Weaver, AL – Early-season loss in Oxford tourney fueled Weaver’s girls, who resumed dominant form in first-ever Lady Bearcat Tournament.
Lady Bearcat Tournament results
TEAM SCORES
1. Weaver 208.5
2. Alexandria 132.5
3. Cedartown (Ga.) 116.0
4. Piedmont 82.5
5. Tallassee 56.0
6. Moody 44.0
7. Russell County 42.0
8. Hoover 34.0
9. Wellborn 33.5
10. Dadeville 33.0
11. Deshler 26.0
12. Saks 11.0
13. Ashville 10.0
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
100: Kamryn Buchanan (Alexandria) def. Nya Johannson (Weaver), MD 16-6
107: Abigail Raden (Russell County) pins Rayna McCord (Wellborn), 5:25
114: Malaysia Robinson (Cedartown) pins Jaylee Carter (Weaver), 1:27
120: Havahj Standridge (Deshler) pins Ali Anderson (Weaver), 1:56
126: Kaitlyn Fields (Cedartown) pins Tammy Phillips (Alexandria), 1:13
132: Mariah Johannson (Weaver) pins Rylynn Bridges (Cedartown), 2:57
138: Kallie Mayfield (Weaver) pins LaRee Rodman (Russell County), 0:52
145: Lena Johannson (Weaver) pins Adilyn Bailey (Piedmont), 0:34
152: Lila McLendon (Cedartown) pins Sekarria Dugger (Moody), 1:38
165: Heaven Bishop (Weaver) pins Peyton Sudbury (Hoover), 0:25
185: Bailey Brown (Weaver) pins Kaylee Fannin (Tallassee), 1:48
235: Annabelle Hilburn (Piedmont) pins Ebony Hunter (Alexandria), 0:09
By Joe Medley
Weaver’s first Lady Bearcat wrestling tournament will be remembered for two things … how the home team answered the bell after an early-season “wakeup call” and quick championship finals.
Weaver won five of the six championship finals in which its wrestlers competed and dominated the 13-team field with 208.5 points, beating second-place Alexandria by 76 and third-place Cedartown (Ga.) by 92.5.
The victory comes after a rare loss to Calhoun County competition earlier this season, when Alexandria edged Weaver in the Oxford Sting, on Nov. 23.
“We didn’t wrestle our best that day,” said Weaver’s Lena Johannson, the tournament’s most valuable wrestler. “We had people bust weight and not do what they had to do, and I think that was a wake-up call, and it’s motivation for us.”
Weaver showed out Monday, with Mariah Johannson (132), Kallie Mayfield (138), Lena Johannson (145), Heaven Bishop (165) and Bailey Brown (185) winning their weight classes. Nya Johannson (100) took second place.
Kamryn Buchanan won the 100-point class in a 16-6 major decision to headline Alexandria’s day. It was her first first-place finish, she said.
“I knew I couldn’t get a shot on here, so I just tried to snap her down,” Buchanan said. “When that wouldn’t work, she would try to shoot a shot on me.”
Buchanan overcame a stomach issue she suffered in an earlier match.
“I was worried about her wrestling, but she did fantastic,” Alexandria coach Frank Hartzog said. “I think it was a spasm or pulled muscle. At the end of the match, you could tell it was affecting her, but she still wrestled great.
“It was a tough match. She knew it. She had already lost to her and came back and battled hard. I’m proud of her.”
Buchanan’s championship final match with Nya Johannson was the one championship final in 12 that didn’t end in a pin. Of the 11 pins, nine ended in the first two-minute period.
The championship-finals mat cleared out so quickly that tournament officials moved the 152, 165 and 185 consolation finals to the championship mat.
There seemed to be competition to see who could win a championship final the quickest. Piedmont’s Annabelle Hilburn (235) took that honor, pinning Alexandria’s Ebony Hunter in nine seconds.
“I had wrestled her a couple of times before, but my main thing is, just right off the bat, get aggressive and do your thing,” Hilburn said. “She was slow to start, so I just took my shot and got aggressive with it.”
Weaver’s Heaven Bishop (165) had the second quickest win, pinning Hoover’s Peyton Sudbury in 25 seconds.
“I don’t normally shoot when I wrestle, but today, I decided to do something different because I wanted my match to end quicker,” Bishop said.
Lena Johannson (145) pinned Piedmont’s Adilyn Bailey in 34 seconds. Weaver’s Kallie Mayfield (138) had the other sub-minute finish, pinning Russell County’s LaRee Rodman in 52 seconds.
Weaver coach Andy Fulmer called the quick run through championship finals unusual.
“There were some really good individual girls here from different teams,” he said. “It’s a little different to have finals matches end that way.”
The match of the day came in the consolation bracket. Weaver’s Ashlyn Coleman beat Tallassee’s Sparrow Sgarlata 23-19 for third place in the 126 class.
As for team-title pursuits, that early-season loss to Alexandria has stared back at the Bearcats every day at practice.
“We’ve got two screenshots that have been blown up, and they’re in our wrestle room,” Fulmer said. “One is from that (Oxford) tournament for the girls’ motivation, and one, our boys wrestled at Tallassee and lost.
“Those are both blown up as constant reminders that we have to keep working, no matter where we’re at. We have to get better each day.”
Weaver has led the way through the onset of girls’ wrestling in Calhoun County, dominating last year’s first–ever girls’ county tournament The Class 3A Bearcats also took fifth in last year’s state tournament, finishing behind four Class 7A schools.
Lena Johannson is a four-time state champion.
That’s why losing to another county team earlier this season came as a shock. It all goes into the brew of motivations the Bearcats hope to ride into the state tournament.
“I think we came in thinking that we arrived, and I think it was something we needed to work hard at practice,” Lena Johannson said. “The way I look at it, nothing matters until February, so it’s just motivation.”
