Pins From Tristan Moulton & Riley Alcantar In Final Two Matches The Difference

The annual wrestling dual meet between Baylor and McCallie is always an interesting and really competitive battle between two really good teams. That was the case at McCallie on Thursday, but it's only a preview of what could be the championship match at the state duals, which will be held in Franklin on Saturday, Jan. 31.

It was your usual classic match with an overflow crowd where Baylor prevailed 39-27 after getting pins in the final two matches. Baylor is now 2-0 while McCallie is 1-1.

It was also the first experience Baylor coach Sean Russell had in this great rivalry as this is his first year as the Baylor leader. But on an evening when McCallie got an early 6-0 lead following a pin from Brody Connell at 120 pounds, the Blue Tornado held the lead for the first eight matches, Baylor gaining the upper hand at 22-21 following a technical fall from Titus Norman at 175.

"That was awesome," Russell said shortly after the Baylor team sang Happy Birthday to assistant coach Joe Bakewell, who celebrated his 59th birthday on Thursday.

"I'll admit that I was a bit nervous at times as we didn't start off great and certainly didn't wrestle our best dual meet, but we were good enough to win. Titus Norman and Dylan Reel both got big wins, but the hero for us was Ollie Phillips, who got a major decision against a really good kid. Ollie had the match of the night for us.

"We still have more to show, but we'll go back to work tomorrow to get ready for next Saturday," Russell concluded with a smile.

McCallie coach Jake Yost certainly didn't make any excuses, even though his team wasn't at full strength.

"This was another great environment with two really good teams. I thought we competed hard, but just came out on the short end of it," he began.

"We looked good in spots, but just not good enough to win. We'll learn from it and move forward. But kudos to Sean and the Baylor team as they wrestled a good match tonight," Yost nodded.

Baylor ended up winning eight individual matches while McCallie won six. Baylor had four pins to just two for McCallie. Baylor also had two major decisions, one technical fall and one regular decision while McCallie had three regular decisions and one win by injury default.

Cainan Williams won the match at 157 by injury default after Justin Guthrie suffered a shoulder injury and couldn't continue. That extended McCallie's lead to 21-13 before Phillips started Baylor's comeback with a major decision at 165. Norman put Baylor up with his technical fall at 175 before a second-period pin from Reel gave Baylor a little breathing room.

Cooper Gentle and Cannon Voiles followed with regular decisions for the Blue Tornado to knot the score at 27 after Baylor had been penalized a team point for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The win by Voiles at 285 was a real bright spot for McCallie as the spunky junior weighed in at 211 while Baylor's Maddox McClure tipped the scales at 276. The first two periods were scoreless before McClure got an escape with 1:31 left in the match. Voiles didn't slow down and got a key takedown five seconds later and made it count as he hung on for the 3-2 decision.

The score was deadlocked at that point before Tristan Moulton and Riley Alcantar both recorded pins to provide the final 12-point margin.

BAYLOR 39, McCALLIE 27

(Match began at 120 pounds)

106 – Tristan Moulton (Bay) pinned Charlie Silberman, 5:51;

113 – Riley Alcantar (Bay) pinned Knox Ritchie, 1:22;

120 – Brody Connell (McC) pinned Tristan Wagner, 2:29;

126 – Gabe Swann (Bay) major dec. Axel Ritchie, 15-4;

132 – Jaxon Lane (McC) dec. Chris Phillips, 2-1;

138 – Malachi Puckett (Bay) dec. Cooper Mariakis, 1-0;

144 – Billy Hamilton (McC) pinned Thomas Mize, 1:13;

150 – George Emendorfer (Bay) pinned Wyatt Boren, 1:06;

157 – Cainan Williams (McC) won by injury default over Justin Guthrie;

165 – Ollie Phillips (Bay) major dec. Zaydan Morgan, 12-3;

175 – Titus Norman (Bay) won by technical fall over Myles Belvo, 2:30;

190 – Dylan Reel (Bay) pinned Cooper Ledbetter, 3:58;

215 – Cooper Gentle (McC) dec. Rock Shurette, 4-1;

285 – Cannon Voiles (McC) dec. Maddox McClure, 3-2.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

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