A Fan's Guide to the Alabama 6A State Tournament
Welcome to the Fan’s Guide for the Alabama 6A State Tournament
So what is a Fan’s Guide?
The Fan’s Guide is a look at the tournament as a whole and each individual weight class … from a fan’s perspective. But it is not a prediction of who will win or who will make the podium. In fact, a Fan’s Guide is a little different. It is a look at a few individual pieces from each bracket … they include:
Favorite: the wrestler that enters the tournament as a section champ and has the best shot to claim the top step.
Contenders: wrestlers we think that will most likely to make a run to the finals and challenge for the top step.
Darkhorse: someone off the radar that could surprise some people
Bracketbuster: a wrestler that finished 5 or 6 in their section, but could make a run for the podium.
The AHSAA seeds the tournament … in many respects our favorite, contenders, etc. match their seeds, but not always. We’ve included the seeds as well as our picks of who to watch.
Isn’t that kind of a prediction?
Yes and no. I do identify the favorite, but beyond that I have no idea of who will march through the bracket and claim a title (don’t get me wrong - I’ve watched a lot of wrestling this season so I have an idea of what will happen). I could give you an educated guess about a possible finals match and who will make the podium, but in the world of high school wrestling that is dangerous territory. Few wrestlers (if any) are unbeatable … but we do have past results and past accomplishments on which to make a guess or two. In reality, I am as much of a fan as any of you and like to talk wrestling. I hope each athlete goes out and performs to her ability and we, as fans, get an opportunity to watch some great wrestling.
Remember the sole purpose of the website, twitter, instagram, fan’s guides, pictures, etc. is to promote the sport in the Southeast. Have a great time this weekend, enjoy the wrestling, and best of luck to everyone competing.
NOTE: ALL INFORMATION BELOW IS ASSUMING THAT THE INFORMATION INPUTTED INTO TRACKWRESTLING EITHER BY THE EVENT DIRECTOR OR THE COACHES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEASON IS CORRECT.
A Look Back at 2023:
Team Race:
Summary
Seeding - Good, Bad and the Ugly
Things rarely work out the way we think they will and that is true in the seeding of a tournament. Rarely do you see all four of #1 seeds in the NCAA Basketball Tournament make the final four or the top seeds in the NFL playoff make the Super Bowl. We enjoy watching the underdogs (what we call in the Fan’s Guide the darkhorse or bracketbusters) make a mess of the bracket. Remember the point of the seeds - it is to reward someone for past performance - not to predict their future performance. Often those two things go hand-in-hand, but not always. Still a poorly seeded bracket can cause chaos and not see the two best individuals make the finals (which is what we want as fans - the best final the bracket can produce) … when two outstanding individuals meet in the first round or the quarterfinals and both dominate from that match through the rest of the tournament - something is lost.
We can generate a seed error based on where individuals are seeded and where they end up on the podium (if they end up on the podium). And that seed error is then translated into an error factor. Ideally you’d like to be at 0 - no error in the bracket. That rarely happens. If you can get a weight to be below .200 you are doing well and between .200 and .300 is what we might consider fair. It should be noted that the lines being drawn are my own based on looking at past events. Remember the labeling of bad isn’t a judgment on who won or who didn’t - it is an analysis of how good the committee did in seeding the bracket. That’s it. So - how did the seeding go last year?
Let’s just take a quick look at 113 …
You might look at 6A 113 and think the bracket wasn’t very good when comparing seeds to place. And you would be right in that none of the 6 wrestlers ended up where they were seeded. But there were no bracketbusters here - all of the top 6 seeds made the podium and that yielded an error factor of 0.175. I chose this bracket because I wanted to illustrate that it isn’t necessary to have a perfect bracket for it to be considered “good”. The simply want to avoid having egregious seeds in the bracket.
Team Notes
The table below is a list of every qualifier by school, along with their seed (not their place at sectionals). So we could talk about a number of different teams, but in reality there are just a handful that have enough to really make a run for a team title. They are discussed below the table.
