The first season in recent memory has come to an end for the Oak Ridge High School wrestling teams.
The Wildcats and Lady Wildcats turned heads throughout the winter, but the 2025-26 campaign closed Saturday at the Class AA State Sectional Tournament at West Ridge High School in Blountville.
Oak Ridge will not have a representative at this week’s TSSAA State Championships at the Williamson County Expo Center in Franklin. Still, the Wildcats and Lady Wildcats had three wrestlers reach the blood round, finishing one match shy of earning a trip to the state’s biggest stage.
“We had a great year. We finished tied for second in the district and went toe-to-toe with some of the best teams and wrestlers in the state,” Oak Ridge coach Bam Thomas said. “We battled with West, beat Central twice and hung in there with Pigeon Forge.
Senior guard Cam Lawson scored 28 points against Northview Academy on Friday night lifting the Mavericks 85-74 in overtime. - Tony Cox
Anderson County High School’s basketball team closed out the regular season with a gritty road win Friday night, outlasting Northview Academy 85-74 in overtime.
The Mavericks didn’t secure the victory easily. The Cougars forced the extra session when they tied the game at 70 on a late 3-pointer. Anderson County responded with poise, outscoring Northview 15-4 in the four-minute overtime period to seal the win.
“This is what you’ve come to expect against a Northview team that plays hard and is extremely locked in on their senior night,” Anderson County coach Jordan Jeffers said. “It’s hard to win a game at this point in the season because everybody’s in district tournament mode and everybody knows what they’re doing.
“You have to be tough and you have to be physical — and not just physically tough. You have to be mentally tough because everybody is just locked in.”
Clinton’s Addi Gamble drives through the lane for a contested shot against the Lady Jackets. Gamble had 22 points, eight rebounds, seven steals, six assists and four blocks, powering the Lady Dragons on both ends of the floor. - Ellie Hatmaker
The 2025-26 regular season ended on a high note for Clinton High School’s girls basketball team, as it claimed a pair of wins last week against quality opponents.
Now, the Lady Dragons turn their focus to the postseason. Clinton will open District 4-AAA Tournament play Thursday night at Anderson County High School, facing the winner of the Gibbs-Union County play-in game earlier this week.
Clinton (27-2) enters as the tournament’s top seed and has already secured a berth in the upcoming Region 2-AAA Tournament. The Lady Dragons, however, have their sights set on more hardware.
A victory in Thursday’s semifinal, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at ACHS, would guarantee a home game in the opening round of regional play.
Clinton coach Alicia Daugherty said her veteran squad understands the challenge ahead but believes the team’s identity has carried it this far.
Clinton’s Camden Nelson (2) shoots a layup during the Dragons’ 75-43 victory over Kingston on Friday night. Clinton raced out to an early lead and never looked back. - Ellie Hatmaker
Clinton High School’s boys basketball team enters this week’s District 4-AAA Tournament with plenty of momentum.
The Dragons (25-7) went undefeated in district play and capped the 2025-26 regular season with a pair of non-district victories late last week.
In the finale Friday night, Clinton rolled past Kingston, 75-43, at Don W. Lockard Gymnasium.
The Dragons bolted to a 20-0 lead in the opening quarter against the Yellow Jackets and stretched the margin to 25-5 by the end of the frame, effectively putting the game away in the first eight minutes.
“We played great defense against Kingston and we got out to a 20-0 lead in that first quarter,” Dragons coach Chris Lockard said. “At the end of the first, we were up like 25-5. I’ve been very pleased with our defense.”
Ansley Freeman looks to the basket while heavily guarded by a Northview Academy defender. - Tony Cox
The Anderson County High School girls basketball team closed out the 2025 regular season on a sour note, dropping its final two games last week.
In Friday’s regular-season finale at Northview Academy in Kodak, the Lady Mavericks fell 48-36 in a game that mirrored the first meeting between the teams earlier this season.
“In both games, they got us in the third quarter,” Lady Mavericks coach Mitch Cupples said. “We played well in the first two quarters and we played well in the fourth quarter, but we just didn’t play well in the third quarter, and that’s where they got us.
“They got us there both times, in the third quarter.”
Bethany Lowe led Anderson County with 13 points, while Addison Grooms added 10.
