Different way to win

By EASportsToday.com
- Tweet
Updated: January 21, 2017

Oh, happy Day: Cleburne County rallies to beat Weaver in the State Duals quarterfinals; Oxford reaches 6A semis with win over Gulf Shores

Cleburne County’s Samuel Pate applies pressure to Weaver’s Kyle Clapper. Pate scored points right before the final whistle to win a key match. (Photo by Daniel Lee)

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

WEAVER — Whoever said you can’t win for losing obviously has never been part of a high school wrestling match.

Cleburne County junior 222 Ryan Day had one job when he went on the mat against Weaver’s Caleb Allison in their State Duals match Saturday morning: Don’t get on your back.

Day didn’t win his match against one of the best wrestlers in his weight class in the state, but he didn’t get pinned, either, losing 9-3. And by not getting pinned he was able to secure the margin that guaranteed the Tigers the win and move on.

With their 36-25 victory, the Tigers move on to the Class 1A-5A semifinals, where they host Moody Tuesday. Moody defeated Tallassee, 35-27.

“That’s what this is about,” Cleburne County coach Rusty Mayfield said. “You can not-win a match and be a hero. That’s duals format and some people don’t understand that about athletics.”

Day, 19-12, understood the situation perfectly going in against Allison, 30-4 and ranked No. 1 in Class 1A-5A. His team held an 11-point lead with two weight classes remaining to wrestle, but they could have lost the whole thing by one if Weaver had gotten pins in the last two bouts.

When Day didn’t get pinned, the match was clinched. It really didn’t matter what heavyweight Trevor Ivey did in the final match of the day, but he won a 9-7 decision anyway to bring the final margin.

“It was very important because if I get on my back it gives them six points instead of three for a decision; that’s as simple as it is,” Day said. “If you go to your back, you lose your match and the dual, so if you don’t go to your back and you just get beat by decision, you might lose your match, but you don’t lose your dual.”

Mayfield figures he’d gotten five hours sleep the last two days running through all the possible lineup configurations but even he didn’t anticipate anything close to what Weaver coach Andy Fulmer put together.

The Bearcats shifted several weights in an attempt to take advantage of matchups and avoid giving up any free points. There were just had some matches that didn’t go as anticipated.

Nick Souder, Taylor Ward, Drake Monroe, Kyle Clapper and Stefan Kirby all wrestled in heavier weight divisions than normal and only Souder (140) and Monroe (154) scored points. Souder, the state’s No. 1 wrestler at 128, beat Zachary Williamson 19-5 and Monroe, normally at 147, beat Christopher Higgins 14-9.

Christian Seale’s pin of Kirby at 172 gave the Tigers the lead for good and Samuel Pate’s last-second 7-6 win over Clapper (No. 2 at 170) at 184 was an important get. Pate, wrestling at his normal weight, scored a penalty point in the final 10 seconds to cut into Clapper’s lead, then scored a takedown right before final whistle.

“Our goal today was to make them earn everything they got and they did,” Fulmer said. “We pushed all the right buttons; we just had a couple matches that didn’t go the way we thought.”

On the cover: Cleburne County’s Tyler Mayfield has control in his match with Weaver’s Taylor Ward (Photo by Daniel Lee)

Oxford 37, Gulf Shores 24

OXFORD — The back end of Oxford’s lineup scored wins in five of the final six matches to help the Yellow Jackets pull off the victory and advance to a Tuesday semifinals date at Wetumpka.

A four-bout winning streak in the middle of the match allowed Gulf Shores to take a 21-19 lead, but not getting pinned was huge for the Jackets. Matt King pinned Jean Tinoco in less than a minute at 170 and the Jackets never trailed again.

Jack Peavey and Josh Thomas followed with decisions in the next two weight classes and when Matthew Muncher avoided a pin at 220 the Jackets clinched the match.

“It was a team effort,” Jackets coach Matt Hicks said. “Gulf Shores is a quality team. They beat us earlier this year, so today speaks volumes about the effort of our kids. Everybody from 138 up bumped a class. All in all this was a team win, with guys sacrificing individual records and stats to wrestle where the team needed. I am very proud of that performance.”

