Sports
February 25, 2026 by Jake Nichols
Knoxville sports media lost an icon last Thursday, as well-known Tennessee sports reporter Wes Rucker died in a car accident near the Cedar Bluff exit on Interstate 40. He was 43.
A graduate of Knoxville Catholic High School and the University of Tennessee, Rucker “turned his passion for journalism, sports, and history into a two-decade career covering Tennessee athletics across print, radio, digital and television media,” his obituary read.
Rucker was a fixture on social media, sharing his thoughts on the Vols and his family to more than 140,000 followers on X, formerly known as Twitter.
His columns were must-reads for many fans, and he was known among UT media members as the last to leave the press box following any game at Neyland Stadium — or, in his vocabulary, “General Neyland’s Big Ol’ Damn House of Football.”
Beyond his excellent coverage, Rucker was a devoted husband and father, leaving behind a wife, Lauren, and a son, Hank, with a daughter to be born in May.
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February 25, 2026 by Jake Nichols
Monday, Feb. 23, the Bearden Lady Bulldogs held off the Farragut Lady Admirals for a 64-55 win in the District 4-4A championship game at McMinn County High School.
The win marked Bearden’s third victory over FHS this season, but it was also the team’s seventh consecutive district tournament championship.
“I think it shows that I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of really good players, great families and a great staff,” Bearden girls coach Justin Underwood said.
Natalya Hodge and Emma Rainey led Bearden with 14 points apiece while MC LeMarbre totaled 12 with nine from Riley Hunt.
“She’s had three really good games against Farragut, so I’m proud of her ability to score the ball,” Underwood said of LeMarbre. “Everyone knows what (Hodge) and Emma can do, so she’s been a good third or fourth option and made teams pay with that.”
“We obviously have really good players, so teams will try to take away your best scoring threats,” he added. “We try to emphasize being prepared for the moment and taking advantage of your opportunities. So anytime you can be balanced, it makes it that much tougher for a team to try and slow you down.”
The balanced scoring helped BHS hold off the Lady Ads, who held a lead midway through the second quarter. Just before halftime, they were within three before a turnover and third-quarter slump left FHS at a 10-point deficit that proved too much to overcome.
Within that frame, the Lady Ads went just 1-for-6 from the floor.
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February 25, 2026 by Jake Nichols
Over the years, the Bearden Bulldogs have learned a few lessons the hard way.
One of them? Stay focused on the task at hand.
On Friday night, Feb. 20, the Bulldogs did exactly that by thumping Hardin Valley 83-38 in the District 4-4A semifinals. In the process, Bearden played its way into a regional quarterfinal host spot for the third straight season.
The win also slid the Bulldogs into the District 4-4A championship game against Farragut, their third meeting this season, on Tuesday night, Feb. 24, at McMinn County High School.
This matchup marked the schools’ first district title meeting since 2022, as FHS won the last battle 73-62 at Heritage High School four years ago.
BHS looked for a different result this time, as they also sought vengeance for a 63-62 loss to Maryville in this game last season.
Since the game took place after press time, results will be available online and via social media. But before that game took place, Parrott delved into his team’s Friday night win and detailed what it’s been like to coach a team that sat at 31-1 entering Tuesday night’s tilt.
“I’m never a big picture person,” Parrott said. “The devil is in the details, and success and failure can hinge on those things. Coaching a team that’s 31-1 is as challenging as a team that isn’t doing well, because they think they’re good. But as you progress into the postseason, your good has to be even better.”
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February 25, 2026 by Jake Nichols
Over the last two weekends, multiple Farragut-area wrestlers took part in state championship meets for Divisions I and II.
In the Division II meet on Feb. 13 and 14, Webb’s Jack Quigley saw the best result of any west Knoxville wrestler with a third-place finish in the 144-pound bracket of the Division II championships. He went an impressive 5-1 with a 4-1 win over Father Ryan’s Jax Crolley for his third-place finish, claiming the best result of four Spartan state qualifiers.
At the same meet, CAK’s Kyler Cook took fourth place at 165, finishing the best out of the Warriors’ three state finalists. He went 3-1 before a loss to Montgomery Bell Academy’s Leland Hardcastle ended his day in the third-place bout.
Also in Division II, Concord Christian’s Matthew Franklin placed sixth in the 190-pound division. He went 3-2 with three straight wins before losing his final two matches, the final by fall against Christian Brothers’ John Bramlett.
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February 25, 2026 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
The Division II-AA East Region Girls Championship came relatively easily for Webb School of Knoxville Friday night.
The Lady Spartans, despite some offensive struggles, cruised past Cedar Bluff Area rival Knoxville Catholic, 53-24, before a near-capacity crowd at the Lee Athletic Center.
Webb, the defending state champion, was locked in a tight battle early as it clung to a slim 11-8 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
But after a tense opening frame, the Lady Spartans relied heavily upon their defense to seize control of the contest.
In turning up the defensive heat, the Lady Spartans responded to a challenge issued by head coach Greg Hernandez, who wanted his squad to keep the KCHS offense in check.
