MUS Sports News

Wrestlers Finish Outstanding Season

The 2003-04 varsity wrestling team wrapped up another outstanding season with a 13-5 regular-season record, a second-place finish at the Regional Dual Tournament, and a fourth straight berth to the State Dual Tournament in Clarksville. The team was led this year by two captains, Andrew Hooser and Matt Rutherford, who also happened to be the only seniors on this year’s team.

The team saw some ups and downs at the beginning of the season with early losses to Cordova, Briarcrest, and CBHS. Amidst the losses, the Owls did have an impressive win against powerhouse Houston, 39-34, as sophomore Grayson Sharpe pinned his opponent to secure the victory for the Owls.

Following the Christmas break, the team returned to win five straight dual meets heading into the Regional Dual Tournament. At the Regional, the team pulled out a close match against Briarcrest, getting key wins from junior Joey Friend, freshman Ken Haltom, and sophomore Cameron Ridgway. The team then advanced to the Regional Dual Championship match against CBHS but fell short to finish in second place. But with the runner-up finish, the team secured a berth in the State Dual Tournament. In Clarksville, the Owls battled two of the best teams in the state, The McCallie School and Montgomery Bell Academy. Although MUS lost both of these matches, the Owls took advantage of the great opportunity to compete against good wrestlers.

The team finished the season with a trip to the State Individual Tournament, which took place at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. MUS had a stellar showing from all the wrestlers, earning an eighth-place finish in the state tournament. The most notable performances were that of Mason George, a sophomore who finished in fifth place at the 189 lbs. weight class, and Hooser, who became the first MUS wrestler to win a state-championship title as he won the 275 lbs. weight class. In the final match, Hooser took the lead on points with mere seconds remaining in the match to win and claim the dramatic 6-5 victory.

Several underclassmen made an impact as well this season. Ben Stallworth won first place, and Will Aldridge placed second at the Freshman Championships. Aldridge also placed second at the JV Championships, only having lost to champion Andrew Gordon, a sophomore, in the final match. Sophomore Christopher Thomas also had a strong showing at this year’s JV Championships with a second-place finish.

Additionally, the Owls had several freshmen and sophomore starters on the varsity squad throughout the season that contributed to the team’s success, including freshmen John Carr, Harrison Hunt, Haltom, and Stallworth, and sophomores Doug Boyer, Johnny Duke, Frank Jemison, Christopher Williamson, George, Gordon, Ridgway, and Sharpe.

The following boys received awards at the season-ending banquet:
   Team Award- Mason George
   Most Improved Wrestler- Joey Friend, who had second-place finishes at both the Black Horse
       Invitational and the Best of the West Tournament.
   Spirit and Most Outstanding- Andrew Hooser

The Owls will be led next year by an outstanding group of rising seniors: Sloan Abernathy, Joey Friend, Josh Hall, Chris Levy, and Nelson Rainey. The coaching staff -- Coach Harrison, Coach Milnor, and Coach Gehres -- is excited for next season and the future success of the MUS wrestling team.

Varsity Basketball Concludes Season

With their 39-30 setback in the region tournament to Bishop Byrne, the top-ranked team in the state, the varsity basketball team concluded a season that saw some good wins and helped gain valuable experience for some young players.

MUS started the 2003-04 season with a tough loss to a fine Covington squad before evening their record with a solid win over Southaven, 42-35, in the Mississippi-Tennessee Turkey Shootout. The Owls then lost two more games before beating Catholic in a big victory, 70-33. The victory over the Chargers began a three-game winning streak, including wins over MBA, a future state-tournament team, in Nashville and Tipton-Rosemark.

However, after the consecutive victories, the Owls proceeded to drop four of their next seven in a tough stretch against some quality competition. In that span MUS claimed wins over Millington, FACS, and Germantown, but they were handled by Houston on the road, and they also went 0-2 during the annual trip to the Carbondale Holiday Tournament, held during Christmas break. After having returned from the Illinois trip, the Owls then lost to rival Lausanne, 66-52, after having stayed close during the first three quarters.

