Seymour Hosts Eagle Challenge Duals

By: Lee Ramsey
The Seymour Eagles Wrestling team hosted the 2010 Eagle Challenge Duals Wrestling Tournament at Seymour High School last Saturday.
If you have never been to a wrestling tournament, it is very much like a three ring circus. The gym floor has action going on from one end to the other almost constantly. It’s well worth the price of admission.
The Eagles have one of the best wrestling programs in the state under the guidance of second year Coach Alex Cate; but last Saturday was not one of their better days winning 1 match and losing 3.
Teams participating in the tournament besides Seymour were Catholic, Sevier County, Heritage, South-Doyle, Webb, William Blount, Powell, Greenville and Stone Memorial.
The Eagles took their first match over Catholic 58-15; then dropped the next 3 to Powell 42-36, Stone Memorial 54-29, and William Blount 36-33.
Coach Cate had this to say, “We won our first match against Catholic easily. Our next match against Powell was probably the biggest upset of the tournament.”
The Eagles gave up some pins with their second string and it was costly. “I made the decision to sit a few starters to give the other guys some matches. We fell to Powell by 6 points.”
The strategy would have worked if all of the wrestlers performed as expected. Sometimes that just doesn’t’ happen. Coach Cate has this team headed in the right direction, rest assured.
“After that we regrouped and came out strong but still fell short to the tournament champion, Stone Memorial.”
Next, Seymour dropped a very close match to William Blount which ended up the tournament’s 3rd place team. The margin was only 2 points.
Four Seymour mat men went 4-0 on the day. They were as follows; Luke Hall 125 lbs, William Jordan 112, Trent Williams 140, and Chase Ingle 135.
Others posting pins for the Eagles throughout the day included Willie Stooksbury 130 lbs, Chris Hinshaw 119 lbs, Shane Chipley 160, and Timothy Maker 235 lbs.
Coach Cate summed things up by saying, “The tournament wasn’t the best as far as team victories, but we still had gains in other areas. The young wrestlers on our team showed heart and improved every round. We also raised some money for the team to help with this year’s expenses.”
“I want to thank Coach Lauderdale who directed the tournament and a big thanks to all the Seymour wrestling parents and volunteers who worked hard all weekend.”
Next up for the Eagles are Bearden and Hardin Valley at Seymour on Dec. 16 at 6:30 p.m., then this weekend Seymour travels to Cleveland, TN for the Bradley Invitational Tournament.