Oxford defends crown

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: January 27, 2015

Yellow Jackets win county wrestling title; Ohatchee’s Entrekin top wrestler

Ohatchee’s Payton Entrekin (L), with coach Matt Sweatman, was voted most valuable wrestler of the tournament. On the cover, Oxford coaches Matt Tanner (L) and Brandon Jerome intently watch their wrestlers.

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

WEAVER — Oxford came into the Calhoun County Wrestling Championship fully expecting to successfully defend its title one year removed and the Yellow Jackets pulled it off.

Oxford won seven of 14 weight classes and scored 202 points to win by a wide margin. Ohatchee earned a victory of sorts in finishing second (169), ahead of third-place Weaver (162). It was the first time the Indians had beaten the Bearcats in the three years of their program.

Ohatchee senior 128 Payton Entrekin, coming back from blowing out his left elbow in December, was voted Most Valuable Wrestler. Oxford’s Matt Tanner was voted Coach of the Year. Both honorees received five votes among the seven coaches.

“My kids expect to win … and this is just the next step,” Tanner said. “We expect to win the state championship and whoever does all the rankings, for whatever all that’s worth, think we’re second, but no matter what they rank us we think we’re gonna win.

“That’s what we’re gonna work for and this is just another step. This is just as important as the state tournament because it’s the next one we wrestled, so we came in and wrestled the way we’re supposed to.”

Even on a day some may not have wrestled their best, the Yellow Jackets won half the weight classes — Hayden Carpenter (115), Mason Blakeney (122), Quintez Pearson (134), Matt King (140), Jacob Shake (162), Hunter Lee (184) and Clay Webb (287). Shake’s 7-2 decision snapped the 24-match winning streak of Alexandria’s Christian Knop.

Weaver crowned four champions — Nick Souder (108), Jacob Howard (147), Chase Rogers (197) and Matt Elston (222) – while Ohatchee had two (Entrekin and 172 Hayden Pitts) and Saks had one (184 Taylor Brown). Souder improved to 55-1 with his triumph.

Entrekin blew through his bracket. He scored three pins in a combined time of 1 minute, 9 seconds. He won the championship bout with a 10-second pin over Gannon Womack of Alexandria. His longest bout took 46 seconds.

“This means a lot to me because it made up for all the lost matches I’ve had from not being able to wrestle when I dislocated my elbow,” Entrekin said. “This was my comeback definitely.”

The other two most valuable wrestler votes went to Souder and Lee. The other two coach’s votes went to Ohatchee’s Matt Sweatman.

One highly anticipated final that never materialized came at heavyweight. It was expected to be another epic battle between Ohatchee’s Hunter Barclay and Weaver’s Caleb Allison, but neither made it to the mat. Allison was scratched before the meet after suffering a rib injury that could keep him out for weeks and Barclay was suffering a skin condition that prevented him from competing.

Oxford won the tournament in 2013, but had to wait two years to defend because last year’s event was postponed because of bad weather. That was Tanner’s first year with the program.

“I was pumped, I was ready to go,” Tanner said. “The two previous years I was at Wellborn and we made a good run … so last year I’m at Oxford, we’ve got a pretty good team put together and are excited to come in and try to beat Weaver, then we just didn’t get to.

“It’s important because it’s County and that’s how I approached it with my kids. You’re wrestling everybody in the county so are you better than everybody in the county? You can talk about it all you want to, they can talk about it all they want to, but what matters is the way it ends up and this is an opportunity to prove that.”

UP NEXT: Ohatchee’s Payton Entrekin comes back from a devastating injury to win a County title.

Weaver’s Nick Souder is in complete control of his 108-pound championship bout against Jimmy Wilson of Ohatchee. Souder improved to 55-1 with his victory.

CALHOUN COUNTY WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP

Team Scores: 1 Oxford 202, 2. Ohatchee 169, 3. Weaver 162, 4. Saks 114, 5. Piedmont 70, 6. Alexandria 65.5, 7, Wellborn 34.

108 Results
Championship Match: Nick Souder (Weaver) 55-1, So. def. Jim Wilson (Ohatchee) 52-9, 8th. (MD 18-4).
Consolation Match: Fletcher Swindall (Alexandria) 52-11, 8th. def. Wesley Slick (Oxford) 29-11, 8th. (Dec 5-0).