But the Owls got back to their winning ways in their final two non-league games as they easily handled Lighthouse and Central Baptist before heading into their region schedule.

In the region, MUS had a tough first half of the schedule, but the squad was competitive and gave themselves opportunities to win many of the games.

The Owls started with a solid victory at Harding, 48-39, in which the team's patented zone defenses forced contested outside shots from the Lions, and MUS was never seriously threatened in route to the impressive win.

But following that win, the Owls slumped somewhat as they lost their next five region games, including four losses of six points or fewer. MUS dropped home games to CBHS, ECS, and Harding and lost at St. Benedict and at Briarcrest as their region record fell to 1-5.

But the Owls did not fold. The squad came together and finished the regular-season strong with three wins in the last four games.

In perhaps their best game of the year, the young Owls withstood a fierce road crowd and a talented CBHS team, the eventual state runner-up, to defeat the Brothers, 55-45. The team hit some big shots in the fourth quarter and handled the CBHS press to get easy baskets and claim the win that gave the Owls some much needed momentum headed into the final games of the year.

MUS continued their roll four days later by jumping out early at ECS and never looking back to avenge a previous loss by easily defeating the Eagles, 71-55, as the team continued to rise in the standings.

After a tough setback to eventual regular-season champion, Briarcrest, the Owls finished the region schedule with a strong showing against St. Benedict, again avenging a previous loss. The nine-point win gave MUS the large-school fourth seed in the region tournament as the Owls concluded their region record at 4-6.

However, in the tournament MUS ran into a powerful team that was playing great basketball.

After an easy victory over Catholic in the first round, 70-43, the Owls faced Byrne, whom MUS had met the previous four years in this round of the region. But just like last season in which the Red Knights ended the Owls' year, MUS hung close but could not overcome the tight-knit, athletic Knights. With the loss, the Owls ended their year at 14-14.

But many positives came from this season, including the maturation of some young contributors.

Throughout much of the season, the Owls started a freshman and two sophomores, and each gained valuable experience.

Peter Zanca, a sophomore, and freshman John Stokes were the primary frontcourt contributors, and each improved this season. Zanca was the team's leading rebounder, averaging over 6 per game, and he led the team in field-goal percentage, shooting over 50% for the season. Stokes was consistent throughout as he averaged nearly 5 points and 5 rebounds per game, and he also led the team in blocks as he battled down low.

The other sophomore player was guard Jay Martin, who was the team's biggest outside threat. His 34 three-pointers led the team as did his free-throw percentage at nearly 80% for the year.

Junior Jimbo Welch also played a significant role, starting 24 games this season and helping the team with his offensive skills. He averaged over 8 points and nearly 5 rebounds per game as he led the team in offensive rebounds. His 38 steals also led the squad.

But the team's leader was senior point guard Philip Reed, who started every game he played in and led the team in scoring, averaging 11.8 point per game. Reed was the primary ball handler throughout and also led the squad in assists with 96.

The Owls also had a bench that could give the starters some rest. Freshman Philip May and senior Marcus Moss both logged significant minutes and contributed. May served as an additional scoring threat and handler, and Moss, who improved every year he played and made himself into a solid player, shot 50% from the field and battled inside to become the leading rebounder off the bench, averaging almost 3 per game.

Senior Blake Wiedman also served as a leader and competent ballhandler as a reserve. He had nearly a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio and even started 8 games throughout the year.

Other contributors this season included senior Chris Cole, a shooting guard who hit 15 three-pointers this year, senior Lee Hoyle, who could always get the home crowd excited with his effort, junior Charles Askew, who provided depth in the frontcourt, and freshman Elliott Cole, who had played in nine games before going down with a knee injury.

Though the Owls say goodbye to five seniors, the players and coaches are excited about the underclassmen who gained important experience and logged significant minutes this year.