January 9 - State Duals
6A Quarters
Athens vs. Ft Payne would end up being a dogfight all the way to the end. Both teams finished with 7 wins and bonus would end up being huge for Athens. Ft Payne got out to a 15-6 lead, but the 3-0 decision by Parker Wilson over Bryce Schwan would end up being important in the end. Schwan was able to keep the dual close and afforded Athens and opportunity to climb back into it with falls from Seth Henry and Spencer Dowland. Cooper Hilyer got a fall for Ft Payne making it Ft Payne 21, Athens 18 as we headed to the lightweights. Ft Payne added 6 more with a forfeit at 106, but Pedro Miguel could only manage a 5-2 decision over Drake Craig at 113 to push the Ft Payne lead to 30-18 with 5 matches remaining. Lakin Poff started things off for an Athens comeback with a fall at 120, followed by falls from Camden Fiedler and Carter Campbell to give Athens a 36-30 lead with 2 matches remaining. Carter Blalock pinned Matthew Raines to lock the dual at 138 … but Athens held the advantage with hammer Jaxon Unger coming up. Unger’s 1st period fall of Nicholas Cowart pushed Athens into the 6A semifinals with a 42-36 win.
1st Round
Athens 54, Mae Jemison 17
Athens got out to an 18-3 lead before George Mullins and Kyonne Rogers were able to bring Mae Jemison back into the dual with two major decison wins. Unfortuantely for Mae Jemsion, Athens would go on a roll with 3 falls and 2 forfeits as well as a solid 7-4 decision by Seth Henry over Jeremiah Gambles to roll to a 54-17 win and advance.
Ft Payne 46, Hartselle 32
We expected a tight dual between these two top 10 teams in 6A and that’s what we got. Ft Payne got off to a huge start with 4 falls in 5 matches from 144 to 175 to take a commanding 24-6 lead. Nathan Carroll earned a forfeit at 190 and Jameson Falciani got a fall at 215 to narrow the Ft Payne lead to 24-18. Unfortunately for Hartselle that comeback would be short-lived as Grayson Hester and Cooper Buffington would earn falls and Pedro Miguel would get a tough 9-0 major over Ethan Thorne to push Ft. Payne to a 40-18 lead with 4 matches remaining. Jackson Schutt got a tough 7-2 decision for Hartselle over Tucker Burkhead, but no bonus with 3 matches left was the nail in the coffin for Hartselle as they trailed 40-21 … and no ability to get the dual win barring an unsportsmanlike penalty or something. Gage Roberts and Jacob Doshier brought Hartselle back, but it wouldn’t be enough as Carter Blalock put the final touches on a solid Ft Payne win with a fall at 138 lbs.