Josh Tobitt(right) gains leverage over his Blackman opponent on Thursday night
The Coffee County Central High School wrestling team hosted Blackman and Tullahoma on Thursday night at the Coffee County Raider Academy in a big region dual meet. The Red Raiders had their hands full with a pair of the top teams in the Region visiting “The Meat Grinder.” With the odds stacked against them, the Raider grapplers fared pretty well in the underdog role.
Dustin Seals rolls his Blackman opponent up in a cradle to score a pinfall win on Thursday night.
Against Blackman, Coffee County started slow dropping their 1st four matches, 2 by forfeit and 2 by 1st round pins. At 132 pounds, Rein Bozich took his opponent to the 3rd round in a match that seemed to embolden the young and overmatched Raiders. From there, Owen Teague(at 138 pounds) got a 1st round pin for Coffee County’s 1st points. Josh Tobitt(180) and Dustin Seals(285) also got 1st round pins while Harry Hosea(195) earned 3 points when he lost a close 18 to 16 decision in a close match. Coffee County’s wrestlers took 4 of their last 6 losses to the 3rd round as they fell 62 to 18 to 13th ranked Blackman. Coach Roger Barlow thought his squad “wrestled their tail off.”
Owen Teague(top) working to secure a pin against Blackman on Thursday night.
Unfortunately, Coffee County could not carry that momentum over into its match with Tullahoma losing 64 to 9 against the Wildcats. The Wildcats, coming off a 40 to 39 tiebreaker loss to Blackman in the second match of the night, scored 8 first round pins to dominate the match. Owen Teague(138) had the match of the night for Coffee County as he earned 3 points in a hard fought, 3 round, 4 to 2 decision win over his Wildcat opponent. Josh Tobitt(182) also earned a forfeit win for Coffee County’s lone points. The Coffee County wrestlers are back in action on Saturday as they travel to Smyrna to participate in the Redhawk Rampage to be held at Stewarts Creek.
