Baylor senior wrestlers help ensure program doesn't skip a beat
With a TSSAA-record 34 team state championships — 20 in traditional tournament competition and 14 in the duals format — and this year's postseason still ahead, Baylor School's wrestling program shows no signs of slowing down.
If anything, the Red Raiders are only growing stronger by the day.
And their success isn't limited to the state of Tennessee or even the South.
Under the guidance of first-year head coach Sean Russell, the Red Raiders maintained their presence as a national power with an 11th-place finish two weeks ago at the Powerade Wrestling Tournament in Pennsylvania. The individual accolades for Russell's team at the prestigious event near Pittsburgh included senior 170-pounder Titus Norman placing third, which matched the best individual finish ever by a Baylor wrestler in a tournament where the Red Raiders were making their fourth appearance.
Norman has shined in his final high school season on the mat, also finishing first at the Prep Slam in Atlanta, second at the Kansas City Stampede and seventh at the Ironman in Ohio. He is one of four TSSAA wrestlers from the Chattanooga area currently ranked nationally by Flo Wrestling, which has Norman tabbed 14th at his weight class.
The Baylor standout is joined by Signal Mountain senior Joseph Uhorchuk as part of Army's 2026 recruiting class, which ranks in the top 10 in the country. Uhorchuk is regarded as the country's No. 26 pound-for-pound wrestler and sixth in the country at 126, while Chattanooga Christian senior Ryder Smith is 20th nationally at 285 and Cleveland sophomore Hudson Chittum is 16th nationally at 106.
Norman has won back-to-back TSSAA individual state titles, and his 1-0 victory over Father Ryan's Chancery Deane in the 165 finals last February was voted best match at the Division II traditional tournament. As a sophomore, Norman won the 144-pound title via an 11-3 major decision.
(READ MORE: Baylor sweeps team state titles with 20th traditional championship)
"One thing that has really separated me is discipline," Norman said. "I have been knocked down and beaten a lot over my wrestling career. What has helped me the most to recover from that is to get right back in the (practice) room and not let the defeats discourage me
"You have to stay disciplined and trust your coaches and trust the plan. I have given all of my effort to this sport. It is important to always control what you can control."
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Norman is one of several senior standouts for the Red Raiders, and he has a friendly future rivalry brewing with classmate Oliver Phillips, who is committed to the Naval Academy. Gabe Swann is committed to Brown University, where Norman's older brother Max has been a standout as a freshman this winter, while George Emendorfer and Dylan Reel are also key pieces to Baylor's starting lineup that aspires to help bring the Red Raiders two more team state titles in February.
All five seniors led the way in Tuesday's 54-24 victory over D-II East Region opponent Montgomery Bell Academy, which Norman opened and Phillips closed, and the quintet have made Russell's first season as Baylor's coach easier.
"Our seniors do a good job policing the other guys and telling them when a workout is unacceptable or when they are not being tough enough or need to step up," Russell said. "They do a good job of leading by example. They also get excited for their teammates and hype them up.
"The seniors we have are the heart and soul of this team. We are blessed to have them."
Norman and Co. have also learned a lot from Russell, who was a four-time NCAA qualifier, a 2017 All-American and a 2020 Olympic trials participant. In his senior season at Minnesota in 2018-19, Russell wrestled Iowa's Spencer Lee four times. Lee went on to become a three-time NCAA champion and also won an Olympic silver medal while representing the United States at the 2024 Paris Games.
Russell, a Georgia native, returned to the South in April 2021 to be the head coach for the Regional Training Center South, which is affiliated with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He took over the Baylor wrestling program from Rex Kendle, who helped the Red Raiders win 15 TSSAA team state titles while coaching 65 individual state champions as well as 37 All-Americans.
(READ MORE: Baylor names Sean Russell as the elite wrestling program's next head coach)
"Working with Coach Russell over these past few months has been amazing," Norman said. "You can really tell he cares for us and wants us to be the best. He is pushing us in the room every day. I have really developed with him pushing me to be my best.
"Our goal is to always be better. We are never satisfied with what we have now. We are always going to keep pushing forward and trying to better our team in any way possible."
Russell and the Red Raiders are set for an epic showdown with rival McCallie on Jan. 22, with the Blue Tornado — whose loaded roster makes them a D-II contender alongside Baylor — hosting the 7 p.m. matchup.
"When I have families on campus, I always show them the picture of the Baylor-McCallie dual," Russell said. "Because how many times do you get to wrestle in an environment like that as a high schooler in the South? There will be standing room only that night. I am super excited about it. I love those types of environments. It reminds me of college.
"You can either be excited or nervous about it. And we are excited."
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.
Baylor senior wrestlers help ensure program doesn't skip a beat | Chattanooga Times Free Press
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