Ohatchee wins first-ever sectional title, Weaver wins first in a while; 11 wrestlers win individual titles, 35 qualify for state
Calhoun County wrestlers dominated the Class 1A-4A Super Sectional Wrestling Tournament with Weaver and Ohatchee winning their respective section championships, nine wrestles winning individual titles and 28 qualified for the state championship.
Those overall numbers increase when you add seven qualifiers and two champions from Alexandria and Oxford at the 5A-6A North Super Sectional.
“The growth of our county as far as wrestling goes is probably the reason we wrestled so well, the strength of schedule type stuff,” Weaver coach Andy Fulmer said. “We beat up on each other so well and when we see some of these others teams they don’t see this level of competition consistently.”
Ohatchee won its first sectional wrestling title in school history, winning the 1A-4A North Super Sectional with 192 points, 14 ahead of runner-up Ashville.
The Indians qualified nine wrestlers – the most out of that section – to the state tournament next weekend in Huntsville. They put a sectional-best six wrestlers into championship matches, but scored only one winner (152 Matthew King). Their other three all won consolation matches by pin.
“The way the tournament scoring works, the biggest scoring round is the semis; it’s big points,” Ohatchee coach Chris Findley said. “Once you get to the finals, it’s regular dual-match scoring.
“I’m proud of everybody. We put in the work. We went through the heartbreak and lost to Deshler in the (Duals) semifinals (on a deep tiebreaker) and after that the message we sort of adopted was every point matters. When you lose a match like that it illustrates everything. We had guys who were down in their matches and came back to win at the end.”
Fulmer’s Bearcats won their first sectional title in more than 10 years, taking 1A-4A South with 189 points, 20 ahead of runner-up Cleburne County.
The Bearcats and Tigers were tied going into the championship round with both teams having five in title matches and one head-to-head. Weaver won four of their finals in a block from 160 to 195 – all by pin, capped by first-year freshman wrestler Joliff, a No. 4 seed, at 195. Cleburne County won two of their five.
“They got after it this weekend and went out and laid it on the line,” Fulmer said. “I knew we had a chance to finish strong and win the sectional because we had six left to wrestle and Heflin had three and St. James had wrestled all theirs except one.
“It was good to have JD (Joshua Johannson 160), Anthony (Usry 170) and Devin (Anderson 182) in a row. It’s been a while since we’ve had them in the lineup together. Having the presence they had in the lineup, we feed off that.”
Joliff, who pinned the No. 1 seed in his weight class in the semifinals, wasn’t the only big surprise in the tournament.
Saks’ J.D. Bussey, the No. 5 seed at 152, won his bracket of 1A-4A South, after beating the Nos. 4, 1 and 2 seeds on his road to the podium. Ayden Van Hoose (145) also gave the Wildcats’ a sectional champion.
CLASS 5A-6A NORTH:Alexandria’s undefeated Jaden New and Preston Jones both won sectional titles and were among seven Calhoun County wrestlers to qualify from here.
New (53-0) won the 152 title with a 3-1 decision over Ryan Summerlin of Moody. Jones won at 106 with a 5-0 decision over Caleb Wright of Mortimer Jordan.
Alexandria finished ninth as a team with 110 points and Oxford finished 16th with 82 points.
The Valley Cubs qualified three wrestlers to state, while Oxford qualified four. Southside-Gadsden is sending five, including 285 champion Jerrod Harden, while Lincoln qualified two.
While 1A-4A and 7A will have eight-man re-seeded brackets in Huntsville, Class 5A-6A will have a 16-man bracket with eight wrestlers from each sectional paired by their order of finish (1N vs. 8S, 2N vs. 7S, etc.).
CALHOUN COUNTY STATE QUALIFIERS
ALEXANDRIA (3): Preston Jones (106), Jaden New (152), Juddson Cromer (285).
OXFORD (4): Kash Hornsby (126), Michael Howell (145), Xavier Deramus (220), Caleb Tinner (285).
CLASS 1A-4A NORTH
Team scores:Ohatchee 192, Ashville 178, Deshler 164.5, Dora 143.5, New Hope 94, Piedmont 92, St. John Paul II 91.5, American Christian 81, Cherokee County 67.5, Madison County 66, Pleasant Valley 61, Susan Moore 58, Oak Grove 57, Westminster Christian 49, Randolph 15, Anniston 3, Fultondale 3, Curry 0, Ider 0, Madison Academy 0, Wilson 0.
