John Carroll Catholic (AL)

Head Coach: TJ Zito (4th season)

Coach Zito continues to build at John Carroll - now entering their 4th season. The Cavaliers return four wrestlers with post-season experience in Jay Zito, Sequoah Hicks, Jimmy McMillan, and Bobby O’Farrell. Add in Jackson Beals and the Cavs should be solid from 120-152. How high the Cavaliers climb in the new look 5A might come down to how well a few newcomers develop this season. Liam Aguirre and Frank Bradford should handle two of the weight classes up top and Drew Helton and freshman Alex Plaia will fit into the middle of the lineup with Zito, Hicks, McMillan, and O’Farrell.

There is no doubt John Carroll has made gains in each of the last 3 seasons … this is still a fairly young squad that will continue to get better. Coach Zito has to be excited about the possibilities this season.

“In its fourth season since starting in 2019, John Carroll will have its most robust and experienced roster. Not only are five key starters returning, but a handful of new students with past wrestling experience will join the team at the upper weights. JC will likely fill out the roster for the first time and will be wrestling hard through the new 5a division. Jay Zito and Jimmy Mcmillan have consistently wrested with Warrior Wrestling Club during off-season. Zito took 2nd at the Battle of Bama 126lbs, 2nd in folkstyle, freestyle, and greco at Clash over the Mountain 126lbs, and won the Panama City Freedom Fest 126lbs. Many new team members wrestled their first matches ever at the Spain Park referee training tournament over the summer, picking up much-needed experience and sneaking in some wins. The program is growing and on an upswing heading into year four.”

— Coach Zito

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.

Hewitt-Trussville (AL)

Head Coach: Chris Pike (entering 3rd year at Hewitt-Trussville; 20 years overall)

Staff: Brad Hettich, Scott Robertson, Jared Box, Scott Hastings, Matt Ryan, Doug Benton, Roy Mitros

The Huskies ran with Thompson and Vestavia a year ago, but came up just short and finished 3rd in a very tough 7A. This is a program that has demonstrated the ability to compete with anyone … but in 2022-23 they will need to do it with a much younger group. The Huskies put 7 on the podium in 2022, but lose 4 including State Champ Lucas Reaves, State Runner-up Logan Reaves, and Placers Dalton Zimmerman and Andrew Shelton. They also lose a quartet of seniors in Alton Lucas, Thomas Shaffer, Luke Golden, and Colby Little that were key parts of the Huskies lineup.

The cupboard is far from bare with the return of State Champ Hunter Jones, State Placers Clark Box and Chris Hawkins as well as State Qualifiers Bradley Hastings, Delvecchio Alston, and Cameron Cantwell. In some states and, perhaps other classifications in Alabama, 3 placers and 3 qualifiers would put you in the hunt … but that’s not necessarily the case in Alabama 7A - where every weight counts a great deal. It doesn’t mean the Huskies won’t be in the thick of the race, but for them to challenge for the title they will need some new faces to step up. Keep an eye on Alec Nelson, Riley Hulwi, and Jack Bessee to make some noise at the bottom of the Husky lineup and for Jacob Triplett, John Paul Davidson, Tucker Rudick, and Will Rivers to do so throughout the middle. The strength of this lineup is down low with Box and Hastings (106-120) and then up top with Alston, Cantwell, Jones, and Hawkins (152-220). Keep an eye on Zach Chatman to fill in at 220 or 285 (wherever we don’t see Hawkins).

“We lost 8 starters and 12 seniors from last years team. We obviously have some very good wrestlers to replace. This years team will be significantly younger but they have worked very hard and we will maintain high expectations for them to replace them and maintain the standard the previous seniors set for the program.”

— Coach Pike

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.

Enterprise (AL)

Head Coach: Willie Fells

A ton of new faces for the Enterprise girls program, but one very important constant … Evelyn Holmes-Smith. Evelyn is already a 2x State Champ and is one of the most talented 16U’s in the country. She was a Fargo All American this past summer and has already demonstrated that she has the tenacity to compete with anyone in the country - much less Alabama. Coach Fells couldn’t have asked for a better foundation on which to build a program. That said - for Enterprise to rise through the ranks and compete with the best programs in the state they will need to add more hammers … you can’t win team titles with just one (no matter how good she is).

“We are excited about the opportunity to grow our girls program here at EHS. We will have the most girls we have had in history this year. With Evelyn Holmes Smith, Fargo all American, leading the way we feel we will be able to now compete at the state level. We are hosting our very first Queen of the South girls tournament in 2022. The excitement around girl wrestling at EHS is growing fast.”

— Coach Fells

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.