Murray’s meet an early litmus test

Published 11:05 pm Thursday, January 5, 2006

Scheduling changes to the wrestling calendar made last season’s Murray County Duals and Invitational a smaller event than usual, but Indians coach Chris Thornbury was still pleased with the test it provided for his wrestlers.

“Last year we had a smaller field, but it was still tough as everything,” Thornbury said. “Quite honestly, when you’ve got a tournament that’s tough, it’s kind of hard to find folks to come.”

Thornbury said he heard a familiar response from the coaches of some teams invited to this weekend’s 12th annual Murray County Duals and Invitational — they plan to attend next year — but the event will host twice as many teams as last season and should serve as a good tuneup with one week remaining before the Area 7-4A Duals at Ringgold. State duals are the following weekend, with a week off before the Area 7-4A Traditional Tournament at Southeast.

The tourney offers a mix of teams from inside and outside of the area, though. Blessed Trinity, Centennial, Gordon Central, Grissom (Ala.), Fort Payne (Ala.), Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe, Northwest Whitfield, Ridgeland and Southeast will participate in duals competition beginning today at 5 p.m. at the high school’s gymnasium. Silverdale Baptist Academy (Tenn.) and Sonoraville will come on board for Saturday’s Invitational, set to start at 10 a.m.

For the last three years, both Northwest and Southeast have made the short drive to Chatsworth, and the Bruins and Raiders were happy to return.

“It’s a chance to get one more shot at some of the kids in the area that we wrestled early to see where we are,” said Northwest coach Allen Tucker, who has taken the Bruins to the event for the last “four or five” seasons. “The tourney runs real well.”

Not surprisingly, the chance to wrestle in both dual meets and a traditional tourney is a big draw as well. The mix of formats allows coaches to juggle their lineups on Friday, while on Saturday testing the group of wrestlers they’ll likely enter in the traditional postseason tournaments.

“It gives you kind of a taste of both ends of what’s to come,” Southeast coach David Gann said. “All of our kids get a lot of mat time in. It’s good for us, getting to see both ends.”

And Thornbury has little doubt everyone who wants a challenge will find it this weekend. The Ringgold Tigers — two-time defending duals and traditional Class 4A state champions and ranked No. 2 in the latest GaSports.com coaches’ poll — are noticeably absent after withdrawing from the event at midseason. Ringgold swept duals competition with Murray, Northwest and Southeast last year and finished third behind Cleveland (Tenn.) and LFO during the Invitational. But Grissom is a defending state champion in Alabama, and there will be more than a handful of talented wrestlers in Chatsworth this weekend.

“I think it’s pretty wide open,” Thornbury said. “Probably about the top six or seven (teams) are pretty tough in every weight class. And there are some teams at the bottom that have two or three (very tough wrestlers).”

In Thornbury’s mind, that’s a plus.

“Anytime you put your kids in a situation where they have to wrestle harder and pick it up a notch, you’re better off because you have to go a step further,” he said.

Murray was second in duals and fourth in the invitational last year.