Thompson, Montevallo advance to state duals quarterfinals

Published 12:22 pm Monday, January 13, 2025

By Andrew Simonson

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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

Shelby County will have a pair of teams competing for glory at the wrestling duals state championships as the Thompson Warriors and Montevallo Bulldogs advanced to their respective quarterfinals.

Both Thompson and Montevallo qualified for the state tournament as a result of finishing runner-up in their regions but did so in different ways.

The Warriors earned second place in the region as a result of beating the Oak Mountain Eagles, Hoover Buccaneers and Hewitt-Trussville Huskies over the course of December and January, going 4-1 in the region.

As for the Bulldogs, they competed in a single-day round-robin tournament at Holtville High School on Thursday, Jan. 9, defeating the Holtville Bulldogs and John Carroll Catholic Cavaliers to finish the day 2-2. This is the fifth straight season that Montevallo has advanced out of regionals.

Thompson started out region play with a 46-26 win over Tuscaloosa County during a Dec. 10 tri-match and then took a 47-33 win over Oak Mountain on Dec. 17.

The Eagles got out to an early 27-6 lead off two forfeits, a pinfall from Jaxon Briggs, technical fall from Trey Denny and major decision from James Franklin.

However, the Warriors rallied to win all but one of the remaining scoring matchups, earning wins for Jordan Welzin, Kiowa Vines, Jaiden Moore, Rylan Davis and Barron Criddle by pinfall while Turner Hutson rolled to a 15-0 technical fall.

Thompson then faced rival Hoover on New Year’s Eve and took a dominant 54-19 win.

After the teams split the first four matchups with Brady Walsh and Brody Logan earning wins, the Warriors dropped just two scoring matches the rest of the way.

Austin Owen, Weltzin, Moore and Criddle scored pins, Vines and Wyatt Massey won by technical fall and Hutson took a decision victory as Thompson improved to 2-0 in the region.

The Warriors then faced Hewitt-Trussville on Tuesday, Jan. 7 and secured a 38-25 victory.

The Huskies rolled through the early matchups, winning four of the opening five contests to go up 18-3 as Logan’s 10-7 decision was Thompson’s only victory in the stretch. Weltzin and Bradley Hastings split the next two matchups to leave Hewitt’s lead at 21-9.

As in the earlier two duals, the Warriors rallied in the heavier weights and won six of the final seven matchups to take the win. Vines, Moore and Dylan Marquess won by pinfall, Chase Kellgren and Criddle took major decisions and Massey secured a 2-0 decision victory.

That win booked Thompson’s place in the state tournament, but seeding would be determined in the final dual against the Vestavia Hills Rebels on Wednesday, Jan. 8.

It was a competitive matchup as the teams exchanged victories. Walsh, Logan, Weltzin, Hutson, Vines, Moore and Davis all secured wins for the Warriors to give them a 35-21 lead going into the final three matchups.

Vestavia Hills rallied though, taking the 185, 215 and 285-pound matchups to claim a 38-35 win and the region championship.

In the same region, Oak Mountain finished 3-2 with wins over Tuscaloosa County, Vestavia Hills and Hoover but missed out on a state tournament spot.

The Eagles split a regional tri-match on Dec. 5 with Tuscaloosa County and Hewitt-Trussville, taking a 45-29 win over the Wildcats before defeating the Rebels 39-34 on Jan. 2 and the Bucs 60-9 on Thursday, Jan. 9.

Down in Class 5A, Montevallo secured a spot in the state tournament with a 63-15 win over John Carroll and a 54-30 win over Holtville.

In the John Carroll match, the Bulldogs rallied from an opening technical fall loss to win the next seven matchups, including falls for Dorian Colbert, John Baggett and Drew Adams and a 9-4 decision win over Ethan Stone.

While the Cavs won the next two matchups, Montevallo secured the win with the help of seven forfeit victories.

Montevallo then faced the host Holtville in a battle of the Bulldogs and got out to a dominant 30-6 lead thanks to pins from Jaxon Lewis, Nathan Haynie, Austin Cummings, Stone and Jakob Fowler. Montevallo’s only loss during that time came from a forfeit in the 113-pound match.

While Holtville took the 144 and 150-pound matchups, Montevallo clinched the match with wins in the next four matchups, including pins from Colton Norris, Baggett and Santiago Alvarenga and a forfeit win for Adams.

Holtville claimed the final two wins but it would be too little, too late as Montevallo won the dual 54-30.

The Bulldogs lost their other two duals to Elmore County by a score of 41-33 and Shelby County by a score of 41-32 to finish as runners-up.

Thompson and Montevallo will both hit the road for the quarterfinals. The Warriors will face the Huntsville Panthers on Thursday, Jan. 16 at 5:30 p.m. while the Bulldogs will travel to Beauregard to face the Hornets on Thursday, Jan. 16 at 6 p.m.

Elsewhere in Shelby County, Chelsea, Helena, Pelham and Spain Park did not qualify in Class 6A, Region 3 after Mountain Brook and Homewood took the top two spots in the region on Thursday, Jan. 9 at Mountain Brook High School.

The Panthers came in third after securing a 3-2 record with wins over Chelsea by a score of 66-18, Helena by a score of 60-24 and Spain Park by a score of 41-38. The Jags secured fourth with a 2-3 record after defeating Chelsea 54-24 and Helena 58-24.

The Huskies came in fifth with a 1-4 record and the Hornets finished in sixth.

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