Patriots Fall In State Duals Wrestling Championship

BIRMINGHAM- The Bob Jones Patriots wrestling team was unable to defend its 2018 State Duals Championship by falling to the Thompson Warriors 51-12 in the State Duals Finals held in the Bill Harris Arena of Birmingham’s CrossPlex.

“Thompson got the momentum early and we were never able to recover,” said Matt Sweatman head coach of Bob Jones. “We came up a little short this time.”

The Patriots defeated the Warriors for the 2018 State Duals Championship in a close match 34-29, but this year the Warriors came out to do battle like their namesake and rallied past the Patriots in grand style.

Only three Patriots posted victories and points in the head-to-head match with the Warriors. Zaderian Toney (106-lb division) won in a decision 3-1, Jordan Whalen (145) won by fall in just 55 seconds and George Francovitch (182) won by points 9-6.

Bob Jones made it to the finals by defeating Hewitt-Trussville 56-12 and Vestavia Hills 38-25.

The senior group for the Patriots ended their dual careers with a remarkable 100-15 record. Sweatman said, “Over the last four years since my arrival here at Bob Jones, these wrestlers have posted the best record in a four-year span in the program’s history.”

The 17 seniors that make up part of the Patriots wrestling program include Zaderian Toney, Zaevian Toney, Cam Jefferson, Jimmy Wilson, Cameron Edwards, Abe Alrefal, Raequan McCray, Jordon Whalen, George Khazanov, Noah Scoggins, Gabe Pittman, Cal Francovitch, Riley Zepp, George Francovitch, Nick Mothersele, Jordan Aycock and Tyler Morris.

Bob Jones will now prepare for the conventional wrestling action for the Super North Sectional scheduled for Feb. 8-9 in Birmingham. There, wrestlers will try and qualify for the 2019 State Wrestling Championships set for Feb. 14-16 in Huntsville at the Von Braun Center. The Patriots finished fifth at last year’s event in overall team scoring.