The Lady Mavericks opened the week Tuesday, Feb. 10, with a 54-50 home loss to South-Doyle in a tightly contested game.
Anderson County’s Deamion Leavell applies heavy pressure on Cocke County’s Tanner Mantooth during the 175-pound division at Saturday’s sectional tournament at Gibbs High School. Leavell added victories over Greeneville’s James Treptow and Pigeon Forge’s Dawson Trentham to claim the sectional championship and advance to the state tournament. - Tony Cox
In recent years, Anderson County High School’s wrestling program has emerged as one of the area’s most consistent powers.
On Saturday, the Mavericks added another milestone at the Section 1-A Championships at Gibbs High School in Corryton.
“We made history, and hopefully we’ll make some more history and get some guys to place at state,” Anderson County coach Matt Slone said. “We had five sectional champions. We had three last year.”
Anderson County finished third in the team standings behind Greeneville and Pigeon Forge in a loaded field.
“This is a tough section,” Slone said. “You have Pigeon Forge and Gibbs, and then teams like Greeneville and Elizabethton that are really good. We finished third overall, and we were 5-for-5 in championship matches.”
Clinton’s Jordan Smith (top) works for control against Greeneville’s James Treptow during the Class A Section 1 Tournament at Gibbs High School in Corryton. After dropping his opening-round bout, Smith battled through the consolation bracket with wins over Cocke County’s Tanner Mantooth and Elizabethton’s David Wright before securing third place with a 9-4 decision over Chuckey-Doak’s Marcus Britt. - Tony Cox
Clinton High School’s wrestling team will send two athletes to this week’s Class A State Championships.
The Dragons had four competitors at the sectional tournament Saturday at Gibbs High School in Corryton. Two advanced to wrestle on the state’s biggest stage later this week at the Williamson County AgExpo Park in Franklin.
Freshman Hayden Durliat (113 pounds) finished fourth in his weight class, while junior Jordan Smith (175) took third in his division. Both rebounded after early losses to secure their spots in the state tournament.
“Hayden had to win two matches to qualify, and Jordan lost in the first round and had to come back and win two matches to make it to state,” Clinton coach Carl Nielsen said.
Several area players and two coaches were recognized recently as District 4-AAA coaches announced their all-district basketball teams.
Anderson County High School girls coach Mitch Cupples was named Coach of the Year, while Clinton High School boys coach Chris Lockard earned Coach of the Year honors on the boys side.
Clinton swept the Player of the Year awards. Addi Gamble was named the girls Player of the Year, while Bryson Maddox claimed the boys top honor.
Clinton’s Kenzlee Hutchison and Kyleigh Gallaher represented the Lady Dragons on the all-academic team. Anderson County’s Julia Owens and Ashton Thurman were also named to the all-academic squad.
The 2025-26 high school basketball regular season is complete, and across Tennessee, district tournaments are tipping off as teams chase championships and region bids.
Several leagues were already underway at press time, with champions set to be crowned by week’s end or early next week.
The District 4-AAA Tournaments will be held at Anderson County High School, setting the stage for another chapter in the Clinton-Anderson County rivalry.
In the girls bracket, Clinton and host Anderson County will open semifinal play Thursday night. Both the Lady Dragons and Lady Mavericks have already secured berths in the Region 2-AAA Tournament.
Top-seeded Clinton (28-2) will face either Union County or Gibbs at 7:30 p.m. The Lady Patriots and Lady Eagles met in a play-in game Tuesday, but results were unavailable at press time. The Lady Dragons finished 7-1 in district play, with their lone league loss coming at home against Anderson County.
Anderson County’s distance standout Ava Moody added another championship to her growing collection of state titles Sunday, Feb. 8.
Moody, a senior and two-time TSSAA state cross country champion, captured the two-mile run at the Tennessee High School State Indoor Championships at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
She clocked 10 minutes, 45.18 seconds to win the event. Moody also placed sixth in the one-mile run, finishing in 5:09.63.
“Ava did really well,” Mavericks coach Harrison Calhoun said. “I joked with her parents that she’s eventually going to get tired of winning.
“But she sets a high bar for herself. She has rivals, like the two twins at Webb and the girl from Station Camp, and those girls are always right there with her.”
