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Some wrestling strategy and late strength helped Maryville and William Blount dominate opposite ends of the weight spectrum Saturday at the William Blount Invitational.

The Rebels won the overall title in the 11-team field, placing in each of the final six weight class-ifications. William Blount finished third, winning three individual championships and placing a wrestler in each of the first eight classes. Alcoa, limited to three wrestlers because of injuries, earned a third-place spot in the 130-pound class.

Maryville led the tournament with five titles, including Blake Ridenour, the tournament's most outstanding wrestler, who earned a championship at 152 pounds.

"We were good in the upper weight classes," Rebels coach Mark Humphrey said. "I'm tickled to death with them, (particularly) with the way we wrestled in the finals."

In the 152 final, Ridenour faced South-Doyle's Steven Dierden, who he'd beaten with a technical decision Thursday. Against the incredibly strong Dierden, Ridenour attacked early and wore down his opponent. The methodical Ridenour stayed in control after taking down Dierden, spinning him on one shoulder before getting a pin in the second period.

"I don't try to pin them in the first period," Ridenour said. "On each kid, I try to get moves and turns. Then, when I get enough points on them, I pin them to get my conditioning up."

Earlier in the day, William Blount's Alex Holley had his own plan to take down Stone Memorial's Justin Horn in the 130 final. Wrestling defensively, Holley rested early and locked his arms with Horn for much of the first period. Down 2-1 in the third and final frame, Holley rolled out of a precarious position on his back with a burst of energy, reversing and holding on to pin Horn.

"It's easier to conserve energy (by wrestling defensively)," Holley said. "He was real tired towards the end. He wasn't fighting that hard because he was apparently out of energy."

It was a final burst that delivered the 130-pound third-place medal to Alcoa's Julian Ramirez as well. After losing to Holley in the semifinals, Ramirez took West's Brent Tate to the ground early in the consolation bout. After controlling much of the match, Ramirez beat Tate with a final move, pushing his shoulders forward to earn the pin with 20 seconds to go.

"He would wiggle out and stuff," Ramirez said. "I was just trying to put him down and keep him there and pin him."

It was a solid win for coach Brian Gossett's young Tornado program.

"(Ramirez) was working his stuff that we do in practice," Gossett said. "That's sort of what we expected him to do if he was able to pin. ... He did pretty well."

By day's end, all three Blount County coaches were pleased, including William Blount's Matt Talley, who saw eight of his nine wrestlers earn medals.

"They never give up," Talley said. "Even when they're on their back, it might make me a little nervous, but I know they're going to fight and do everything they can to not get pinned."

Matt Shock won in the 119-pound class for Maryville, which had nine top-three finishers. Logan Ridenour was first at 171 pounds, Tyler Wilson took the 215-pound title and Shawn Morgan earned the championship at 285 pounds.

William Blount's Nicholas Blake finished first at 103 pounds, and teammate Jacob Holley won in the 125-pound class.