With parents that met on the wrestling mat is it any wonder their children have followed in their footsteps to dominate the sport as well.
Originally from Murfreesboro, high school sweethearts Zack and McKenzie Fowler connected when he was a wrestler and she was the team manager at Oakland High School and have passed down that passion to their seven children — Landon, Mia, Logan, twins Piper and Cy, plus Adaleigh and Rhec.
"Wrestling has been a family sport for us," explained mom McKenzie. "We travel together and support one another, so it's a way we have bonded together.
"Some families take family vacations, we go to wrestling tournaments," she said of the many national and even international events their children have participated in.
"The hard work that it takes to be a wrestler goes hand-in-hand with the values we try to teach our kids and will help them well beyond wrestling in other endeavors in life."
The long hours and hard work have paid off tremendously on the mat with current Cleveland High state champions Logan, Piper and Cy following in the footsteps of older brother Landon, a four-time TSSAA State qualifier including a state championship and twice runner-up at Blackman High School.
Putting together a 155-10 record his final three high school seasons, Landon finished second in 2017, falling to current Bradley Central Bearette head coach Austin Mathews in a 6-3 decision in the title match.
He bounced back the following season to claim the 170-pound title with a 48-2 record, before taking runner-up honors his senior campaign in the same weight class. Landon is currently a student at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.
"After he (Landon) graduated my company transferred me to Chattanooga," related McKenzie. "We looked around at several different areas to move to and Cleveland stuck out to us, so this is where we settled"
Like her mom, older sister Mia was a wrestling team manager at her new school — Cleveland High — and is now a student at Utah Valley University.
Current Raider wrestlers Logan, Piper and Cy recently pulled off a unique level of success, each claiming a TSSAA State Traditionals championship.
The trio of been an intricate ingredient in Cleveland's recent mat success, which includes seven straight boys Traditional and Duals state titles, plus the Lady Raiders capturing back-to-back double state titles themselves in just three years as a program.
The last two years have marked the only times in state history both boys and girls wrestling programs from the same school have won state crowns in the same seasons.
Logan and Piper, the first brother/sister combo to claim (NHSCA) Validator Championships in the same year, won their third TSSAA titles in February, while Cy joined the family success bringing home a crown himself this time around.
The sibling trio have all been state-medalists in each of their high school seasons.
After winning the 106-pound title his freshman season, Logan finished third at 126 the following campaign before taking the 152-pound and 165-pound crowns the last two years.
Ranked 15th nationally, he posted a 132-15 prep record, plus is a NHSCA National Champion as he plans to wrestle at the Air Force Academy this fall.
Never having lost a high school match, Piper has won three straight TSSAA crowns, plus has a trio of All-American titles, one of which earned her a spot on Team USA for the 2023 U17 World Wrestling Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, last summer where she won the 73 kg title.
Logan and Piper became the first sibling duo to be named the TSSAA State Traditionals top male and female wrestlers.
After finishing fifth at 152 pounds as a freshman, Cy moved up to third in 2023 at 160 before capturing the 157-pound crown this year.
Also a NHSCA All-American, he has compiled a 123-26 overall prep record with the Raiders.
While the siblings have a competitive spirit amongst themselves, the also show great support for one another.
"We're competitive in everything we do,” related Logan. “There's nothing that's not a competition."
Despite the rivalry, the trio acknowledges the role each has played in pushing the others to achieve their best.
"It's pretty unreal. Getting to grow up and watch how we all developed, that's really cool. Winning it, it's really cool to see that," Cy stated.
"It's really cool because we've been with each other since the beginning, and I think we're all the reason why we're at the point we are because of each other,” Piper reflected.
Missing out on trying out for the 2024 Olympics because her 17th birthday is a month after the qualifying competition, Piper has her eyes set a goal of winning another U17 World Championship this summer.
The Fowlers have expressed their gratitude to their coaches. "We've spent countless hours with the coaches; they put a lot of work into their wrestlers," Cy said.
Piper added, "They always make sure if I have a goal, I'm going to reach it."
A testament to the power of dedication, family support, and hard work, the Fowlers still have a couple of other athletic children in Adaleigh, a freshman soccer player for Lady Raiders, plus Rhec, a third-grader, is a part of the Higher Calling Wrestling Club.
— A Cleveland City Schools press release contributed to this article.
