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The Coffee County girls’ wrestling team continued its historic postseason run with a trip to Murfreesboro to take on Blackman in the TSSAA Section 2 Duals Thursday morning. A little over a week after competing in the TSSAA Region 5 duals for the first time, Thursday’s event marked the Lady Raider program’s first appearance at the sectional dual level.

Coffee County’s duals postseason ultimately came to an end, as the Lady Raiders fell to the Lady Blaze 39-27.

“Super proud of these girls. They’ve worked their tails off,” Coffee County wrestling coach Roger Barlow said. “They’ve never been to sectionals before. They’ve worked their tails off, the coaches have worked their butts off and these girls deserve everything that they get, so super proud of them.”

After Blackman opened the morning with a forfeit win for Ali Bryant at 138 pounds, Aime Miller got Coffee County on the board with a win by fall over Skye Hancock in the 145-pound division, with Miller forcing the fall at the 21-second mark. Jianna Bare followed in the 152-pound weight class, taking down Kinzley Johnson with 1:44 on the board. Up next were Raianna Gault and Ellysia Jennings, who added wins by forfeit for the Lady Raiders at 165 pounds and 185 pounds, respectively.

The Lady Blaze ended Coffee County’s win streak in the 235-pound matchup, with Jonna Patterson taking down Keyauna Hill via a fall with 30 seconds on the clock. Blackman continued to compile victories from there, adding a win by fall at 100 pounds for Joy Younan over Sophia Rodriguez, with the fall coming at the 3:31 mark. The Lady Blaze followed with a pair of forfeit wins at 107 pounds and 114 pounds for Maraki Teferi and Marena Saleb, respectively.

The Lady Raiders got back on track in the next round, with Jasmine Norris taking down Payton Holzhei for a 6-4 decision victory in the 120-pound weight class.

With Blackman’s lead cut to 30-27 following Norris’s win, the Lady Blaze regained some space with a forfeit win for Marian Saleb at 126 pounds. Brooklyn Shacklett closed it out for Blackman in the 132-pound division with a 7-4 decision win over Gabrielle Silva.

With the loss, the Lady Raiders finished one step shy of a TSSAA State Dual Championships appearance.

“I’m proud of these girls. This is my third year coaching this year and some of these girls that we’ve started out with, how much better they’ve gotten throughout the season, progressing and everything else, I just have to say I’m really proud,” Coffee County girls’ wrestling coach MaryAnne Walker said. “All glory to God and they did amazing this year. This is the best team we have ever had for the girls’ team on Coffee County.”