The Commerce Tigers closed out a successful season by winning second place in the state duals tournament in Bremen over the weekend.
Commerce started its march to the finals with a 57-19 victory over Mt. Zion followed by a 37-33 victory over Gordon Lee that sent the Tigers to the final round.
The mat Tigers came up short in the finals against host Bremen, falling 42-30 to take second place.
“I am very proud of the guys and their performance on Friday,” said coach Kendall Love. “These guys continued to work hard even though a lot of the second string guys did not get to see any action for three weeks, since they moved duals to after traditional. It is a testament to their commitment to the team and the sport.”
The weekend saw a victory for Commerce over a very good Gordon Lee team that had finished just ahead of the Tigers at the state tournament the last two years.
“We started at a bad weight for us and we got down 0-22 after the first four weights,” Love said.
Commerce rallied with big wins from Tyler Reddish and Thomas Sweeney, putting the momentum back in their favor. Addison Davis then pinned at 160 lbs. and Morgan Flint won a decision at 171 lbs. Chance
McClure won by a major at 189 lbs., Zach Harmon won a decision at 215 lbs. and Serguio Rojas pinned his opponent at 285 lbs.
Cody Legg sealed the win with a decision at 103 lbs. Commerce forfeited the last two weights to get ready for Bremen.
“Against Bremen I felt like we wrestled well and fought hard, but just did not have enough gas after the tough semifinal win,” Love said.
Winners against Bremen included Cody Legg, Drew Whitfield, Josh Westmoreland, Greyson Cochran, Addison Davis and Chance McClure.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Commerce News.