“I challenged them today, (saying) ‘Hey, I don’t want to give up more than 40 (points),’ and they held them to (24),” Hernandez said. “If we can get 50, I like our chances, as long as we get to 50 first.”
By halftime, the Lady Spartans (24-6) had doubled the Lady Irish’s offensive attack as they extended their advantage to 24-12 by halftime.
By the close of the third frame, Webb had racked up 41 points. Meanwhile, its defense surrendered just 17 points through the first 24 minutes of the contest.
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February 25, 2026 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
Webb School of Knoxville’s boys basketball team has won 30 games in 2025. The Spartans cruised through a perfect run during their Division II-AA East Region regular-season schedule.
Webb also won the region tournament Friday night as it ran past Cedar Bluff Area rival Knoxville Catholic with an 87-52 victory before a near-capacity crowd at the Lee Athletic Center.
Still, head coach Ricky Norris said his team still is looking to make improvements. And the Spartans will spend much of this week looking to get better before they face either Memphis University School or Montgomery Bell Academy Saturday.
“You worry about a little rust because you don’t play for a week,” Norris said. “But this team has kind of a walk-on mentality. By that, I mean we’ll celebrate this weekend and on Monday this group will come back and I won’t have to get them ready to practice.
“We’ll have a great practice on Monday. We’ll have the best practice we’ve had all year, and that’s just their mentality.”
Friday night’s game marked the Spartans’ third win of the season over the Irish, and in both games at home, Webb had to overcome an early deficit twice.
Catholic (22-6) opened an early 10-2 advantage in the contest and led, 16-12 at the end of the first quarter.
But the Spartans (30-2) stormed back and outscored Catholic, 22-11, in the second stanza and took a 34-27 lead by halftime.
“We had a 10-2 lead to start the game but we went away from our game plan,” Irish coach Mains said. “We came in and we wanted to get the thing inside, but we went away from that and we started settling.
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February 25, 2026 by Jake Nichols
On Feb. 28, any local aspiring football players will have a chance to interact with a former Tennessee standout.
Former Vols defensive lineman Omari Thomas will be holding a camp from 9 a.m. to noon this Saturday at Concord Christian Academy.
The camp is for current fifth- through eighth-graders, and it will be free with a complimentary t-shirt given to any attendee.
This is not the first UT-affiliated camp at CCS, as it hosted two camps last year — one through former Tennessee quarterbacks Heath Shuler and Erik Ainge and another through Cade and Cooper Mays, both of whom played for current Concord coach Steve Matthews when he was at Knoxville Catholic.
“Those were huge successes, and they were both in the summer,” Matthews said. “This one, we thought, ‘Let’s do one in February. It’s a dead time for a lot of these young men. I don’t know Omari really well, but we have a mutual friend that came across my landscape and mentioned that he’s a great young man who wanted to give back to the knoxville community.”
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February 25, 2026 by Jake Nichols
At the indoor track state championships in Nashville, 10 Admirals took part. Six events featured FHS athletes, and three of those resulted in season-bests or personal records.
In the two-mile run, Chase Temples, Sam Shagan and Bailey Ann Smith all set personal bests with times of, 9:58.54 (Temples), 9:45.53 (Shagan) and 12:19.29 (Smith).
In the boys 4x400 event, Caden Baker, Nick Deguira, Fisher Smith and Aaron Pohl set a season best at 3:38.45.
In the girls distance medley relay, the combo of Christie George, Courtney George, Ella Gruzalski and Bailey Ann Smith recorded a season-best time of 13:43.17.
In other events, Christie George timed out at 5:31.39 in the one-mile run and 2:33.88 in the 800-meter run. Also, Baker reached a height of 5 feet, 4 inches in high jump.
“It truly shows how much our program is growing — this is the first year we’ve had double-digit indoor qualifiers,” new FHS track coach Charles Bell said. “While indoor is still new for many athletes, it builds confidence and sets the foundation for big PRs and team success heading into the outdoor season.”
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February 25, 2026 by Jake Nichols
On Friday night, the Farragut Admirals stormed back from a nine-point deficit to beat Oak Ridge 65-62 in the District 4-4A semifinals.
They unlocked a bit of history in the process while also shedding a 44-year weight, having beaten ORHS for the first time since the 1982 district finals, according to FHS Sports Information Director Jack Tate.
The comeback victory snapped a 13-game drought against the Wildcats and put Farragut into Tuesday’s district championship for the first time since 2022.
Because of press time on Tuesday, the results from the Ads’ district title matchup against Bearden will only be available online and social media.
Earlier in the week, though, FHS head coach J.P. Burris addressed his team’s historic performance against Oak Ridge.
“Another game where our guys weathered the storm,” he said. “We had a couple things go against us, like a ball that they said hit the top of the backboard and didn’t, then a walk call, too.”
“A lot of things that could have caused an avalanche when you’re down multiple possessions,” he summarized, “but our guys stayed calm and closed out the game on a big run.”
Dan Lanning led FHS with 20 points while Parker Lane totaled 15 as well.
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