Two place at AHSAA State Wrestling Tournament
Bob Jones wrestlers George Francovich (left) and Seth Dupree were the only wrestlers that placed (Record Photo/Lindsay Vaught)
HUNTSVILLE- The results were not what Bob Jones wrestling coach Matt Sweatman hoped for but one day after most of his wrestlers were knocked out of the 2017 state tournament he was looking to the future.
Of the nine wrestlers Bob Jones qualified none made it through to the championship round. It is the first time since 2013 that neither a Bob Jones or James Clemens wrestler made it to the championship round.
Sweatman pinned his hopes on wrestlers qualified in each weight category from 106 through 138 but one by one they fell on Friday.
Zaevian and Zaderian Toney each lost a decision. Parker Snyder and Jordan Whalen also lost in decisions. Abe Alrefai lost in a fall. Only Daishun Mitchell, a #1 seed advanced winning in a fall.
Mitchell then lost two tough matches by one point, to Jawan Doughty of Huntsville and Larry Wallace of Hoover.
“I hate it for him he’s done so much to help our program and I wanted him to go out on top but he had two tough losses,” Sweatman said. “We had some guys win matches but were short of placing. It’s great competition, unfortunately we didn’t perform like we needed to to compete. Last weekend we had great effort this weekend not so. We do have 8 of 9 qualifiers coming back next year.”
In the heavier weights Bob Jones had more success. George Francovich won a decision and finished fourth at 170. Seth Dupree advanced then lost to the eventual state champion James Edwards of Vestavia Hills and placed third.
“The goal was to finish higher but third is a good finish with the tough competition at 220 pounds. I am hopeful about the future for me and the team. We just need to keep working,” said Dupree who defeated Jack Smith of Fairhope in a fall to win the third-place match.
Seth Bruder of James Clemens placed third at 182 pounds.
Sparkman had two third place finishers, Zack Cangelosi at 285 and Joshua Little at 195 and Branden Moore made the championship match at 220 but lost finishing second.
Birmingham area high schools dominated the 7A division. The top five team finishers were Vestavia Hills, Hoover, Thompson, Hewitt-Trussville, and Oak Mountain. Bob Jones finished tenth.
