January 30, 2022
East Alabama Sports Today
PIEDMONT – Andy Fulmer isn’t about second-place trophies. Remember, he repurposed a couple of them in the Weaver trophy case earlier this year for the county youth tournament.
Given the hand his Bearcats were wrestling with, he was a little more forgiving about the runner-up finish they had in Saturday’s Piedmont Dogfight.
Missing two starters, the Bearcats scored 154 points and finished second by four points to St. James in their final regular-season tournament before sectionals in two weeks. Host Piedmont was third.
“Obviously, we don’t go into a tournament looking to be second, but given the cards we dealt with, I’m pleased with it,” Fulmer said. “I’m pleased with the effort from our kids. We won most of the matches we should have.
“We actually did better than we thought we would. Maybe we’re peaking at the right time.”
Weaver’s Devin Anderson was the Most Outstanding Wrestler for the third time this year after scoring four pins on his way to the 184 championship. It ran his record this season to 40-0 and his winning streak to 69 straight matches.
Saks’ Trent Hopkins’ sudden death victory over Piedmont’s Izak Duke in the 115 final was voted best match of the tournament.
Weaver’s Dalton Fink might have an argument with that. The Bearcats’ eighth-grader, coming down from 113, rallied from an 11-3 deficit to decision St. James’ Braylen Corley 15-13 in the 106 final.
PIEDMONT DOGFIGHT
Team scores: St. James 158, Weaver 154, Piedmont 147, Deshler 122.5, Montgomery Catholic 118, Cleburne County 111, Saks 103, Ranburne 100, Prattville Christian 76, White Plains 73, Madison County 71, Westminster Christian 57, Susana Moore 54, Pleasant Valley 52, Cherokee County 29, ASB 24.
Championship matches
106: Dalton Fink, Weaver dec. Braylen Corley, St. James, 15-13
115: Trent Hopkins, Saks dec. Izak Duke, Piedmont, SV1 6-4
122: Marcus Wright, Westminster dec. Austen Mayfield, Cleburne County, 8-1
128: Granger Hicks, St. James dec. Devin Pennington, Deshler, 13-9
134: Joseph Rodriguez, Montgomery Catholic pinned Brooks Balentine, Deshler, 3:19
140: Titus Franklin, Montgomery Catholic pinned Jose Calderon, Susan Moore, 2:26
147: Ayden VanHoose, Saks pinned Hunter Bagley, Piedmont, 0:53
154: Brendan Steder, Westminster Christian pinned Bentley Chandler, Piedmont, 0:58
162: Shawn Sponsler, Montgomery Catholic pinned Jacob Jimenez, Cleburne County, 3:08
172: Anthony Usry, Weaver dec. Andrew Allen, Prattville Christian, 2-0
184: Devin Anderson, Weaver pinned Clayton Craft, St. James, 1:23
197: Mason Ellis, Madison County dec. Jalon Helm, Piedmont, 6-3
222: Russell Clanton, Cleburne County pinned Hayden Ransom, Weaver, 2:31
287: Carson Hall, Ranburne dec. Cameron Thornton, Weaver, 4-0
BROOKWOOD INVITATIONAL: Lincoln took a tournament-best five weight divisions, scored 164 points and missed getting its second tournament win of the season by four points. Tuscaloosa County won the title.
Fabian Kearse (108), Aaron Davis (122), Jamichael Finley (140), Landon McLendon (154) and Matthew Davis (197) all on their weight classes for the Golden Bears. [**read more]
**When you click read more you will be taken to the EA Sports Today website. Please make sure to come back to read more Calhoun County News.
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