Forgot to put a header on the table - across the top is the section place for each school
Who as the advantage? Well at first glance it looks like Mountain Brook. They qualified 13 for the state tournament - 1 more than Homewood, 2 more than Mortimer Jordan and Athens, and 3 more than Gardendale. They did have 4 5th place finishers so in order to keep that advantage they will need to break some brackets and score points. You might make the case that Mortimer Jordan has the advantage with 9 that took either 1st or 2nd … remember the AHSAA seeds the tournament so finishing 1st or 2nd might not get you a high seed. If you read my comments from above about the 2023 team race you see that champs and placers are huge … McAdory started with fewer wrestlers but won it because they had 3 Champs and 5 Placers (8 total which was the same or similar to other schools … so getting 1st place points could be the difference between a team title and taking 2nd or 3rd.
106 lbs.
Favorite: Crue Powe (Gardendale Hs) - North 1st
Contenders:
Justin Harbin (Brookwood Jr-Sr) - South 1st
Barrett Bridgmon (Homewood Hs) - South 2nd
Wyatt Chavez (Mountain Brook) - South 3rd
Darkhorse: Karlise Hubbard (Oxford) - North 3rd
Bracketbuster: Russell Yarbrough (Mae Jemison) - North 6th
Seeds (Top 8 - #1 seed is listed first and so on)
Crue Powe (Gardendale Hs) - North 1st
Justin Harbin (Brookwood Jr-Sr) - South 1st
Barrett Bridgmon (Homewood Hs) - South 2nd
Wyatt Chavez (Mountain Brook) - South 3rd
Brooks Morton (Mortimer Jordan HS) - North 2nd
Caleb Barry (Buckhorn) - North 4th
Dylan Yarema (Pike Road School) - South 4th
Karlise Hubbard (Oxford) - North 3rd
Thoughts: Good weight that is headlined by Powe, but the south has some hammers and I think all three of them are contenders to get the job done. I think Hubbard as an 8 seed is a little low, but otherwise I’m good with the seeds. Keep an eye on Yarbrough as a bracketbuster.
113 lbs.
Favorite: John Duncan (Pike Road School) - South 1st
Contenders:
Aiden Morris (Mortimer Jordan HS) - North 1st
Pedro Miguel (Fort Payne) - North 2nd
Bobby Rutkoff (Mountain Brook) - South 2nd
Darkhorse: Triston Buckelew (Gardendale Hs) - North 3rd
Bracketbuster: Wyatt Hubley (Pell City) - North 5th
Seeds (Top 8 - #1 seed is listed first and so on)
John Duncan (Pike Road School) - South 1st
Aiden Morris (Mortimer Jordan HS) - North 1st
Pedro Miguel (Fort Payne) - North 2nd
Bobby Rutkoff (Mountain Brook) - South 2nd
Triston Buckelew (Gardendale Hs) - North 3rd
Drake Craig (Athens) - North 4th
Braden Gress (Spanish Fort) - South 4th
Wyatt Hubley (Pell City) - North 5th
Thoughts: Seeds look solid based on their body of work from the season - it helps that it matches how the sections played out as well.
120 lbs.
Favorite: Caleb Wright (Mortimer Jordan HS) - North 1st
Contenders:
Stephen Springfield (Mountain Brook) - South 1st
Lakin Poff (Athens) - North 2nd
Jackson Schutt (Hartselle) - North 3rd
Darkhorse: Luke Dickinson (Pike Road School) - South 3rd
Bracketbuster: Patrick Warner (Pelham) - South 6th
Seeds (Top 8 - #1 seed is listed first and so on)
Caleb Wright (Mortimer Jordan HS) - North 1st
Stephen Springfield (Mountain Brook) - South 1st
Lakin Poff (Athens) - North 2nd
Jackson Schutt (Hartselle) - North 3rd
Luke Dickinson (Pike Road School) - South 3rd
Zackary Turberville (Muscle Shoals) - North 4th
Cooper Bailey (Homewood Hs) - South 4th
Swayze Martin (Wetumpka) - South 2nd
Thoughts: Good weight and the seeds seem right to me. I think I’d have Martin higher and reward him for taking 2nd in the South, but otherwise the seeds are solid in my opinion.
126 lbs.
