CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Rossview wrestling hosted Clarksville and Montgomery Central Thursday in a district tri-meet.
Tensions ran high, as the Clarksville-Rossview boys and girls’ outcomes were each decided during the final matches. On the boys side, the Wildcats went on to pick up a 39-35 win over the Hawks.
“Overall, I thought it was good,” said Clarksville boys wrestling coach Tommy Badon on his team’s performance. “There were some matches where we didn’t get extra bonus points that we should have, but we had some guys come through big there at the end.
“Aidan Johnson wrestled an extraordinary match against a national-caliber kid and only gave up a regular loss which saved us potentially three points. I’m really proud of him. Malachi (Robinson) is figuring out how to win like he did tonight and that was awesome. We didn’t have to have the pin at the end to win, but he got it which was just icing on the cake. I was quite pleased.”
Clarksville boys later moved to 12-6 overall on the year after defeating Montgomery Central 56-24 to win the tri-match (2-0).
The current environment surrounding Montgomery-County high school athletics is noticeably different present-day compared to past seasons.
“As far as atmosphere, those were two close duels with two schools who are realistically state-caliber teams,” said Rossvew wrestling coach Jeff Price. “To not have fans here cheering it on, it just doesn’t give it justice. The hope is that whenever we see those at the end of the year when they matter, that we can have fans back. I think it all comes down to if they get to go back to school or not.”
Badon sympathizes with the families who are not allowed entry into the building to watch their loved ones participate in their sport of choice.
“Off the cuff I can’t think of any positives,” Badon said of the circumstances. “It’s nice having the crowds. Parents want to be able to see their kids and it’s really hurting them. I hate it for them and particularly the seniors…It’s just uncomfortable and unusual having to do things you’re not accustomed to doing. It’s a challenge and we’re dealing with it. It’s not ideal for anybody.”
The Wildcats have seen improvement from many of their wrestlers this year, but there is one junior’s progression in particular that sticks out the most for Badon.
“Recently, it’s been my 106-pounder Koen Ploeckelman,” Badon said. “He didn’t get on the mat much last year, but he loves the sport. He’s really green, really rough around the edges and also had an injury early on in the season. He’s finally gotten some consistent mat time. We placed fifth in the tournament this past weekend and have started to find some success. He’s probably made the biggest jump so far this year.”
Price discussed from his vantage point the talent that CHS possesses this season on each of its teams.
“From the guys side, they have their 52 and 60-pounders who are both tough kids,” Price said. “They’ve been around for awhile. Other than that, they’re solid in every weight. I don’t think they have the individual studs that we do, but all-around they’re obviously a little bit better than us and they showed that tonight. On the girls side, they’re tough all over. If you were to take the entire state, I’d say right now it’s Northwest, Rossview and Clarksville at the top…We don’t realize how much girls wrestling has progressed right here in Clarksville.”
Rossview boys improved their overall record to 14-5 after taking down Montgomery Central 51-27 in the final match of the night.
Despite dropping two matches to Clarksville, Rossview wrestling coach Jeff Price was pleased with the effort he saw from each of his teams.
“We wrested well in certain positions,” Price said. “We fought and gave up tech falls instead of pins in early matches. I would of liked to have seen us get more pin answers, but it’s hard to pin someone who isn’t trying to get pinned. When it comes down to it, the last two matches of the dual, we just didn’t have the heart there. That’s something we can push on them the next couple of weeks and really preach to them that those matches weren’t lost in that six minutes, they were lost each and every day that they don’t show up and work hard.”
With many of their meetings being canceled so far this season, Clarksville girls picked up just their second win in three matches on the year 36-30 over Rossview.
“I was tickled to death with their performance,” said Clarksville girls wrestling coach Sharrock Cobb. “We knew Northwest, Rossview and Clarksville would be a battle all year. It came down again tonight to the last matches and it worked out in our favor. My girls really showed up and did well.”
Since returning from a recent layoff caused by CMCSS’s decision to temporarily postpone athletics, Price said he has seen his wrestlers show more of an appreciation for the sport while competing.
“Definitely,” Price answered. “We try to remind them each day that we don’t know if this is going to be our last match or our last practice. If you compete like that and you wrestle like that, then you’ll appreciate it a lot more.”
Cobb has also seen a slight behavioral change in his team since the resumption of activities.
“I got girls who are dedicated,” Cobb said. “They showed up over Christmas Break and it was voluntary if they came. I’d say 99 percent of my team was at practice. They were excited to be there and have accepted the vision of what we have.”
Rossview girls bounced back by earning a 54-12 victory over Montgomery Central and are now 8-2 on the year. After losing three stellar wrestlers who helped guide the Lady Hawks to three consecutive state championships to graduation in the offseason, Price knows his young nucleus will have to grow up in a hurry if they plan on making it four in a row.
“We have one senior in our lineup and everybody else is primarily freshmen and sophomores,” Price said. “We have to teach them how to compete and how to dig deep in the tough matches. They already expect to win, so one thing we’ve had to do this year is let them know that they haven’t done anything yet. This is a brand new season with a brand new team and they can’t live on the Rossview of the past three years. They have to go create their own legacy and there’s no doubt that if they show up, they can win the next three.”
Clarksville, Rossview, Northwest, Montgomery Central and five other girls teams will face off in the West Tennessee Region Duals Saturday at Independence. The top two teams from each side will qualify for the TSSAA state duals.
“Come Saturday it’s the region duals,” Cobb said. “We’ll take on Central and if we get past them, we’ll probably have Rossview again. It’ll be a much different match, so we’ll have to reload and figure out a way to get there.”
With no return to normalcy near in sight, Badon remains optimistic that necessary measures will be taken in order to ensure the season’s completion.
“The biggest thing is trying to keep kids healthy, on the mat and not contact traced,” Badon said. “We’re very fortunate that we’re not in school, but we’re remote right now. That’s actually a blessing for wrestling and basketball. I actually kind of hope that they extend it until spring break for the two sports. You know basketball lost its state tournament last year.
“I really wish someone would do some checking on contact tracing to find out exactly how many kids from each school who has been contact traced is actually getting sick. I know at our school there hasn’t been one. There have been hundreds and hundreds of kids sent home and none of them have come down with COVID from the kid that they were contact traced from, so what are we doing? Evidently there is no feedback loop. That’s the negative part for all these kids is they need to be in school. We’re very fortunate the leadership team here has found a way to keep us participating in athletics and I’m very appreciative of that.”