Coffee County wrestler Rey Reyes in action at region meet on February 8, 2019
Three members of the Coffee County wrestling team opened up competition in the TSSAA State Tournament on Thursday in Franklin. Jesse Hay-Smith, Rey Reyes and Christopher Speagle were all in action on Thursday afternoon and evening in their own 32 man individual tournament bracket. The state tournament is taking place at the Williamson County Agricultural Exposition Park in Franklin. Qualifier Brett Francis was a late scratch and did not participate. The Red Raiders struggled on the state championship stage losing 5 of their 7 matches. All 3 wrestlers dropped their opening round matchups.
At 145 pounds, Jesse Hay-Smith was pinned in the first round of his opening match to fall into the consolation bracket. In the consolation, Hay-Smith fell in a hard fought 3 to 0 decision to end his state tournament run.
At 220 pounds, Chris Speagle was pinned in the 2nd round of his opening match of the day. Speagle was eliminated in the consolation bracket with a pinfall in the 3rd round of his match.
At 182 pounds, Rey Reyes lost in his opening round match in a 2rd round pin. Reyes rebounded with a pair of wins on Thursday night in the consolation round. Reyes fought his way to a first round pin to open competition in the consolation round. In the 2nd consolation round, Reyes got a 3rd round pin to advance to the round of 16.
Reyes will be back in action on Friday. Wrestling will continue 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.
You can keep track of their performances in real time online at: http://www.tssaasports.com/wrestling