Favorite: Brodie Christmas (Mortimer Jordan HS) - North 1st
Contenders:
Gage Roberts (Hartselle) - North 2nd
Davis Smith (Mountain Brook) - South 1st
Jack Posey (Pike Road School) - South 2nd
Darkhorse: Tucker Burkhead (Fort Payne) - North 3rd
Bracketbuster: CJ Helveston (Saraland) - South 6th
Seeds (Top 8 - #1 seed is listed first and so on)
Brodie Christmas (Mortimer Jordan HS) - North 1st
Gage Roberts (Hartselle) - North 2nd
Tucker Burkhead (Fort Payne) - North 3rd
Davis Smith (Mountain Brook) - South 1st
Kenyon Clements (Helena) - South 3rd
CJ Helveston (Saraland) - South 6th
Jack Posey (Pike Road School) - South 2nd
Jorden Rice (Mae Jemison) - North 4th
Thoughts: Good with the seeds except I’d have Davis Smith at 3 and on the opposite side of Christmas. CJ Hleveston is the easy pick as a bracketbuster.
132 lbs.
Favorite: Noah Smith (Wetumpka) - South 1st
Contenders:
Moeen Almansoob (Homewood Hs) - South 2nd
Jaxon Unger (Athens) - North 1st
Jacob Doshier (Hartselle) - North 3rd
Darkhorse: Joaquin Crook (Baldwin County) - South 3rd
Bracketbuster: Noah Davis (Brookwood Jr-Sr) - South 6th
Seeds (Top 8 - #1 seed is listed first and so on)
Noah Smith (Wetumpka) - South 1st
Moeen Almansoob (Homewood Hs) - South 2nd
Jacob Doshier (Hartselle) - North 3rd
Joaquin Crook (Baldwin County) - South 3rd
Brody Helm (Mortimer Jordan HS) - North 2nd
Walt Calvert (Pelham) - South 4th
Noah Davis (Brookwood Jr-Sr) - South 6th
Jaxon Unger (Athens) - North 1st
Thoughts: Strange to see a section champ as the 8 seed especially after beating Helm 10-1 for the section title (and Helm is the 5 seed). Other than that I pretty much agree with the seeds … this is a solid weight that has Smith, Almansoob, and others that can all make a run for the title.
138 lbs.
Favorite: Demarcus Powe (Gardendale Hs) - North 1st
Contenders:
Myers Duncan (Pike Road School) - South 2nd
John Leon (Mortimer Jordan HS) - North 2nd
Buddy Ketcham (Homewood Hs) - South 1st
Darkhorse: Carter Campbell (Athens) - North 3rd
Bracketbuster: Carter Blalock (Fort Payne) - North 6th
Seeds (Top 8 - #1 seed is listed first and so on)
Demarcus Powe (Gardendale Hs) - North 1st
Buddy Ketcham (Homewood Hs) - South 1st
John Leon (Mortimer Jordan HS) - North 2nd
Carter Campbell (Athens) - North 3rd
Declan Hamilton (Hazel Green HS) - North 4th
Myers Duncan (Pike Road School) - South 2nd
Sam Powell (Pelham) - South 3rd
Nick Portis (Baldwin County) - South 4th
Thoughts: Feels like Duncan (especially after his season and forfeiting the South final) is seeded too low but by being on the opposite side of Powe it didn’t hurt him … although he vs. Leon in the quarters is a little early to see that matchup. Blalock is the easy pick as a bracketbuster and that’s a tough pull for Campbell right off the scale.
144 lbs.
Favorite: Will Anderson (Athens) - North 1st
Contenders:
James Mays (Buckhorn) - North 2nd
Bill Bradford (Mountain Brook) - South 5th
James Alford (Helena) - South 1st
Darkhorse: Kaiden Smith (Mortimer Jordan HS) - North 4th
Bracketbuster: Tristan Williams (Oxford) - North 6th
Seeds (Top 8 - #1 seed is listed first and so on)
Will Anderson (Athens) - North 1st
James Mays (Buckhorn) - North 2nd
Bill Bradford (Mountain Brook) - South 5th
James Alford (Helena) - South 1st
Kaiden Smith (Mortimer Jordan HS) - North 4th
Cannon Ford (Homewood Hs) - South 3rd
Jyque Norris (Benjamin Russell) - South 2nd
Aiden Arthur (Spanish Fort) - South 4th
Thoughts: Seeds are all over the place here except at the top with Anderson and Mays. Bradford was 5th in the South yet is the 3 seed - again I get rewarding someone based on their body work from the season, but taking 5th and being seeded above everyone else from that section is hard for me. That said, I do think Bradford is a contender whether he finished 5th or not. He would be an easy pick as a bracketbuster, but in reality he’s still a contender. But Anderson is the clear favorite in the bracket.
