Four CHS wrestlers who have qualified for state plus their coaches pose on Saturday at Warren County. Left to right – coach Roger Barlow, Brett Francis, Rey Reyes, coach Mike Sullivan, Chris Speagle, Jesse Hay-Smith and coach Randall Jennings[Photo provided]

At 120 pounds, junior Brett Francis had to fight through the consolation bracket to capture 3^rd place in the weight class.  After a getting a pin on Friday night in the first round, Francis suffered a 2^nd round loss on Saturday to Samuel Hadlock of Cookeville.  Francis came back on Saturday to get a pair of decision wins heading into the consolation finals and a rematch with Hadlock.  Francis, a junior, fought his way to a 5 to 4 decision to upset the higher seeded senior and capture the 3^rd place medal.

At 145 pounds, senior Jesse Hay-Smith used 3 decision wins to grab a 3^rd place finish in the tough weight class.  After a first round bye, Hay-Smith got a 7 to 2 decision win over Blackman wrestler Aaron Fisher in the 2^nd round.  On Saturday morning, Hay-Smith was pinned by 2^nd seeded Michael Williams of Shelbyville to fall into the consolation bracket.  Hay-Smith fought his way to 2 straight 4 to 3 decision wins to capture the 3^rd place medal.

At 182 pounds, senior Reynaldo Reyes entered the tournament as the 6^th seeded wrestler and fought his way to a 4^th place finish.  Reyes opened tournament action on Friday with a pinfall win before falling in and pinfall loss in the 2^nd round to Nolan Cook of Oakland.  Coming back on Saturday, Reyes got a pair of pinfall wins, including an upset win over Brian Nelms, to advance to the consolation finals.  In the finals, Reyes fell once again to Cook to end the tournament with a 4^th place finish.

At 220 pounds, junior Chris Speagle entered the tournament as the 9^th seeded wrestler before rolling to a 4^th place finish.  Speagle got a quick pinfall win in the opening round before falling to top seeded Bowdy Boyce in a 3^rd round pin in his second match.  On Saturday, Speagle got a bye, a decision win and a pin to advance to the consolation finals.  In the 3^rd place match, Speagle fought to a decision loss to Jimmy Pearson of Tullahoma.

At 138 pounds, freshman Gavin Prater finished the day with a record of 2 and 2 with a pair of pinfall wins.  At 132 pounds, freshman Hunter Waring finished the tournament with a 1 and 2 record.  At 160 pounds, freshman Zack Bush finished the tournament with a 1 and 2 record.  At 170 pounds, sophomore Jacob Phillips finished the tournament with a 1 and 2 record.  At 195 pounds, sophomore Zach Galy finished the tournament with a 1 and 2 record.  At 285 pounds, sophomore Cardin Stump finished with a record of 2 and 2.

The state tournament will begin on Thursday at the Williamson County Agricultural Exposition Park in Franklin.  The boys weigh-in will take place at 1 PM on Thursday with wrestling getting underway at 3 PM in the first 2 rounds. Wrestling continues on Friday at 10 AM with the championships on Saturday.  Lady Raider wrestler Mary Anne Walker will weigh-in at 8:30 on Friday and her first round match will be at 10 AM on Friday morning.  The girls’ championship will also be held on Saturday beginning at 10 AM.  Tickets for the event are $10 daily with a parking charge of $5 per car.

CHS Swimmers at the state meet. Left to right are: Jack Beachboard, Kaylee Williams, Anna O’Connor, Jase Rice and coach Becky Behrendorff[Photo provided]

Jack Beachboard had the highest Raider finish as he captured a 13^th place finish in the 100 yard breaststroke with a new personal best time of 59.44.  Beachboard also grabbed a 26^th place finish in the 200 yard freestyle with a time of 1:50.11.

Kaylee Williams swam a personal best time of 1:08.75 in a swim-off for the 100 yard breaststroke.  Williams finished the event with a 13^th place finish.  Williams also finished in 44^th place in the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 2:20.95.

Jase Rice had a 42^nd place finish in the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 2:13.02.  Anna O’Connor swam a time of 1:08.48 in the 100 yard butterfly to finish in 72^nd place.

Viktor Arvidsson of the Nashville Predators

Viktor Arvidsson scored twice, and the Nashville Predators came back to salvage a point before they ultimately fell in overtime to the St. Louis Blues by a 5-4 final on Sunday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena. It’s Nashville’s second loss to St. Louis in as many days with the Blues collecting all four of their possible points on the weekend set.

Vladimir Tarasenko recorded a hat trick, including the winner just 16 seconds into OT, after the Preds potted three in the third entering the final 20 minutes with a two-goal deficit.

As Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette stated after the content, the final score is disappointing, but it wasn’t all doom and gloom following the loss.

“It was a different game completely for us today in a positive way,” Laviolette said. “I hate the result because we didn’t walk away with another point, but for me, the speed and the competitiveness, the shots, the attempts, the looks that we had – I thought they were good… They’re finding ways to win hockey games, and they found a way today, but I thought the things we did today were much better than the things we did last night.”

“They are a good team, and they’re playing really well right now,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said. “We had a good first, we had a couple mistakes that cost us three goals there in the second. The third period was great, and we showed a lot of character, but against a team like that, you have to do it for 60 minutes.”

