Rhea County wrestling made a rebound Tuesday night at Stone Memorial High School as the Golden Eagles rumbled past Christian Academy of Knoxville 60-17 and beat Bearden High School 53-28.

"I was pleasantly surprised with our list of pins against Bearden. I saw a lot of improvement with our guys, but as Coach Logsdon of Bradley was quoted Saturday, 'Until I have 14 champions in 14 finals,
I will always look to see what I can improve on'," RCHS Head Coach Lincoln Head said.

Rhea County recorded six first-period pins against Bearden's Bulldogs, and eight pins overall, as well as a technical fall by Connor Lingerfelt in just two minutes.

Ethan Beddingfield, who has slimmed down to wrestle 171 pounds, had the quickest win, falling Weston Tassell in just 46 seconds.

Zachary Cochran (215 lbs.) followed, pinning Adel Hamdi in 1:03, while Michael Binkley (103 lbs.) finished his match against John Wilson in a comparable 1:04.

Quinton Carter (135 lbs.) and Dustin Smith (130 lbs.) flattened their Bulldog opponents in 1:26 and 1:28, respectively, while Cam Wilkey (140 lbs.) fell Josh Craft just 12 seconds before the first-period buzzer.

At 160 lbs., Josh Moffett defeated Edward Grindstaff in 3:04, while Nic Fuller (125 lbs.) gutted out a pin over Jesse Verrier in 4:45.

Forfeits proved key in Rhea County's match with CAK, as eight of the Golden Eagles' 10 wins came without an actual match.

Rhea County's only other wins came when Carter pinned Zach Mayes in 1:08 and Beddingfield fell Cody Brooksbank in 2:44.

 "We will spend our time before our match next week at Cumberland County on the 19th working on being better in our overall take-downs. We need a great deal of work on our ability to press the issue and control the mat during the time we're on our feet," Head said. "I do see strides being made after we score a take-down and in our abilty to score.

"Through hard work, I hope to qualify at least four wrestlers this year at regions," he added.

Cathy Barnes can be contacted at cathy.barnes@rheaheraldnews.com.