150 lbs.
Favorite: Cruz Rainwater (Mortimer Jordan HS) - North 1st
Contenders:
Thomas Peerson (Pelham) - South 1st
Austin Campbell (Athens) - North 2nd
Bobby Chamorro (Homewood Hs) - South 2nd
Darkhorse: GARRETT WILLINGHAM (Hartselle) - North 3rd
Bracketbuster: Anthony Rivers (Saraland) - South 6th
Seeds (Top 8 - #1 seed is listed first and so on)
Cruz Rainwater (Mortimer Jordan HS) - North 1st
Austin Campbell (Athens) - North 2nd
Thomas Peerson (Pelham) - South 1st
Riley Cornutt (Clay Chalkville) - North 4th
GARRETT WILLINGHAM (Hartselle) - North 3rd
Bobby Chamorro (Homewood Hs) - South 2nd
Sam Childs (Hazel Green HS) - North 6th
Kristian Seals (Stanhope Elmore) - South 3rd
Thoughts: Pretty straightforward … Rainwater is the clear #1, Peerson and Campbell on the bottom side makes sense. I think Chamorro is seeded too low, but again he’s opposite Rainwater so I don’t think anyone at Homewood is complaining. I know Rivers gets Rainwater first - but don’t be surprised if he does some bracket busting in the backside.
157 lbs.
Favorite: Cody Kirk (Pike Road School) - South 1st
Contenders:
HAYDEN DAVIS (Fort Payne) - North 1st
Jude Smith (Mountain Brook) - South 3rd
Lanham Boyd (Homewood Hs) - South 2nd
Darkhorse: Robert Jones (Mae Jemison) - North 3rd
Bracketbuster: Alia Vickrey (Baldwin County) - South 5th
Seeds (Top 8 - #1 seed is listed first and so on)
Cody Kirk (Pike Road School) - South 1st
HAYDEN DAVIS (Fort Payne) - North 1st
Jude Smith (Mountain Brook) - South 3rd
Lanham Boyd (Homewood Hs) - South 2nd
Alia Vickrey (Baldwin County) - South 5th
Tyler Cooper (Brookwood Jr-Sr) - South 4th
Robert Jones (Mae Jemison) - North 3rd
Cage McIsaac (Mortimer Jordan HS) - North 2nd
Thoughts: Another weight that is a bit perplexing. The south is better than the north at 157, but not entirely sure it is as lopsided as this. I could see Jones and/or McIsaac up a few spots … not sure it matters a ton, but certainly something to think about. Kirk is the clear favorite. Davis, Smith, and Boyd look right as well … Vickrey is certainly good although took 5th in the south last weekend - easy bracketbuster to pick.
165 lbs.
Favorite: Daishun Powe (Gardendale Hs) - North 1st
Contenders:
Stuart Andrews (Mountain Brook) - South 1st
PARKER WILSON (Fort Payne) - North 2nd
Fernando Trejo (Homewood Hs) - South 2nd
Darkhorse: Agustin Hernandez-Maldonado (Hazel Green HS)
Bracketbuster: La`Garius Ephraim (Pinson Valley)
Seeds (Top 8 - #1 seed is listed first and so on)
Daishun Powe (Gardendale Hs) - North 1st
PARKER WILSON (Fort Payne) - North 2nd
Stuart Andrews (Mountain Brook) - South 1st
Fernando Trejo (Homewood Hs) - South 2nd
Agustin Hernandez-Maldonado (Hazel Green HS) - North 3rd
La`Garius Ephraim (Pinson Valley) - North 5th
Brayden Patterson (Pelham) - South 3rd
Aaron Kinslow (Spanish Fort) - South 4th
Thoughts: No bigger favorite in 6A than Powe. I could see Andrew and Wilson flipping spots, but it doesn’t matter as both are on the bottom side. The seeding looks solid from my perspective.
175 lbs.