115 Results
Championship Match: Hayden Carpenter (Oxford) 48-14, Sr. def. Lane Trapp (Alexandria) 48-6, Jr. (Dec 2-0).
Consolation Match: Kevin Griffith (Ohatchee) 48-9, Sr. def. Brady Rinehard (Walter Wellborn) 23-7, So. (Dec 11-7).

122 Results
Championship Match: Mason Blakeney (Oxford) 35-8, Sr. def. Josh Sexton (Ohatchee) 47-8, Jr. (Dec 7-4).
Consolation Match: Drake Monroe (Weaver) 26-25, 8th. pinned Colton Pledger (Walter Wellborn) 2-8, 8th. (3:30).

128 Results
Championship Match: Payton Entrekin (Ohatchee) 16-2, Sr. pinned Gannon Womack (Alexandria) 36-22. (0:10).
Consolation Match: Matthew Lindsey (Walter Wellborn) 16-9, 8th. pinned Jeffrey Finley (Saks) 18-24, Fr. (2:06).

134 Results
Championship Match: Quintez Pearson (Oxford) 45-16, Jr. def. Andrew Kilgore (Saks) 32-8, So. (Dec 8-6).
Consolation Match: Jackson Henry (Ohatchee) 28-31, So. def. Christian Doss (Piedmont) 16-16, Fr. (Dec 6-2).

140 Results
Championship Match: Matt King (Oxford) 46-3, Fr. pinned Kyle Clapper (Weaver) 41-9, So. (3:24).
Consolation Match: Josh Murray (Ohatchee) 32-8, Sr. pinned Jonathan Oliphant (Saks) 27-16, Jr. (4:55).

147 Results
Championship Match: Jacob Howard (Weaver) 51-6, Sr. pinned Speed Pitts (Oxford) 22-10, Jr. (5:30).
Consolation Match: Ty Brown (Alexandria) 34-13, Sr. pinned Clayton Conner (Walter Wellborn) 15-12, So. (4:33).

154 Results
Championship Match: Taylor Brown (Saks) 34-9, Jr. def. Trey Snyder (Piedmont) 16-13, So. (Dec 5-0).
Consolation Match: Austin Snelling (Ohatchee) 31-23, So. def. Gryce Mcdaniel (Oxford) 22-23, Sr. (Dec 4-2).

162 Results
Championship Match: Jacob Shake (Oxford) 49-6, Fr. def. Christian Knop (Alexandria) 55-11. (Dec 7-2).
Consolation Match: Logan Johnson (Weaver) 34-16, Sr. def. Devionte Garrett (Saks) 20-18, So. (Dec 8-7).

172 Results
Championship Match: Hayden Pitts (Ohatchee) 49-12, So. def. Tyler Johnson (Weaver) 32-14, Jr. (MD 12-2).
Consolation Match: Ethen Handy (Saks) 30-15, Jr. pinned Logan Smith (Piedmont) 18-16, 8th. (0:52).

184 Results
Championship Match: Hunter Lee (Oxford) 57-3, Sr. pinned Michael Collin Allison (Weaver) 42-9, Jr. (1:06).
Consolation Match: Skyler Nicholson (Piedmont) 23-11, Fr. pinned Jeffie Worrell (Ohatchee) 30-28, Jr. (2:42).

197 Results
Championship Match: Chase Rodgers (Weaver) 45-5, Jr. pinned Kane Pitts (Oxford) 29-29, So. (3:14).
Consolation Match: Caleb Montgomery (Ohatchee) 38-15, So. pinned Zachery Chandler (Walter Wellborn) 13-16, So. (4:12).

222 Results
Championship Match: Matt Elston (Weaver) 39-14, So. pinned Steven Minniefield (Ohatchee) 31-14, Sr. (2:44).
Consolation Match: Jaden Amberson (Piedmont) 2-1, pinned Jordan Brooks (Saks) 6-24, Fr. (1:23).

287 Results
Championship Match: Clay Webb (Oxford) 36-20, 8th. pinned Bradley Lewis (Saks) 5-30, Jr. (0:07).
Consolation Match: Jamie Crutcher (Piedmont) 27-11, Jr. pinned Dakota Pruitt (Ohatchee) 1-2. (0:50).