a strong contender.  But Kramer gets the nod by making it to three state finals, coming away with a State Championship as a junior, being an NHSCA National finalist and two time All-American there, and being on the short list of Tennessee wrestlers to place at the prestigious Super 32 tournament.

Heavyweight- Bruno Reagan (Clarksville)

In the weight class where Tennessee has had an absolute embarrassment of riches, how do you choose a winner?  There are so many hypothetical arguments that could come into play with this weight class, and i had to struggle not to add any of my own biases.  I decided to let this one play out the old fashioned way: head to head.  My leaders to take this pick were Brentwood’s 2x State Champion, All-American Skylar Coffee, McCallie’s State champion and National Runner-up River Henry, four-time State Champion Samson Evans of Alcoa, four-time medalist, two-time champion and multiple All-American Michael Kramer of Wilson Central, two-time champion Patrick Benson of Bradley Central and three-time champion, multiple All-American, and double Fargo Champ Nicholas Boykin of Riverdale.

Of course, Bruno Reagan is the oldest of the bunch. But keep in mind the following facts. Coffee was too young to test the waters against any of the bunch. Henry defeated Kramer. Boykin defeated both Kramer and Evans. And Bruno defeated (I know, I know, a young…) Boykin.  With all of these facts, I believe you have to award this to Reagan.  He does not have the National awards of the others, but being a football standout, he never competed.  There are a lot of “what if’s” that come into play, but the ultimate decision went to the head-to-head wins.  And regardless of age, Bruno has no losses in the field, and the most impressive of the wins.