Weaver, AL – Gene Taylor Memorial tourney shows Weaver’s chase of a fourth consecutive Class 1A-4A state title just got more challenging.
Gene Taylor Memorial results
TEAM RESULTS
1. Tallassee 297.5
2. Weaver 194.0
3. Alexandria 155.5
4. Ashville 141.0
5. Cleburne County 97.5
6. Wellborn 89.5
7. Ranburne 80.0
8. Prattville Christian 70.5
9. St. John Paul II 60.5
10. Helena 56.5
11. West End 43.0
12. Lincoln 42.0
13. Alabama School for the Blind 35.0
14. Pleasant Valley 21.5
15. Deshler 17.0
16. Saks 8.0
17. Coosa Christian 0.0
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
106: Thomas Patterson (Tallassee) def. Noah Smith (Wellborn), MD 14-1
113: Mason Nelson (Tallassee) pins Carter Driver (Ranburne), 2:16
120: Jerry Lopez (Wellborn) pins Hudson Hartzog (Alexandria), 0:38
126: Kenyon Clements (Helena) def. Peyton Andrews (Weaver), TF-1.5 1:04 (15-0)
132: Haiden Hise (Weaver) pins Hayden Hartzog (Alexandria), 1:46
138: Roman McWilliams (Tallassee) def. Trevor Wicks (Ashville) TF-1.5 5:42 (19-3)
144: Julian Lowe (St. John Paul II) def. Avery Brantley (Tallassee), MD 15-1
150: Land Bell (Tallassee) def. Dalton Fink (Weaver), MD 15-1
157: Brady Adams (Tallassee) def. Dylan Brown (Weaver), 7-2
165: Austen Mayfield (Cleburne County) def. Tra’mel McCoy (Tallassee), DQ
175: Tyler Ebner (Ashville) pins Joseph Hooks (Tallassee), 0:30
190: Zachary Crosthwait (Tallassee) def. Caden Thornton (Weaver), TF-1.5 4:50 (17-2)
215: Nolan Addeo (Tallassee) pins Christophe Weaver (ASB), 4:53
285: Brandon Jolliff (Weaver) def. Jude Rogers (Tallassee), UTB 1-1
By Joe Medley
Brandon Jolliff came through three regulation periods, three one-minute overtime periods and an ultimate tiebreaker to win his Gene Taylor Memorial championship final Saturday.
The way he figures it, Weaver will have to do the same to win a fourth consecutive Class 1A-4A state title this season.
“We’re not humbled, but the pressure is on us,” Jolliff said. “We’re probably the underdog right now.
“The goal is … that we come out on top again.”
Tallassee, who moved down from Class 5A in the most recent Alabama High School Athletic Association reclassification cycle, dominated the Gene Taylor Memorial on Saturday at Weaver.
The Tigers won seven weight divisions Saturday and amassed 297.5 points, beating second-place Weaver by 103.5 points.
Alexandria, which also just moved down from Class 5A and won the past three Calhoun County tournaments, took third, 142 points back of Tallassee.
Weaver’s Haiden Hise pinned Alexandria’s Hayden Hartzog (Alexandria) in the 132-pound final and came away as the tourney’s most valuable wrestler. Taking home the belt in the tournament named for Weaver High’s late hall-of-fame wrestling coach carried special meaning for Hise.
“It’s really meaningful,” Hise said. “I’ve missed out the last two years because I was sick or injured, and I was looking forward to it, and I wanted to make my coach happy.
“Winning this MVP was really great today.”
Jolliff’s epic heavyweight victory over Tallassee’s Jude Rogers gave the Bearcats their lone victory over Tallassee in Saturday’s championship finals and won recognition as match of the day.
It was 1-1 at the end of regulation.
“It kind of felt like I was wrestling myself,” Jolliff said. “He was really strong, but it didn’t feel like he was overpowering me. I just really couldn’t do anything, and he couldn’t do anything to me.
“When we got to overtime, we couldn’t get a point on each other. It came down to, they said, ‘If you ride him out for 30 seconds, you win.’ It was a battle from there, and I ended up coming out on top.”
The overarching picture from the latest version of the Gene Taylor involves what it might portend for the state tournament in February.
Tallassee finished third in Class 5A last season and has two recent 5A state duals runner-up finishes, in 2023 and 2024. The Tigers won a dual with Weaver earlier this season then won the Gene Taylor.
“Tallassee is on a whole nother level, as you’ve seen today,” said Alexandria coach Frank Hartzog, who wrestled for Taylor at Weaver. “They’re impressive.
“Wherever they’re at, it’s going to be a bloodbath.”
Tallassee saw 13 of its 14 wrestlers medal in the Gene Taylor, and 11 made it to championship finals. Tallassee coach John Mask figures Tallassee’s road got harder with the move down.
Reclassification “made it tougher, probably,” Mask said. “I’m being rude. Last year, Scottsboro was head and shoulders better. They killed us.
“On the whole, a lot of people in the wrestling world might thing, ‘Boy, you all are dropping down,’ but the numbers are more now. You’ve got 60-80 teams in 1A-4A, whereas 5A might’ve had 20 or 30. The people that know wrestling know it’s not going to be easy.”
Weaver has 12 1A-4A state titles, including the past three, and won the 1A-4A state duals title last season.
Perhaps the program’s most iconic moment in the post-Taylor years showed current head coach and former Taylor wrestler Andrew Fulmer holding up three fingers to Weaver’s cheering section at Huntsville in February. He signalled to fans the moment the Bearcats’ third consecutive state title was clinched.
As for this year’s road to the blue map, Fulmer said, there’s a lot of season between now and this year’s state duals finals and traditional state tournament.
“We still don’t have everybody we want where we need them, and we still don’t have everybody,” Fulmer said. “They’re the team to beat right now.
“We’re excited about how well the kids wrestled, how they competed against high-class competition. We had nine wrestlers place fourth or better, and we still don’t have everybody in the lineup.”
Alexandria’s highlight Saturday saw Hudson Hartzog (120) and Hayden (132) Hartzog reach their championship finals.
“I was proud of both of them,” said Frank Hartzog, their coach and father. “They made the finals. Both of them had tough matches, but they went out there and competed and fell a little short, but I was proud of them.”
Wellborn’s Jerry Lopez beat Hudson Hise in the 120 final.
Cleburne County’s Austen Mayfield won the 165 championship final when Tallassee’s Tra’mel McCoy was disqualified over what looked like a punch. McCoy was on top, with Mayfield facing down, when McCoy’s left arm appeared to come across Mayfield’s face.
It happened in front of Cleburne County’s coaches, who jumped out of their chairs and called it a punch. Officials stopped the match as a trainer checked Mayfield.
Mayfield was unable to continue, stumbling as coaches helped him off the mat, and the match was called in his favor. He went for a doctor’s examination for a potential concusssion, Cleburne County assistant coach Josh Robinson said.
Mask was seated on the wrestlers’ right side and didn’t have the same view Cleburne Counnty’s coaches had. He said McCoy is a second-year wrestler learning to work his coach’s physical style.
“I wish I could see it on video,” Mask said. “It definitely was physical. …
“It probably was too physical. It probably was too much of a cross-face, but I get on them for not being physical enough. I don’t want them to punch people to do that, but it’s a fine line.”
