Local Wrestlers Shine At State Tournament

HUNTSVILLE- The wrestling teams from Bob Jones, James Clemens and Sparkman High Schools each had representatives from its squads to place among the top three in their respective weight classes at the 67^th annual Alabama High School Athletic Association Wrestling State Tournament held at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville. The Patriots had two wrestlers take second place and one finish in third place. James Clemens had one athlete take a third place medal home while Sparkman celebrated two third place finishes in the season-ending event.

Team scores in Class 7A had Thompson taking home the State Championship with 194.5 points scored in the two-day event while Bob Jones was sixth with 47 points. Sparkman completed the action with a 12^th place finish while James Clemens was 14^th.

Bob Jones

The Patriots had six wrestlers qualify for the State Tournament: 120- Jack Shaver (37-22), So., lost in the first round to Corey Jones, Sr., (Thompson) by fall at 3:50, defeated Kirk Smitherman, Sr., (Oak Mt.) by forfeit and fell in the consolation semi-finals to Mac Chandler, So., (Vestavia Hills) by fall at 2:28; 152- Manny Marrero (38-4), Sr., took just 30 seconds to win by fall over Liam Harrell, Sr. (Hoover), won by fall at 3:29 over Clay Johnston, Jr., (Vestavia Hills) and then fell by fall at 4:47 in the championship match to Lucas Reaves (37-6), Sr. (Hewitt-Trussville); 182- Evan Pippin (52-5), Sr., won by MD 12-3 in the opening round over Nathan Black, So. (Thompson), won by decision 10-4 over William Conlon, Jr. (Spain Park) and lost in a 6-2 decision in the title match to Jack Lamey (42-6), Jr. (Hoover); 195- Tank Mays (36-26), Sr., fell in his opening match by technical fall at 4:00 to Hunter Jones, Jr. (Hewitt-Trussville) and by fall at 0:44 to Tyler Johnston, Sr. (Smiths Station); 220- Jaden Edwards (15-9), Sr., lost by fall at 5:18 to Desmond Nesbitt, Jr. (Central), defeated A.J. Kelley, Sr., (Huntsville) with a MD 12-3 and then lost by a 3-2 decision to Chris Hawkins, Jr. (Hewitt-Trussville); 285- Tafari Alcime (46-11), So., lost in round one by a 6-5 tie-breaker to Mitch Taylor, Jr. (Vestavia Hills), won by 1-0 decision over William Cholewinski, So. (Thompson), won by 3-2 tie-breaker over Rayshod Burts, Jr. (Spain Park) and won third place by a 4-2 decision over Johnathan Keers (31-5), Sr. (Foley).

James Clemens

The Jets had two athletes qualify for the State Tournament: 106- Samuel Kirk (24-14), Fr., lost by 8-4 decision to Stone Phillips, 8 (Vestavia Hills), defeated Eli Sanders, 7, (Smiths Station) by 7-2 decision and fell by MD 8-0 to Clark Box, So. (Hewitt-Trussville); 170- Sebastian Davis (42-4), Sr., opened with a 5-4 decision over Dalton Kovacs, Jr. (Baker), lost by 11-5 decision to Carson Freeman, Jr. (Thompson), won by a 2:03 fall over Ja’Montae Spencer, Sr. (Sparkman) and won third place by a MD 9-1 over Dalton Kovacs (42-6), Jr. (Baker).

Sparkman

The Senators placed three wrestlers in the State Tournament: 132- Andy Hoggard (41-5), Sr., won by 8-5 decision over Kyron Sanks, Sr. (Central), fell by fall at 3:58 to Nick Dempsey, So. (Thompson), won by a 7-5 decision over Delveechio Alston, 8, (Hewitt-Trussville) and took a third place medal by MD 15-5 over Kyron Sanks, Sr. (Central); 160- Jonas Cardamone (42-3), Sr., won by technical fall at 5:02 over Ryan Rhoten, Sr. (Auburn), fell by a 3-0 decision to Will Garrett, Sr. (Thompson), won by 6-3 decision over Zach Hauck, Jr. (Oak Mt.) and won third place by a 7-5 decision over Andrew Shelton (37-15), Sr. (Hewitt-Trussville); 170- Ja’Montae Spencer (28-10), Sr., fell in his opening match by a 6-2 decision to Jackson Mitchell, Jr. (Spain Park), defeated Miles Ballard, Sr., (Auburn) by a 4:56 fall and lost to Sebastian Davis, Sr., (James Clemens) by fall at 2:03.