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Spain Park, Oak Mountain, Chelsea, Pelham, Helena, Montevallo and Shelby County all competed at the AHSAA State Wrestling Tournament and saw positive results, including three state champions. (For the Reporter/Dawn Harrison)

By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Sports Editor 

HUNTSVILLE – The 2019 AHSAA Wrestling State Tournament took place between Thursday, Feb. 14, and Saturday, Feb. 16, with several teams and individual wrestlers from Shelby County leaving their mark on the event, including three individual champions and 15 top six finishers aside from the Thompson Warriors, who won the title.

Spain Park’s Jaxon Bast, Oak Mountain’s Cole Thomas and Helena’s Will Miller were all three able to claim individual titles in their respective weight classes.

Bast may have been the biggest highlight, not just for his impressive showing on the mat, but his celebration after.

Bast used pins in the first two rounds of the state tournament to earn a spot in the championship matchup against Matt Burrow of James Clemens.

In that final match, he found himself in a tight battle throughout, but went on to edge out Burrow with a 10-5 decision, which sent him into an ecstatic celebration. Having just won the state championship in the 285-pound weight class, he immediately busted out the splits before jumping back up to run and leap into the arms of his head coach.

For Thomas, it marked a sort of redemption after finishing third in the state tournament last year. This year, however, Thomas came back with one goal in mind, winning the championship.

Wrestling in the 132-pound weight class, he started his redemption path with a major-decision victory in the quarterfinals and a tightly-contested decision victory of 8-5 in the semifinals to earn a spot in the state championship.

In that matchup, he went up against Spain Park’s Jack Rivers, who had a strong run himself and was considered one of the best in the weight class. Thomas, however, had a different energy and came out ready to go in the matchup picking up a pin at 4:26 to claim the 132-pound title.

Miller found himself in a similar situation after finishing third for the Huskies a season ago.

Up from the 106-pound division a year ago, Miller found himself in the 126-pound weight class this year and left no doubt in the first two rounds, picking up a technical-fall victory in the quarterfinals and a pin in the second round to earn a spot in the championship match.

In that championship matchup against Oxford’s Landon Burrage, Miller found himself in the tightest contest of the state tournament, but did a great job of avoiding being taken down and didn’t allow any points to his opponent on his way to a 6-0 decision victory for the state championship.

Sullivan Tipton also had an impressive showing for Oak Mountain. After a state championship in the 106-pound weight class last year, he found himself in the 126-pound weight class this year, but ran up against Thompson’s Chandler Akins.

Akins was able to pick up a 6-0 decision win as part of a state championship performance for the Warriors, while Tipton finished second for the Eagles.

The Huskies ended up with three more finishers inside the top six of their respective weight class with two of those three finishing second.

Both Nathan Dunaway and Michael Moran were able to accomplish that second-place showing. Dunaway did so in the 220-pound weight class thanks to three consecutive pins in the first three rounds before falling via pin in the championship round.

Moran’s path was slightly more difficult featuring a tech fall and two convincing decision victories, before losing a difficult 11-6 decision in the championship match against Tyrique Simms of Mae Jemison.

Seth McGrew finished in sixth for the Huskies in the 106-pound division to close out the team’s strong showing. After losing in the opening round, he won three in a row by pin, major decision and decision, before falling in the consolation semis and fifth-place match.

The Spain Park Jaguars also had an impressive showing from their three wrestlers at the state meet with all three medaling thanks to top four finishes, including both Bast and Rivers.

John Robert Thompson, however, was also able to medal thanks to finishing fourth in the 106-pound weight class. He won his first match with a pin, lost his second in a major decision, won his third with a major decision and lost the third-place match due to another major decision.

The Chelsea Hornets, Pelham Panthers and Montevallo Bulldogs also had at least one wrestler medal.

Chelsea saw two of its 10 wrestlers medal during the tournament thanks to Sam Ingram’s finish of third and Hakeem Stanford’s finish of fourth.

Wrestling in the 170-pound weight class, Ingram was able to win his first two matchups with a pin, before dropping his semifinal match in a heartbreaking 3-2 loss, which kept him from a shot at the state championship.

Ingram, however, didn’t let that damper his spirit moving forward, as he bounced back to win the consolation semifinal with a pin and the third-place match with a major decision.

Stanford immediately fell into the consolation bracket after losing his opening match, but he responded with four consecutive wins, including a pin and three consecutive decisions, before dropping the third-place match.

Pelham’s Bryce Wanagat was able to claim a third-place finish for the Panthers in the 126-pound weight class. After winning his first two matches and losing his semifinal match, Wanagat responded with two consecutive decision wins, both by a point, to pick up a thrilling spot on the podium.

Behind that, Joseph Chimento finished sixth in the 160-pound division for Pelham with a 3-3 record, while Seth Branham went 2-2 in the 138-pound division.

Montevallo’s Rankin Allen also earned a medal thanks to his fourth-place finish in the 195-pound weight class for the Bulldogs. He Won his first two matches with pins, lost his semifinal match via pin and then bounced back to win his fourth match with another pin, before dropping the third-place matchup.

Jemari Harris also added an impressive performance for the Bulldogs with his finish of sixth in the 120-pound weight class. Harris picked up wins in two of his first three matches with a major decision, decision and one pin, before dropping his final two matches.

The Shelby County Wildcats also had four wrestlers in attendance thanks to Caleb Mooney, Austin Dunn, Dalton Brooks and Taylor Wilkins all earning a spot.

Brooks finished 2-2, Wilkins and Dunn both finished 1-2, and Mooney finished 0-2, but all four had impressive seasons for the Wildcats.

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