Individual results
(Top 4 qualify to state)
Championship matches
106: Adrian Waugh (New Hope) pinned Briley Carter (Ohatchee), 5:58
113: Jayden Rouse (Dora) dec. Hayden Adkins (Deshler), 7-1
120: Julian Lowe (St. John Paul II) pinned Baron House (Pleasant Valley), 4:21
126: Marcus Wright (Westminster Christian) dec. Damon Clayton (Dora), 6-1
132: Jack Von Eschenbach (St. John Paul II) maj. dec. over Brooks Balentine (Deshler), 15-4
138: Dathan Laster (Deshler) dec. Tyler Ebner (Ashville), 8-5
145: River Scruggs (ACA) maj. dec. over Malachi Goble (Ohatchee), 12-4
152: Matthew King (Ohatchee) pinned Brendan Steder (Westminster Christian), 5:07
160: Delvin Taylor (Dora) pinned Travis Smith (Ashville), 4:42
170: Jonathan Foster (Dora) pinned Devon Jeffreys (Deshler), 1:26
182: Dylan Harris (Ashville) pinned Cody Freer (Ohatchee), 3:25
195: Mason Ellis (Madison County) dec. Troy Galloway (Ohatchee), 4-3
220: Layden Olson (Ashville) pinned Ethan Thrash (Ohatchee), 5:58
285: Mason Wilson (Ashville) pinned Anthony Flores (Susan Moore), 0:55
Third-place matches
106: David Hill (Oak Grove) maj. dec. over Owen Meade (Ashville), 12-0
113: Fisher Deason (ACA) pinned Nathan Cox (Madison County), 3:58
120: Kasin Bramlett (Ohatchee) pinned Brian Hill (Deshler), 3:36
126: Camden Hamric (Susan Moore) pinned Devin Pennington (Deshler), 4:48
132: Cody Herrick (Cherokee County) pinned Gavin Hare (Ashville), 1:42
138: David Herrick (Cherokee County) dec. Jose Calderon (Susan Moore), 11-6
145: Joseph Rayborn (Cherokee County) pinned Layton Pohl (New Hope), 3:11
152: Noah Morrison (New Hope) over Ross Mills (Deshler), inj. 2:26
160: Deacon Engle (Ohatchee) pinned Zachary Carlson (New Hope), 5:44
170: James Howard (Ohatchee) pinned Ansel Stinnett (ACA), 4:45
182: Zeke Curvin (Pleasant Valley) pinned Race Wright (Randolph), 2:30
195: Jalon Helm (Piedmont) pinned Robert Goebel (St. John Paul II), 3:43
220: Brody Lauderdale (Oak Grove) dec. Lathan Jeffreys (Deshler), 1-0
285: John Gurley (Piedmont) pinned Camden Congo (Madison County), 0:28
CLASS 1A-4A SOUTH
Team scores: Weaver 189, Cleburne County 169, St. James 158, Montevallo 132, Saks 114, Montgomery Catholic 104, Bayshore Christian 87.5, White Plains 83, Prattville Christian 78, Ranburne 77, W.S. Neal 57, ASB 55, Thomasville 52, Bayside Academy 40, T.R. Miller 37.5, Reeltown 34, Orange Beach 26, Escambia County 24, Wellborn 18, Beulah 0, Houston Academy 0.
Individual results
(Top 4 qualify to state)
Championship matches
106: Zeke Demian (Bayshore) tech fall over Dalton Fink (Weaver), 16-0 3:25
113: Shamar Heard (Cleburne County) pinned Gavin Kilgore (White Plains), 3:16
120: Logan Hartson (St. James) dec. Austen Mayfield (Cleburne County), 9-3
126: Gavin Monk (Montevallo) pinned Granger Hicks (St. James), 2:55
132: Charlie Paracca (Montevallo) maj. dec. over Zachary Scott (Cleburne County), 14-1
138: Titus Franklin (Montgomery Catholic) pinned Sam Adams (Montevallo), 2:34
145: Ayden Van Hoose (Saks) over Andrew Gil (Houston Academy), DQ
152: John Bussey (Saks) dec. John Caldwell (Ranburne), 4-2
160: Joshua Johannson (Weaver) pinned Shawn Sponsler (Montgomery Catholic), 0:30
170: Anthony Usry (Weaver) pinned Andrew Allen (Prattville Christian), 4:47
182: Devin Anderson (Weaver) pinned Clayton Craft (St. James), 2:19
195: Brandon Joliff (Weaver) pinned Will Johnson (Cleburne County), 2:12
220: Russell Clanton (Cleburne County) pinned William Rainer (Bayshore), 3:15
285: Carson Hall (Ranburne) dec. Cole Dennis (Montevallo), 5-1
Third-place matches
106: Braylen Corley (St. James) dec. Brysen Pugh (Prattville Christian), 8-4
113: Trent Hopkins (Saks) pinned Ahmad Noel (Wellborn), 2:51
120: Mason Hahm (White Plains) pinned Shayd Arboneaux (Orange Beach), 1:00
126: Daymion Winfrey (ASB) over Brody Hayes (T.R. Miller), M. for.
132: Joseph Rodriguez (Montgomery Catholic) pinned Conner Johnston (St. James), 4:53
138: Nydariun Jones (ASB) dec. Tanner Hill (Reeltown), 6-5
145: Brody Pugh (Prattville Christian) pinned Pruitt Conner (St. James), 4:22
152: Jake Huff (St. James) pinned Kam Wright (Thomasville), 0:45
160: Solomon Crapp (W.S. Neal) pinned Caleb Heger (Bayshore), 4:33
170: Taylor Robinson (Thomasville) pinned Josh Kirby (White Plains), 2:18
182: Brennen Yamane (Bayside) dec. Chris Couler (Thomasville), 6-2
195: Luke Campbell (White Plains) pinned Christopher Weaver (ASB), 3:38
220: Hayden Ransom (Weaver) pinned Charales Adams (Montevallo), 3:15
285: Trey Brown (Cleburne County) dec. Cameron Thronton (Weaver), UTB 4-2 [*** read more]
