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The Chelsea Hornets, Oak Mountain Eagles, Thompson Warriors, Spain Park Jaguars and Shelby County Wildcats all walked out of the Chelsea Invitational with division titles in the final meet before sectionals. (For the Reporter/Dawn Harrison)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

CHELSEA – With the road to sectionals heating up, the Chelsea Hornets played host to the Oak Mountain Eagles, Thompson Warriors, Spain Park Jaguars, Shelby County Wildcats and Montevallo Bulldogs at the Chelsea Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 18 at Chelsea High School.

Thompson’s Brady Walsh won the 108-pound division thanks to a second-period fall in the finals.

In the 115-pound division, Oak Mountain’s Jameson Thomas took second place after advancing to the finals with a technical fall and a second-period pin. Thompson’s Braylen Johnson earned fourth in the same division after grabbing two first-period falls in the consolation bracket.

Griffin Gardner gave the Eagles a win in the 122-pound division after he rolled through the bracket with three technical falls, including one in the finals against his teammate Collin Denny. Denny made the finals off two pins, one in the second period and another in the third.

Spain Park’s London Ford made it an all-county top three in the 122-pound division after he earned a technical fall and second-period pin in the consolation bracket.

Oak Mountain’s Trey Denny won the 128-pound division with a 3-0 record. He started his run with a technical fall before earning a first-period fall in the semifinals and pinning his championship opponent in the second period.

Chelsea’s Jameson Bolen secured third in the 128-pound division. After earning a first-period pin and 25-13 major decision in bracket play, he took a loss but bounced back with a pair of one-point decisions in the consolation bracket by scores of 13-12 and 18-17.

Shelby County’s Nick Sykes improved to 42-0 on the season with a dominant run through the 134-pound division. After starting the tournament with three first-period falls, he earned a 17-0 technical fall in the finals to win the division title.

Thompson’s Austin Owen came in third place in the same 134-pound class after he went 4-0 in the consolation bracket with two second-period falls to start, and 8-3 decision to reach the third-place match and an 11-0 major decision to secure his place on the podium.

The Warriors’ Jordan Weltzin cruised through the beginning stages of the 140-pound division with three technical falls before earning a 5-3 decision in the finals to take first place.

The Eagles got their third division win of the tournament as Quinn Ivey claimed the 146-pound crown with three technical falls.

The final one came against Spain Park’s Briston Hardy, who earned second place after reaching the finals off a technical fall, a first-period pin and an injury to his semifinal opponent.

Thompson’s Chase Kellgren took third place in the 152-pound division after securing a pair of pins in bracket play before winning his two consolation bracket matches by second-period falls.

Bradley Williams continued his incredible run through the 2024-25 season as he improved to 45-0 with a 159-pound division title. He secured pins in the first period of each of his first three matches before winning the finals off a technical fall.

One of those falls came against Shelby County’s Logan Loyd in the semifinals. Loyd bounced back with a first-period fall in the consolation semifinals to earn fourth place and finish the tournament with a 3-2 record.

Oak Mountain’s Coleman Sovine came in second place in the 177-pound division thanks to his three pins to reach the title match, the first round one coming in the first period before the next two needed second-period finishes. Sovine was pinned right at the 6:00 mark of the finals in a match that went down to the wire.

Porter Schott gave the Hornets a win in their home tournament as he claimed the title in the 217-pound division. He started his tournament with a 9-0 major decision before securing a third-period pin in the semifinals and a 10-3 decision in the finals to improve to 33-1 on the year.

The Warriors’ Dylan Marquess earned fourth place in the heavyweight 287-pound division. His tournament started off with a loss to the eventual division champion, but he rallied for pins in each of his first four consolation bracket matches to make the third-place match.

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