Favorite: Christion Griggs (Mcadory) - South 1st
Contenders:
Mason Hussey (Pike Road School) - South 2nd
Donny Burnett (Northridge High School) - South 3rd
Brady Brooks (Gardendale Hs) - North 1st
Darkhorse: Ham Mandell (Mountain Brook) - South 5th
Bracketbuster: Blas Correa (Homewood Hs) - South 6th
Seeds (Top 8 - #1 seed is listed first and so on)
Christion Griggs (Mcadory) - South 1st
Mason Hussey (Pike Road School) - South 2nd
Donny Burnett (Northridge High School) - South 3rd
George Mullins (Mae Jemison) - North 2nd
Ham Mandell (Mountain Brook) - South 5th
Blas Correa (Homewood Hs) - South 6th
Brady Brooks (Gardendale Hs) - North 1st
Joseph Apps (Spanish Fort) - South 4th
Thoughts: Another situation where seeing the section champ seeded below someone he beat last weekend is something that doesn’t work for me. I understand Brooks lost to Mullins earlier in January and has loss to Hussey, but winning the section and then being 7th seems strange. Griggs is the clear favorite and the seeds are solid except for that.
190 lbs.
Favorite: Oliver Howard (Decatur) - North 1st
Contenders:
Sam Carroll (Mountain Brook) - South 1st
Zach Crosthwait (Wetumpka) - South 2nd
Weston Tossie (Mortimer Jordan HS) - North 2nd
Darkhorse: Ethan Holloway (Pike Road School) - South 4th
Bracketbuster: Devin Presley (Russell County) - South 5th
Seeds (Top 8 - #1 seed is listed first and so on)
Oliver Howard (Decatur) - North 1st
Sam Carroll (Mountain Brook) - South 1st
Zach Crosthwait (Wetumpka) - South 2nd
Weston Tossie (Mortimer Jordan HS) - North 2nd
Erik Lessears (Mcadory) - South 3rd
Ethan Holloway (Pike Road School) - South 4th
Kyonne Rogers (Mae Jemison) - North 3rd
Devin Presley (Russell County) - South 5th
Thoughts: Seeds look are spot on at 190. This is a solid weight with some very good depth.
215 lbs.
Favorite:
Christian Preston (Wetumpka) - South 1st
Contenders:
Jameson Falciani (Hartselle) - North 1st
Malik Brown (Center Point HS) - North 3rd
Nicholas Brooks (Jackson-Olin HS) - South 2nd
Darkhorse: Carter Colvin (Mountain Brook) - South 3rd
Bracketbuster: Ameer Hasty jr (Pelham) - South 5th
Seeds (Top 8 - #1 seed is listed first and so on)
Christian Preston (Wetumpka) - South 1st
Jameson Falciani (Hartselle) - North 1st
Malik Brown (Center Point HS) - North 3rd
Nicholas Brooks (Jackson-Olin HS) - South 2nd
Carter Colvin (Mountain Brook) - South 3rd
Randall Jaquez (Homewood Hs) - South 4th
Cooper Hilyer (Fort Payne) - North 2nd
Jeremiah Gambles (Mae Jemison) - North 4th
Thoughts: I don’t hate the seeds here … Preston is #1 for me and I’m good with Falciani and Brown being as high as they are. Hilyer could be higher after taking 2nd, but he has a number of losses this season - so I’m against where he is seeded. You are going to want to keep an eye on Ameer Hasty as a potential bracketbuster.
285 lbs.
Favorite: Willie Cox (Wetumpka) - South 1st
Contenders:
Caleb Tinner (Oxford) - North 1st
Nathan Sayle (Buckhorn) - North 2nd
Gage Beyke (Gardendale Hs) - North 3rd
Darkhorse: Timothy Wilson (Mcadory) - South 3rd
Bracketbuster: Malik Watts (Pell City) - North 5th
Seeds (Top 8 - #1 seed is listed first and so on)
Willie Cox (Wetumpka) - South 1st
Caleb Tinner (Oxford) - North 1st
Nathan Sayle (Buckhorn) - North 2nd
Gage Beyke (Gardendale Hs) - North 3rd
Timothy Wilson (Mcadory) - South 3rd
Bardon King (Homewood Hs) - South 4th
Daniel Ellis (Mountain Brook) - South 2nd
Derrick SantaCruze (Mae Jemison) - North 4th
Thoughts: Cox is the returning State Champ and is the favorite, but had to battle through a 2-1 decision over Ellis to win the South title. That said - I’m a little surprised Ellis is down at the 7 seed - would have expected him to be in the 4-5 range personally.