The Lakeway Christian Academy Lions won their third consecutive TSSAA state duals championship in late January 2026.
BY JESSE SMITHEY
The TSSAA high school wrestling season just concluded.
And the greater Knoxville area and 5Star Preps coverage area were not short on winners.
Here’s a recap of all that went down on the mats..
STATE DUALS
For the third year in a row, Lakeway Christian won the Division II Class A/AA state championship, routing Pope John Paul II by a 63-14 margin in the state semifinals and then defeating Boyd-Buchanan 38-27 in the state championship match Jan. 31 at the Williamson County Ag Expo Center in Franklin, Tenn.
Jonathan Comes (106 weight class), Luke Kibelbek (126), Samuel Comes (132), Trenton Casto (144), Jonathan Graham (150), Kaden Dressel (165) and Plamidi Boyenja (285) all won matches/points for the Lions in the finale against Boyd-Buchanan.
Halls won its opening match against Page but fell to eventual Class AA state champion Cleveland in the next round and then to eventual consolation bracket champion Nolensville after that.
Greeneville finished fourth in Class A, falling to Station Camp 41-34 in the consolation bracket. Soddy-Daisy won the Class A state duals championship.
Father Ryan edged Christian Brothers, 31-30, in the Division II-AAA championship.
And in girls’ wrestling, Maryville finished fourth overall. The Lady Rebels fell to Bartlett in the consolation bracket final. Cleveland bested Clarksville for the overall championship.
TRADITIONAL STATE TOURNAMENT
Feb 20-21 | Williamson County Ag Expo Center
CLASS A
TEAM CHAMPION: Soddy-Daisy amassed 180 total points. Signal Mountain (169.5) and Station Camp (102.5) finished second and third, respectively. Anderson County (91), Pigeon Forge (80) and Greeneville (71) finished fourth, fifth and eighth.
AREA INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONS: Germain Velasquez (Seymour, 106), Zedediah Hullet (Anderson County, 138), Ayden Hood (Pigeon Forge, 165), Deameion Leavell (Anderson County, 175), Tyson Click (Samuel Everett, 285)
AREA INDIVIDUAL RUNNERS-UP: Darius Sudderth (Alcoa, 215, second), Evan Prewitt (Anderson County, 190, second), Noah Eller (Gibbs, 138, second)
AREA NOTABLE FINISHERS: Tristen Fowler (Alcoa, 132, third), Brylan Rhodes (Greeneville, 126, third), Lukas Pratt (Pigeon Forge, 144, third), Hayden Harrell (Anderson County, 144, fourth), Hayden Moore (Greeneville, 190, fourth), Max Cable (Pigeon Forge, 150, fourth), Duke Delozier (Seymour, 157, fourth), Ryan Jones-Camp (Samuel Everett, 126, fifth)
BEST MATCH — Zedediah Hulet of Anderson County won by decision (10-7) over Gibbs’ Noah Eller in the 138 weight class.
OUTSTANDING WRESTLER — JoJo Uhorchuk (Signal Mountain), 132 weight class.
CLASS AA
TEAM CHAMPION: Cleveland dominated the Class AA boys scoreboard, posting a whopping 265 points. Dobyns-Bennett was runner-up with 137 points. Nolensville was third at 109.5. Halls was the only area team to top 10, coming in with 60.5 points for an eighth-place finish.
AREA RUNNERS-UP: Barrett Whaley (Halls, 175, second), Ahmed Shahin (West, 215, second)
AREA NOTABLE FINISHERS: Trevor Sexton (Halls, 157, fourth)
BEST MATCH — Dominic Cordero of Cleveland won by decision (11-8) over Devin Corbin of Collierville in the 126 weight class.
OUTSTANDING WRESTLER — Mason Jakob (Dobyns-Bennett), 132 weight class.
DIVISION II
TEAM CHAMPION: McCallie won the state championship in Division II accruing 276.5 points. Baylor had 246 points. Lakeway Christian finished sixth at 122.
AREA INDIVIDUAL CHAMPS: Samuel Comes (Lakeway, 126, first place)
NOTABLE AREA FINISHERS: Jack Quigley (Webb, 144, third place), Trenton Casto (Lakeway, 138, third place), Kyler Cook (CAK, 165, fourth place), Kaden Dressel (Lakeway, 157, fourth place), Jonathan Comes (Lakeway, 106, fourth place), Luke Kibelbek (Lakeway, 120, fifth place), Jonathan Graham (Lakeway, 144, fifth place)
GIRLS
TEAM CHAMPION: Cleveland won the girls championship. Its 167.5 points proved just enough to get past Clarksville’s 150. Halls finished fifth (58) and Gibbs sixth (56.5).
AREA INDIVIDUAL CHAMPS: Cora Finstad (Gibbs, 107), Trinity Roberts (Heritage, 145), Julia Parrish (Halls, 235)
AREA RUNNER-UP: Delilah Queen (Maryville, 138, second)
NOTABLE AREA FINISHERS: Gracie Voorhies (Seymour, 114, third), Gabbie Newton (Jefferson County, 126, fourth), Lily Lentz (Maryville, 132, fourth), Shelby Williams (Gibbs, 145, fourth), Danielle Connors (Anderson County, 126, fifth), Natalya Russell (Greenback, 132, fifth), Briley Lively (Halls, 138, fifth)
BEST MATCH — Lakers Kelly of Pearl-Cohn won by decision (6-4) over Jonna Patterson of Blackman.
OUTSTANDING WRESTLER — Sawyer Ward (Science Hill), 152 weight class.