(2/19/05) With only 6 qualifiers for State this year, the expectations were conservative.  This is a young team and has struggled against the tough competition through the season.  The Round of 32 went about as well as could be expected, with wins by 4 of our 6 wrestlers: Larry Baliles (Fr, 103), Christian Rudas (So, 119), Tyler Wright (Sr, 135) [by forfeit], and Ben Sencabaugh (Sr, 189).  The Round of 16 was much tougher - only 5th ranked Wright won [again by forfeit!], and of the 5 hoping to continue in the Consolations, only one was able to advance (based on the advancement of his opponent to the Semi's), Larry Baliles.  In the Quarter Finals, Wright - cold from not wrestling yet in the tournament - faced 6th ranked Mason Caples.  Caples pulled out a last second win to knock Wright out of the Championship bracket.

Wright joined Baliles in the Consolations on Friday night.  Baliles won in the first round, but that was as far as he could manage.  Wright, on the other hand, was, as I overheard from a competing school's wrestler in the stands, "on a mission."  Determined to prove himself, he pinned his first 2 Consolation opponents, and then swept the Consolation Semi's and Finals with 2 major decisions (in the Finals over 2nd ranked Ensmninger) to claim 3rd place.

Summary as We Head to State

(2/14/05) Results are updated as much as possible with limited information available.  It looks worse than it really is because the matches reported are mostly just the ones against top teams in the state.

East Ridge finished 2nd in the Region Duals to Hixson - who went on to win the Division 1 - A-AA State Duals.  The young Pioneer team gave Hixson a much closer match than in the previous meeting this year.

The Region Individual Tourney was a bit tougher. The Pioneers only eked out a 5th place finish, but did manage to qualify 6 wrestlers for state, including Region Champ Tyler Wright (135), 2nd placers Larry Baliles (103), Christian Rudas (119), and Ben Sencabaugh (who dropped to 189), and 4th placers Jeff Bowman (112) and Tyler Clark (130).  Rudas' nail-biter loss at the buzzer in the finals was awarded the tournament's Best Match.  Sencabaugh also had a lead as time was winding down in the finals, but was unable to hang on for the victory.

Pioneers Tame Lions

(12/10/04) On the strength of 6 pins, East Ridge outscored Red Bank 48-33 in the opening meet of the season.  5 of the pins were in the first round.

Knox Catholic Invitational

(12/05/04) The young team got a taste of the real world in Knoxville this weekend, finishing 10th in a field of 23 teams in the Knox Catholic Invitational (full results are now posted on the KCHS site).  Senior Tyler Wright took the only gold for the team, decisioning Baylor's Reed Doster 8-4 in the finals.  Freshmen Larry Baliles(103) and Michael Goins(145) both landed 5th place finishes, and Ben Sencabaugh(215) took 6th.

Prospects for 2004-5

(11/22/04) The Schedule and Roster have been updated for the new season.  Now that we are just days away from the first tournament and matches, what are the prospects for this years crop of Pioneers?

Certainly the biggest name on the roster this season has got to be senior Tyler Wright (135) who placed 2nd last year at State.  Tyler is ranked 1st in the preseason rankings.  Also drawing significant attention is sophomore Christian Rudas (119), who comes into the season ranked 5th (@ 112).

While seniors Dennis Roby and Ben Sencabaugh and junior Adam Hoover bring strong leadership to the team, the group as a whole is quite young.  Several freshman and sophomores have starting positions.  The development of these underclassmen will be the key to the team's success this year.

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Tito Wins State!

(4/29/04) Dario "Tito" Rudas (SR, 103) stormed through the brackets in the 2004 TN state individual championships winning by pin, pin, 9-2, 7-0, and a 9-0 major decision shutout in the finals.  Dario had placed 4th the previous year.