Jeremy Ragsdale Invitational

ODENVILLE – Alexandria won four weight classes, finished second in another and got two individual awards in finishing second at St. Clair County High School.

The Valley Cubs scored 166.5 points, more than 60 behind winner Huntsville. They won at 108 (Jaden New), 115 (Kaleb Matthews), 122 (Fletcher Swindall) and 184 (Christian Knop), and were runnerup at 147 (Aaron Whittaker).

Knop was voted Most Valuable Wrestler and New’s 3-0 overtime victory over Jackson Elder of American Christian was voted best match of the tournament. Knop pinned all three opponents he faced, in a total of 7:02. New’s match was scoreless going into the third period and the seventh-grader scored an escape from the bottom and a takedown to win it.

Ohatchee’s Hayden Pitts was second at 172 and teammate Austin Snelling was fourth at 197.

Cleburne County 36, Weaver 25
108 – Cody Souder (W) pinned Christopher Carroll, 0:19 (0-6)
115 – Dylan Turner (CC) pinned Dylan DeLoach, 1:27 (6-6)
122 – Matt Williamson (CC) pinned Ian Markham, 2:32 (12-6)
128 – Devin Anderson (W) won by forfeit (12-12)
134 – Christian Pettus (W) def. Hunter Beason, 11-8 (12-15)
140 – Nick Souder (W) def. Zach Williamson, 19-5 (12-19)
147 – Tyler Mayfield (CC) pinned Taylor Ward, 2:39 (18-19)
154 – Drake Monroe (W) def. Christopher Higgins, 14-9 (18-22)
162 – Jason Higgins (CC) def. Billy Whitson, 8-4 (21-22)
172 – Christian Seale (CC) pinned Stefan Kirby, 2:12 (27-22)
184 – Sam Pate (CC) def. Kyle Clapper, 7-6 (30-22)
197 – Cade Smith (CC) def. Caleb Russell, 6-4 (33-22)
222 – Caleb Allison (W) def. Ryan Day, 9-3 (33-25)
285 – Trevor Ivey (CC) def. Connor Uesry, 9-7 (36-25)

Oxford 37, Gulf Shores 24
106 – Chase Hicks (O) pinned David Callaghan, 2:56 (6-0)
113 – Landon Burrage (O) pinned Brady George, 5:40 (12-0)
120 – Gage Hudson (G) def. Jakob Chisolm, 11-9 (12-3)
126 – Wesley Slick (O) def. Garrett Brasher, 10-5 (15-3)
132 – Jace Odom (G) pinned Jackson Hurst, 2:48 (15-9)
138 – Bailey Roan (G) won by forfeit (15-15)
145 – John Paul Uter (G) def. Carson Lindsey, 9-6 (15-18)
152 – William West (G) def. Gryce McDaniel, 9-6 (15-21)
160 — Andrew Boyles (O) def. Trent George, 13-4 (19-21)
170 – Matt King (O) pinned Jean Tinoco, 0:30 (25-21)
182 – Jack Peavey (O) def. Bryce Fuhrmann, 3-2 (28-21)
195 – Joshua Thomas (O) def. Kevin Burgess, 15-6 (32-21)
220 – Garrett Newman (G) def. Matthew Muncher, 11-4 (32-24)
285 – Clay Webb (O) won by forfeit (38-24)
x-Oxford penalized a misconduct point

Jeremy Ragsdale Invitational
Team scores: Huntsville 229.5, Alexandria 166.5, Madison County 147, Susan Moore 129, Leeds 127, Arab 121.5, Deshler 94, Mae Jemison 93.5, St. Clair County 89, Westminster Christian 87, Muscle Shoals 73.5, Montgomery Catholic 50.5, Springville 48, Shades Valley 47, American Christian (ACA) 40, Ohatchee 40, Ashville 30, Northridge 26, St. Paul II 9.5.

108 Results
1. Jaden New, Alexandria; 2. Jackson Elder, ACA; 3. Trinity Robertson, Susan Moore; 4. Eli Sims, Leeds.
Championship match: Jaden New (Alexandria) 29-2, 7th. def. Jackson Elder (ACA) 21-1, So. (Dec 3-0).
Consolation match: Trinity Robertson (Susan Moore) 27-9, Fr. pinned Eli Sims (Leeds) 30-17, Fr. (0:33).

