Oak Mountain, Spain Park win individual state titles as 7A wrestlers perform well
Published 9:45 pm Sunday, February 18, 2024
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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor
HUNTSVILLE – After a pair of dominant seasons, Bradley Williams and Kyle Oliveira finished off undefeated seasons with the top prize in Alabama high school wrestling.
Williams won the Class 7A 144-pound state championship to finish off a 54-0 season and Oliveira won the 215-pound state title with a 53-0 record.
Oak Mountain’s Jameson Thomas joined them as state champions in Class 7A while other Spain Park, Oak Mountain and Chelsea wrestlers put together strong performances at the Class 7A wrestling state championship at Huntsville’s Propst Arena at the Von Braun Center on Saturday, Feb. 17.
Williams went 3-0 on the week to secure the 144-pound state championship for Class 7A.
After securing a first-round bye with his win at the south sectional championships, He made quick work of Foley’s Cole Reid with a pin 32 seconds into their quarterfinals match.
Williams advanced to the finals after Huntsville’s Jay Colebaugh suffered an injury at the 3:01 mark of their showdown in the semifinals.
He then defeated Opelika’s Denarvious Anderson in the first-place match to earn the 100th pin of his career and the state championship.
Oliveira capped off his unbeaten campaign with a 4-0 run through the Class 7A 215-pound division at the state championship.
He started out strong with a 9-0 major decision win over Oak Mountain’s Peyton Gamble followed by a pin at the 2:35 mark of his quarterfinals battle with Enterprise’s Jace Himes.
He then pitched a shutout in the semifinals against Bob Jones’ Gideon Roll, securing a 6-0 decision victory to advance to the finals.
He then won the state title with a 7-2 decision against Blake Christian of Tuscaloosa County to secure his 53rd win of the season.
Oak Mountain’s Jameson Thomas also won a state championship as he walked away with the title in the Class 7A 106-pound division.
After advancing to the quarterfinals with a first-round bye, the south sectional champion started his week out with a 7-3 decision win over Thompson’s Braylen Johnson.
He then faced Enterprise’s Karter Stiffler in the semifinals and defeated him by a 7-4 decision.
After overcoming his semifinal challenge, he finished strong in the first-place match. Thomas held Vestavia Hills’ Matthew Campbell scoreless in the championship match to earn the 6-0 decision victory and the state title.
Thomas wrapped up his campaign with a 39-3 record as he stood atop the 106-pound division.
Three of his Eagles teammates finished in the top five as well as Coleman Sovine, Griffin Gardner and Trey Denny each had strong showings in Huntsville.
Sovine overcame a quarterfinals loss to earn fourth place in the 157-pound division. He earned three straight wins in the consolation bracket to secure a top-four finish.
He defeated Central-Phenix City’s Caleb Mitchell with a pin at the 2:56 mark in his first consolation match, followed that up with a 10-1 major decision win against Tuscaloosa County’s Airen McCoy and reached the third-place match by pinning Daphne’s Owen Eiland at the 4:44 mark.
Gardner came in fifth place in the 120-pound division after winning four matches throughout the week.
He started out with a major decision win in the first round before he was pinned in the third period of his quarterfinals match.
From there, he cruised to his second major decision victory of the week in his first consolation bracket match, this time by a score of 8-0, before he edged out a 2-1 decision win against Vestavia Hills’ Charles Noto.
While he lost in the consolation semifinals by a 9-3 decision, he bounced back to defeat Smiths Station’s Sam Mock by a 6-4 decision to claim fifth place.
Denny also brought home a fifth-place finish for Oak Mountain in the 113-pound division.
After a first-round bye, he kicked off the week with a quarterfinal win over Thompson’s Will Atkinson by a 5-3 decision.
He lost in the semifinals by a technical fall and in a tight tiebreaker in the consolation semifinals, but he earned fifth place by pinning Tuscaloosa County’ Dalton Todd at the 3:39 mark of their match.
Chelsea had three top-six finishes, and they were headlined by Adam Cornwell taking third place in the 157-pound division.
He lost his first match of the week in the quarterfinals against Daphne’s Owen Eiland, but he surged back from there to win his next four matches and secure third place.
He first defeated Foley’s Isiah Pierce by a pin at the 2:22 mark of his first match in the consolation bracket and then followed it up with a first-period pin against Huntsville’s Noah Gross.
Cornwell advanced to the third-place match with a 13-0 major decision win over Hewitt-Trussville’s Jacob Triplett, and he edged out Sovine with a 4-3 decision to earn third place and finish out the year with a 29-10 record.
Porter Schott won three matches in the 190-pound division to earn fifth place in Class 7A.
He recovered from a loss in his first match in the quarterfinals to win his next two matches. He pinned Huntsville’s Porter Schott at the 1:37 mark of his first consolation bracket match and beat Smiths Station’s Amari Allen by a 7-3 decision.
Schott lost in the consolation semifinals but recovered well to win a 14-2 major decision against Daphne’s Colton Rainer in the fifth-place match. He ended the season sitting at 35-8 on the year.
Keith brought home a sixth-place finish in the 138-pound division after he won his quarterfinals match with a 5-3 decision over James Clemens’ Max Bell. He finished the year with a 22-5 record.