Tennessee Wrestling's Most Exclusive Club

Wrestlers who have won 4+ state titles and who could be next.

Since the inception of Tennessee's very first State Tournament in 1961, there have been a total of 66 State Tournaments, including last year's. The ever-evolving wrestling landscape has changed over time. New weight classes, changes in classification, ruleset changes, you name it. But one thing has remained constant throughout the history of Tennessee wrestling: the degree of difficulty to become a 4x/5x State Champion.

We've seen some of Tennessee's all-time best go on to have immense post-high school success without ever achieving this feat. Wrestlers like Cody Cleveland, who later became an NCAA All-American for UTC, or Kevin Ward, former Army head coach and current Oklahoma State assistant coach, both were only able to capture 3 state titles in their high school days. That speaks to the level of pedigree it takes to become a 4x/5x timer.

As of today, there have only been 36 wrestlers, male and female, who have accomplished this tremendous feat. Last season, three wrestlers joined this exclusive club: Mason Jakob (Dobyns-Bennett), Jose Cordero (Cleveland), and JoJo Uhorchuk (Signal Mountain). It's worth noting that for the purpose of this article, we're only diving into wrestlers who won all of their titles right here in Tennessee. Some talented wrestlers have picked up championships in other states before transferring in, but for this list, we're only counting titles earned wire to wire under the TSSAA banner.

Now, with a new season on the horizon, there are no incoming seniors currently on pace, but we do have six incoming juniors on track. It's worth mentioning that Ian McCallie of Signal Mountain captured his first state title last year as an eighth grader, throwing his hat into the ring to join this list one day.

Here are the current wrestlers with at least two state titles on pace to potentially join this exclusive list:

Wrestlers on Pace
Name	Current School	Grade	#of State Titles
Jaxon Lane	McCallie	Junior	3
Dylan Villers		Junior	2
Kellen Sanders	Cleveland	Junior	2
Noah Watkins	Dobyns Bennett	Junior	2
Caroline Hilton	Cleveland	Junior	2
Easton Dadiomoff	Cleveland	Junior	2

Jaxon Lane, the nationally ranked junior, won his first title as an eighth grader, setting him up to potentially become only the fifth wrestler in Tennessee history to win five titles. He'd also be the THIRD McCallie wrestler to accomplish the feat.

Dylan Villers is a three-time state medalist and two-time state champion, both titles coming at McCallie. He's since moved on from the program, but he's indicated he still plans to wrestle the 2026-2027 Tennessee folkstyle season. He's also ranked on MatScouts' Big Board for the Class of 2028, putting him among the top prospects in the country. All eyes will be on Villers heading into the season.

Kellen Sanders isn't just chasing individual history. He's part of a Cleveland dynasty looking to keep rolling. If he wins out over the next two seasons, and Cleveland's team keeps its streak alive right alongside him, Sanders could potentially graduate with four individual state titles, four team dual state titles, and four team tournament state titles, twelve championships in total, joining former teammate Jose Cordero as the only wrestlers in program history to pull off that exact combination.

Noah Watkins has also gone back-to-back at 106 and 113lbs for Dobyns-Bennett. Like Villers, he's also nationally ranked on MatScouts' Big Board for the Class of 2028.

Caroline Hilton enters the year not just as a two-time state champion for Cleveland, but also as a nationally ranked wrestler. Flo has her ranked 9th nationally at 135lbs, with a strong chance to join the program's fast-growing list of four-time champions.

Easton Dadiomoff enters the year as the defending two-time state champion at 100 pounds, also wrestling for Cleveland. If she and Hilton both finish out their runs to four titles, Cleveland will have produced three girls four-time champions within a five-year window, following in the footsteps of current Iowa State wrestler Piper Fowler.

All six are strong favorites to take home another title this year. Will we see all six of them still chasing history in the 2027-2028 season?

List of all 4/ 5 Timers

5 Time State Champions
T.J. Duncan	McCallie
Zach Watson	Baylor
Alex Whitworth	McCallie
Ethan Uhorchuk	Signal Mountain

4 Time State Champions
Jojo Uhorchuk	Signal Mountain
Mason Jakob	Dobyns Bennett
Jose Cordero	Cleveland
Casen Roark	Father Ryan
Max Norman	Dobyns Bennett/Baylor
Caleb Uhorchuk	Signal Mountain
Hunter Mason	Greeneville
Garrison Dendy	Baylor
Piper Fowler	Cleveland
Mariana Bowen	West Creek
Kenya Sloan	Hardin Valley
Emory Taylor	McCallie
Daniel Uhorchuk	Signal Mountain
Noah Horst	Beech/Baylor
Eli King	Father Ryan
Chris DeBien	Cleveland
Knox Fuller	Bradley Central
Matt Keller	Bradley Central
Samson Evans	Alcoa
Ryan Scott	McCallie
Phillip Simpson	MBA
Michael Murphy	Baylor
Stuart Doster	Baylor
Martin Francis	Notre Dame
Jordan Leen	Baylor
Campbell Lewis	Soddy Daisy
Ryan Parker	Baylor
Bailey Whitaker	Baylor
Kodiak Cannedy	Greeneville
Isabella Badon	Daniel Boone
Robin Yunis	Rossview
Maggie Graham	Bartlett

**We put a lot of work into making sure this list is as accurate as possible, cross-checking names against TSSAA's own record book, which as it turns out has more than a few gaps and errors of its own. If you know of a 4x or 5x champion we missed, or spot something that doesn't look right, reach out and let us know. We'll get it corrected