After a scoreless first period, the floodgates opened in the second, with the two clubs combining for four goals in less than three minutes.

First, it was Alex Pietrangelo who gave the Blues the lead on the power play, and Tarasenko got his second of the weekend to make it 2-0. Less than 30 seconds after that, however, Arvidsson swept home a loose puck in the crease to give the Preds some life, but the Blues came right back less than a minute later as Tyler Bozak gave them a two-goal lead once more.

“We had a good first period, but a couple of mistakes cost us in the second,” Arvidsson said. “We really got going in the third. We played our game in the third and really pushed forward.”

Nashville came to life in the third as Roman Josi scored less than three minutes into the period, before Arvidsson added his second of the day at 6:10 to tie the game for the first time. After Tarasenko got a lucky bounce past Juuse Saros to put the Blues up once more, the Preds came back again, this time with Filip Forsberg batting a puck out of midair for his 20th of the season and a 4-4 draw.

Forsberg hit the 20-goal mark on the play for the fifth consecutive season to become the only player in franchise history to score at least 20 in five separate seasons.

That wild final stanza gave way to the extra session that saw Tarasenko complete the hat trick just seconds after it began.

“We have things that we need to do better… but we never give up,” Preds center Ryan Johansen said. “We just keep pushing and keep moving forward. It’s just trying to find ways to win hockey games and play for each other. That’s a big positive for sure.”

From here, Nashville’s schedule continues with Detroit and Montreal slated to make visits to Tennessee this week, and although the Preds still sit second in the Central with 71 points, the group says there is still work to do as the home stretch continues.

“We have a tremendous hockey team that’s got room for improvement,” Johansen said. “It’s a fun part we’re at right now. Games are ramping up and we’re seeing that. We need this group to take a step.”

“You can’t just paint it with a broad brush and say every game was good or every game was bad,” Laviolette said. “Tonight, I thought that we did enough good things to win a hockey game. I hate the result, but on a back-to-back situation and chasing the game the whole night, we gave our guys credit for competing until the end… Every game is different, and every game will be different moving forward. There will be hopefully a lot that we like and not so many like we don’t like. We’re always trying to get better.”

Notes:

Viktor Arvidsson has now scored 15 goals since Jan. 1, more than any other player in the League.

Ryan Ellis collected his 200th career point with an assist on the Arvidsson goal.

Rocco Grimaldi, Frederick Gaudreau and Matt Irwin were scratched for the Preds on Sunday.

Nashville three-game homestand continues on Tuesday when they welcome the Detroit Red Wings to town, followed by a meeting with the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

The week of training camp at IMG Academy ended on a high note for Nashville Soccer Club as it beat two-time defending USL Cup champions Louisville City FC 2-1. The win was hard earned as forward Alan Winn scored the game-winner in the 70’ minute and the defense stopped a late Louisville surge that included numerous late set pieces.

90’ in a Nutshell

Nashville SC was on the back foot early as Louisville City forward Luke Spencer had two early chances to put the champs in front. Starting Nashville keeper Matt Pickens made saves on both including a point blank, one-on-one save against Spencer to keep the game scoreless.

Forward Tucker Hume got Nashville on the board first as he slotted away a rebound in the 24’ minute. New NSC forward Kharlton Belmar sent a rocket that was parried away, but it landed at the feet of Alan Winn who knocked it to Hume. The lead almost lasted until halftime before Louisville equalized. A Louisville free kick from Oscar Jiminez just outside the box found the back of the net after bouncing off multiple players right in front of goal. Louisville credited Paco Craig with the tally.

In the second half, both teams made wholesale changes, however Winn stayed out to play a portion of the final 45 minutes. The move paid off in the 70’ minute for head coach Gary Smith as Winn scored what would be the winning goal. Midfielder Lebo Moloto sent a long pass down the left side to an in stride Ramone Howell. Howell sent it across the box to a wide open Winn who converted the tap in.

Nashville saw out the final 20 minutes despite several Louisville corners and free kicks around the box. Keeper Connor Sparrow made three second half saves to preserve the victory.

Goals

24’ NSH – Tucker Hume (Alan Winn)

45’ LOU – Paco Craig

70’ NSH – Alan Winn (Ramone Howell)

Postgame Quote

Forward Alan Winn

“It was a tremendous week. I love Florida. I was here when I was 17 [with the U.S. U-18 National Team] and it was beautiful than and its beautiful now. The fields are pristine. It was good learning what we are all about. It was good getting to know my teammates outside of Nashville, and there were really good bonding moments. Leaving here with a win especially is incredible, a good high feeling, and hopefully it’ll translate to the season.”

Key Stat

Cameron Lancaster – 30 minutes

Lancaster, a Nashville MLS signee on loan to the USL club, made his unofficial debut for Nashville in the win against his former team. He came on in the 60’ minute and played the final 30 minutes. While Lancaster didn’t get on the scoresheet, he was a presence at the top of the Nashville attack and drew multiple Louisville defenders, who know first-hand his goal scoring ability.

Up Next

Nashville will return to the field next Saturday against Birmingham Legion FC in the Legion’s first home preseason friendly. Birmingham is one of four USL Eastern Conference expansion teams and will play its home games on campus at Alabama-Birmingham.