Station Camp’s Brynn Bautershot finished second in the two-mile run in 10:46.59. Webb School of Knoxville’s Calysta Garmer and Jazzlyn Garmer did not compete at Vanderbilt.
Anderson County’s J.J. Cutler placed 18th in the boys one-mile run with a time of 4:35.67.
“J.J. did really well,” Calhoun said. “He finished in the middle of the pack.”
The Mavericks will now shift their focus to the outdoor season, which begins March 3 with a meet at Hardin Valley Academy in Knoxville.
“The indoor season makes me look forward to the outdoor season,” Calhoun said. “I’m excited to see what happens in the spring. We start outdoor in a couple of weeks.”
The young Oak Ridge High School girls basketball team absorbed its share of hard lessons during the 2025-26 regular season.
But the Lady Wildcats (9-15 overall, 5-7 in District 4-4A) found momentum at the right time, closing the campaign with back-to-back victories and entering the district tournament needing one more win to punch a ticket to the Region 2-4A Tournament.
Oak Ridge was slated to open postseason play Tuesday against either McMinn County or Rhea County. Results were not available at press time. A victory would send the Lady Wildcats to the region tournament, while a loss would end their season.
After dropping a 65-45 decision at home to Cleveland on Monday, Feb. 9, Oak Ridge responded with resilience. The Lady Wildcats edged Lenoir City 57-49 the following night behind a big performance from Eviaya Mitchell, who poured in 26 points. Jenayah Pippins added 12.
Oak Ridge carried that momentum into Friday night’s regular-season finale at Wildcat Arena, rolling past Fulton 61-33.
Mitchell led the way again with 25 points, while Pippins chipped in 18 as the Lady Wildcats closed the regular season on a high note and turned their focus to the postseason.
Oak Ridge High School’s boys basketball team endured its share of late-season turbulence, but the Wildcats still locked up the No. 3 seed for the District 4-4A Tournament, which begins this week at McMinn County High School.
Oak Ridge (15-11 overall, 7-5 in the district) closed the regular season with three games last week, dropping two of them.
The Wildcats opened with a 54-44 victory over Cleveland in a makeup game at Wildcat Arena on Monday, Feb. 9.
From there, however, the margin for error proved razor-thin.
Oak Ridge wrapped up district play with a 50-49 loss to Lenoir City on Tuesday, Feb. 10. Senior Charlie Taubenheim, the Wildcats’ lone returning starter from last year’s Class 4A state runner-up squad, poured in 28 points — more than half of Oak Ridge’s total — to keep his team within striking distance.
Ja’Rell Jemerson added 11 points against the Panthers, who earned a split in the regular-season series.
The Wildcats closed the regular season Friday night at home, but Wildcat Arena offered little comfort in a 61-48 setback to the Falcons.
Taubenheim and Luis Soria scored 12 points each for Oak Ridge, while Justice West chipped in 10.
The Wildcats return to the hardwood tonight (Wednesday) to face the winner of the play-in game between Rhea County and host McMinn County High School in a district quarterfinal elimination game. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
A victory would secure a berth in the regional tournament and keep Oak Ridge’s postseason hopes alive.
Oak Ridge High School competed in the 2026 Tennessee State Indoor Championships on Sunday, Feb. 8, at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, turning in several strong performances against elite statewide competition.
For the Lady Wildcats, the 4x400-meter relay team secured a ninth-place finish with a time of 4 minutes, 22.53 seconds. Oak Ridge’s distance medley relay team placed 11th after posting a 13:14.62.
Individually, Dylan Job finished 18th in the 800-meter run in 2:23.04. Zya Watson placed 23rd in the long jump with a leap of 14 feet, 2.75 inches. In the 60-meter dash, Vannelle Wandji clocked an 8.54 to finish 25th.
In the boys championship division, Will Pressley led the Wildcats in the 60-meter dash, placing 13th in 7.13 seconds. Tyree Porter was 21st in the same event in 7.62 and added a 20th-place finish in the long jump at 18-3.75.
Senior Mason Greenhalgh delivered the top finish of the meet for Oak Ridge, earning a third-place medal in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:54.57. King Sandoval placed 19th in the shot put with a throw of 38-2.25.
Oak Ridge’s boys distance medley relay team narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth in 10:49.11.
The Wildcats’ 4x400-meter relay squad added a 10th-place finish with a time of 3:38.19.
