Bell places second in Bobcat Brawl; Lady Cats take first

Published 7:23 pm Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Bell County hosted its third annual Apex Physical Therapy Bobcat Brawl Saturday.  The Bobcats finished third the first year while winning it last year. This year they finished second to Corbin High School. McCreary Central finished third and Whitley County finished fourth. Bell County won the girls championship and McCreary Central placed second.

Bell County won its pool by beating Cocke County Tennessee 72-12, Knox Central 78-0, and Southwestern 60-24. Whitley County won its pool and earned the right to face Bell in the semifinals. Corbin and McCreary were the other two pool winners and semi finalists.

In the semifinals, Bell County had to have pins in the final three matches of the dual to win it and they got them from Isaiah Troutman, who pinned Kaden Davis in 45 seconds; Matthew Howard, who pinned Jackson Sutton in 3:10; and Blake Lambert who pinned Ryder County in the first period to put the final touches on an exciting finish. Other winners in the dual with Whitley were Matthew Dowlin, Hayden Canady, Johnathan Tapp, and Payton Burnett.  All four won by pin.

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Bell was not able to work the same magic vs. Corbin, losing 52-30. Dowlin, Alexis Holman, Shelby Collins, Troutman, and Howard all had victories in the dual.

Troutman and Corbin’s Cyrus Grewie were named most outstanding male wrestlers. Collins and McCreary’s Kaden Thompson won the female most outstanding.  Collins, Holman, McKenzie Webb and Jojo Inman all won first place in individual female weight classes. Keira Good, Grace Helton, Hannah Fetters, Zoey Boatright, Ireland Stigal were all second-place finishers.

Bell had several wrestlers go unbeaten on the day. Troutman, Dowlin, Howard, Webb and Holman were among them. Tapp, Canady, Collins and Burnett all added four wins. Brayden Pace and Jonathan Fuson were able to earn their first victories by pin Saturday.  Hunter Goodin, Chase Raisley and   Lambert also posted multiple victories.