McAdory (AL)

Head Coach: Blake Dutton

Staff: Robert Wilkerson

A year ago McAdory finished 3rd in a very tough 5A-6A traditional state tournament … 13 points behind the eventual Champs - Mortimer Jordan. McAdory moves to 6A this season and will have to battle through Gardendale, Homewood, and defending Champs Mortimer Jordan if they are going to take the title in 2023. Fortunate for the Yellow Jackets - they return the bulk of their 112.5 points (actually return wrestlers that accumulated 102.5 of those points and 8 of 10 that competed at the state tournament a year ago).

The Jackets are led by returning State Champs Hudson Waldrop and Aiden Knight as well as State Placers Savian Graham and Wesley Miller. Waldrop and Knight can go compete with anyone and will be called on the lead the way in 2023 … all 4 of the above are Seniors and they will play a huge role in whether McAdory takes the team title or not. Christion Griggs, Marvin Barrera, Jaxon Hudgins, and Timothy Wilson each qualified a year ago and each had wins in Huntsville at the end of the season. If McAdory can put eight on the podium - they will be tough to beat. The key for the Jackets is the continued development of David Angel and CJ Mickle as well as the return of KeAndre Poellnitz who missed the post-season due to injury. Keep an eye on Erik Lessears, Braylon Hill, Jourdan Godwin, Tanner Raney, and Ryan McFarland. Mortimer Jordan won it a year ago with 6 Placers and another 4 qualifiers and in a competitive 6A … that should be the expectation - so who joins Waldrop, Knight, Graham, and Miller on the podium and who joins the others in getting points in Huntsville?

“This is a very seasoned group. This team should be led by 7 or 8 senior starters and a couple of juniors that have seen a lot of mat time. We should have 9 or 10 weight classes that can compete with anyone. They have worked hard all off season. This is a great group and should be able to compete for a state championship. We are very excited about this season. As a coach this group is very special to me.”

— Coach Dutton

NOTE: All mentions of placers and qualifiers in the body are based on the 2021-22 season. If a wrestler placed higher or lower in a previous year it is not captured above.

7A

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5A-6A

1A-4A

Deshler downs Ohatchee 37-37 on criteria

The Deshler crowed erupted when Devin Pennington finally was able to get the fall at 126 to give Deshler a 37-37 win based on criteria and send the Tigers to the 1A-4A State Finals. Pennington hunted the fall the entire match (and for a brief time ended up on his own back at the end of the 2nd period) before getting the fall over Zane Calhoun with about a minute left. Deshler trailed 37-31 heading into that final match … both teams finished with 7 wins and 5 falls and criteria came down to “The team having the greater number (total match points) of first-point(s) scored shall be declared the winner.”

We began the dual at 132 where Brooks Balentine and Dathan Laster put Deshler up quickly with 2 falls and Deshler led 12-0 as we went to 145. Malachi Goble got Ohatchee on the board with a fall at 145 before Ross Mills got a huge major decision over Deacon Engle to push Deshler up 16-6. Matthew King and James Howard got falls for Ohatchee to put Ohatchee up 18-16 after 6 matches.

Devon Jeffreys downed Cody Freer 9-3 to put Deshler up 19-18 at the halfway point. Troy Galloway got a fall for Ohatchee and Jamarion Sanderson got a fall for Deshler to keep it a one point match. Ethan Thrash downed Lathan Jeffreys 10-3 (7 points - 1 from a major) to put the score 27-25 Ohatchee with 4 matches remaining. Briley Carter pushed the Ohatchee lead 33-25 with a quick fall at 106 before Hayden Adkins got a fall for Deshler at 113 … 33-31 Ohatchee. Kasin Bramlett downed Brian Hill 10-0 to add 4 points for Ohatchee but still keep the door open for a Deshler comeback. Pennington sealed the win and pushed Deshler into Friday’s final.

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Ashville beats St James 40-24

It was over when … Bryan Hampton downed Pruitt Conner 8-6 in sudden victory at 145 to put the dual out of reach.

Ashville got off the a good start when Travis Smith downed Brooks Bacheler 1-0 at 160 and Dylan Harris beat Ariel July 5-2 to put Ashville up 6-0. Clayton Craft got St James in the match with a major decision of Cody Fincher to put the dual at 6-4. AJ Alozie received a forfeit at 195 to put St James up 10-6. Ashville got a 2-0 win from Layden Olson over Owen Penney at 220 and then falls by Mason Wilson at 285 and at 106 from Owen Meads to push the Ashville lead to 21-10. St James pulled ahead with pins by Braylen Corley and Logan Hartson and a 6-3 decision win by Granger Hicks over Nick Williamson to put the dual at 25-21 St James heading into the final 4 matches.

Unfortunately for St James that would be the last match they would win … Gavin Hare got a 11-1 major at 132 and Tyler Ebner nearly put the dual out of reach with a fall at 138 to put Ashville up 31-25 heading into the final 2 matches. Hampton (Ashville) and Conner (St James) were scoreless in the 1st period before we had a wild back and forth 2nd period … 5-5 to start the 3rd. Pruitt Conner got an escape with a minute remaining and then Hampton got a penalty point with 1 second remaining in the match to tie it at 6. I didn’t get to watch it so I have no idea of what happened at the end … but if St James had gotten the win then it would have been 31-28 heading into the final match. BUT a point was awarded and Hampton got the takedown in sudden victory to send Ashville to the finals. Given that St James forfeited at 152 - it is likely that the point at the end wasn’t the deciding factor, but I don’t know.