Year in Review
Arlington High School’s wrestling team finished up their season with a record top 6 finish at the State Duals Championship and four medalists at the State Individual tournament. These successes cap off a season where the Tiger’s also won a record third consecutive Region 8 Duals AND Individuals championships. The strong finishes at both the State Duals and Individuals Championships solidifies Arlington’s place among the top teams in Tennessee’s Division 1-AAA.
For the State Individual championship, Arlington qualified 10 wrestlers and ended up with two third-place finishers, seniors Aaron Moore (182lbs) and Todd Roaten (220lbs), a fifth place medalist, sophomore Reed Cannon (113lbs) and junior Harrison Phillips (138lbs), who medaled in 6th place. Having four wrestlers medal at the State Championship is a school record and a significant accomplishment for the Arlington program in three years with Coach Simpson at the helm. A number of other Tiger wrestlers finished in the top 10.
Overall, as a team the Tigers finished in 9th place (over 100 high school DI-AAA teams competed) in this season’s tournament with a school record 99 points. The Tigers finished ahead of cross-state wrestling rival Science Hill High School, which was somewhat satisfying for Coach Simpson and the Tiger team as they had lost to the Hilltoppers two weeks earlier at the State Duals Championship.
Despite the loss to Science Hill at the State Duals tournament, Arlington still finished in 6th place overall, an improvement over the previous year and a school record. Duals matchups tend to show the overall quality and depth of a wrestling program versus the individual tournament which showcases the state’s elite wrestlers.
The Arlington Wrestling Tigers are not satisfied with this season’s results and have already started individual preparations for next year. Arlington is graduating a number of senior wrestlers this year, including state medalists Moore and Roaten, along with Region champ Johnathan Metcalf (285lbs), State Qualifier Austin Baudoin (145lbs), Logan Erickson, Simon Knauss, Chandler Durham and Austin Miller. Contributions from these seniors have made possible the success that Arlington Wrestling has achieved over the past several years.
