Plant City High School hosted its inaugural Cornelius Wiggins Invitational wrestling tournament on Dec. 9, bringing schools from Hillsborough and Polk counties to 1 Raider Place for an action-packed day of competition. Though there were some last-minute changes to the lineup, eleven schools and their fans packed the school’s gym, watched plenty of wrestling and ate barbecue cooked on-site.
“I think everything went well,” Knighten said.
George Jenkins, Lakeland, Wharton, Blake, Kathleen, Leto, Tampa Bay Tech, Tenoroc, Armwood and McKeel Academy sent teams to the tournament. Between the early rounds, coach Tim Knighten told the audience about Wiggins’ life and accomplishments on high school and collegiate mats. The Bryant family and George Jenkins High School coach Jason Heath, a college teammate of Wiggins’, presented the school with a boxed display of items and photos from Wiggins’ wrestling days. It will be hung near Plant City’s retired basketball jerseys in a ceremony during the school’s Senior Night meet.
For Heath, participating in the tournament was a way to honor the life of one of his closest friends. From the day they met at a small team gathering at Heath's off-campus residence, they formed a unique brotherhood that never faltered. It's a story Heath loves to tell.
"I invited a bunch of new wrestling guys over, young guys over. Cornelius was one of the guys that came over," Heath said. "My nickname is 'Tank.' I’m sitting there talking to the guys … he walks up to me and smacks me upside my face. At the time I’m probably 230 pounds, he’s like 130 pounds. After he did it, he turned his back to me and just walked off. It was the funniest thing because everybody knew me, it was a small college and no one would dare do what he did, and he did it and walked away. Everybody’s got their mouths dropped open. I’m looking like, ‘I’ll smash this little guy.’ From that point on, we were best of friends. We’ve been super cool ever since. He’s like my little brother."
After receiving the memory box, Knighten turned his back to the audience and surprised Heath with a (softer) smack on the cheek, just like Wiggins had done.
Heath’s Eagles ended up winning the tournament edging the Raiders out of first place in a 38-33 final round. Tampa Bay Tech placed third overall. Knighten said if Plant City had to lose to any one team at the tournament, it would have been Jenkins.
“(Heath) and Corn were very good friends,” Knighten said.
The wrestling program plans to host the tournament during the second week of every December, Knighten said. He added that many schools from Hillsborough and Polk have already contacted him to express interest in joining the 2018 event, which he hopes will be even bigger than this year’s 11-team outing.
"I’m definitely going to be back next year and the year after that," Heath said. "As long as they’ll have me … I’m definitely gonna be back at that tournament."