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Pelham, Chelsea and Thompson wrestlers put together solid weekends at the 2024 Pelham Invitational, with first-place finishes from Maddox McDaniel and Porter Schott highlighting the event. (For the Reporter/Dawn Harrison)

By TYLER RALEY | Staff Writer

PELHAM – Multiple wrestlers from the Pelham Panthers, Chelsea Hornets and Thompson Warriors put up respectable outings at the 2024 Pelham Invitational from Dec. 20-21 at Pelham High School.

Pelham’s own Maddox McDaniel turned in a clean sweep at the event, winning the 106-pound division bracket with a 4-0 record. He started his outing with a first round bye, but took three falls to advance to the finals.

McDaniel earned falls from McAdory’s JaMarcus Dial, Homewood’s Britton Miner and Drayden Duke from Gulf Shores, before taking down Woodland’s Nick Weathersbee in the championship match, 13-3 on a major decision.

Porter Schott from Chelsea also took home a title at the invitational in the 215-pound weight class, putting on a 5-0 showing.

Schott began his performance with three consecutive wins that saw falls in less than a minute. He took down Gulf Shores’ Taylor Odom in 38 seconds, Helena’s Josue McNeal in 43 seconds and McAdory’s Jourdan Godwin in 51 seconds.

Schott then took the mat for the semifinals, where he saw a fall come against Woodland’s John Gill in four minutes and 51 seconds, before winning a 4-3 decision over Gulf Shores’ Landon Everett in the finals.

Pelham saw two more of its wrestlers take second place in their respective weight classes on the day, almost securing more titles for the Panthers. Sam Powell was runner-up in the 144-pound division, while Brayden Patterson saw the same fate in the 165-pound bracket.

Powell began his bracket off with a bye in the first round, before forcing two falls from Wetumpka’s Kaleb Bonasera and Saraland’s Rowdy Walls to put himself in the semifinals.

The semifinals saw Powell take a 14-6 major decision over Buddy Ketcham from Homewood, locking a spot into the championship match. It was then that he got bested by Enterprise’s Grier Hunt in a technical fall, being put down 16-1.

Patterson’s journey in the 165-pound division also started off with a bye before forcing two falls of his own against Hoover’s Xavier Lawson and Gulf Shores’ Gabriel Goodwin. He then took down Pike Road’s Jack Salmans with ease by technical fall, 20-0 in the semifinals

The championship of the bracket was not his day however, as Enterprise’s Kody Sigmon took him down with a technical fall at 16-1, giving Patterson a second-place finish in the invitational.

Thompson’s Wyatt Carroll brought home a third-place finish in the 157-pound bracket, the Warriors’ only major honors of the invitational.

Carroll began his tournament with a bye in the first round before securing a 26-second fall over Chelsea’s Mason Cauley. He carried that momentum into the quarterfinals, where he defeated Gulf Shores’ Charles Knight by a fall.

In the semifinals, Carroll’s was unable to punch a bid into the finals for the division, taking a fall at the hands of Saraland’s Anthony Rivers. He got back to his winning ways in the consolation bracket, picking up a pair of falls against Mountain Brook’s Gibbs Watson at the 2:07 mark and again against Knight from Gulf Shores at the 3:30 mark, which secured him third place.

Pelham picked up its final honor of the day from sophomore Patrick Warner, who picked up fifth place in the 138-pound bracket. Warner picked up a pair of falls to begin his day, defeating Enterprise’s Charlie Sperry at the 2:31 mark and Spanish Fort’s Caden Hughes at 1:44.

He then earned a win over Homewood’s Cooper Bailey with an 11-5 decision, before seeing defeat in the semifinals to Pike Road’s Myers Duncan on a 50-second fall. Warner then lost on a 4-0 decision in the consolation bracket to Troy Watson out of Wetumpka.

Despite the losses, Warner ended his time at the invitational with a win, taking down Helena’s Sami Bratina with a fall at 2:56 in the match.

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