115 Results
1. Kaleb Matthews, Alexandria; 2. Jacob Richman, Westminster; 3. Dakota Collins, Arab; 4. Jose Calderon, Susan Moore.
Championship match: Kaleb Matthews (Alexandria) 20-6, Fr. def. Jacob Richman (Westminster) 29-12, So. (Dec 13-7).
Consolation match: Dakota Collins (Arab) 48-14, Fr. def. Jose Calderon (Susan Moore) 7-7, 7th. (MD 14-4).

122 Results
1. Fletcher Swindall, Alexandria; 2. Garrett McClendon, Arab; 3. Kage Robertson, Susan Moore; 4. Jaime Harkins, Huntsville.
Championship match: Fletcher Swindall (Alexandria) 28-3, So. def. Garrett McClendon (Arab) 46-7, So. (Dec 10-4).
Consolation match: Kage Robertson (Susan Moore) 37-5, Jr. def. Jaime Harkins (Huntsville) 31-15, Jr. (Inj. 3:25).

128 Results
1. Brantley Mchugh, Madison County; 2. Max Miller, Saint Clair County; 3. Peyton Weber, Arab; 4. Sebastian Berres, Mae Jemison.
Championship match: Brantley Mchugh (Madison County) 28-4, Jr. def. Max Miller (Saint Clair County) 36-7, Sr. (Dec 3-1).
Consolation match: Peyton Weber (Arab) 21-7, Jr. def. Sebastian Berres (Mae Jemison) 35-9, Fr. (Dec 6-3).

134 Results
1. Jawaun Doughty, Huntsville; 2. Zeke Smotherman, Madison County; 3. Austin Miller, Madison County; 4. Jason Minchew, Shades Valley
Championship match: Jawaun Doughty (Huntsville) 46-0, Sr. def. Zeke Smotherman (Madison County) 20-14, Fr. (TF-1 0:00 (20-4)).
Consolation match: Austin Miller (Madison County) 8-4, Jr. def. Jason Minchew (Shades Valley) 32-15, 8th. (TB-1 8-7).

140 Results
1. Zachary Van alst, Montgomery Catholic; 2. Clay Jones, Arab; 3. Cole Williams, Huntsville; 4. Isiah Franklin, Mae Jemison.
Championship match: Zachary Van alst (Westminster) 50-0, Sr. def. Clay Jones (Arab) 50-3, Jr. (TF-1.5 4:50 (20-3)).
Consolation match: Cole Williams (Huntsville) 35-12, So. def. Isiah Franklin (Mae Jemison) 38-10, Jr. (MD 14-5).

147 Results
1. Joseph Green, Muscle Shoals, 2. Aaron Whittaker, Alexandria, 3. Jaquan Rhodes, Mae Jemison, 4. Hanes Green, Huntsville.
Championship match: Joseph Green (Muscle Shoals) 20-0, Sr. pinned Aaron Whittaker (Alexandria) 12-1, Jr. (1:27).
Consolation match: Jaquan Rhodes (Mae Jemison) 38-5, Sr. def. Hanes Green (Huntsville) 13-4, So. (TF-1.5 3:32 (17-1)).

154 Results
1. Houston Curtis, Huntsville; 2. Dawson Anderson, Leeds; 3. Taylor Cheeley, Springville; 4. Latrell Eldridge, Shades Valley.
Championship match: Houston Curtis (Huntsville) 40-1, Sr. def. Dawson Anderson (Leeds) 44-3, Sr. (Dec 8-4).
Consolation match: Taylor Cheeley (Springville) 20-10, Jr. pinned Latrell Eldridge (Shades Valley) 11-9, Jr. (3:41).

162 Results
1. Shon`derious Spralling, Mae Jemison; 2. Brandon Franklin, Leeds; 3. Michael Nitti, Huntsville; 4. Seth Shelton, Madison County.
Championship match: Shon`derious Spralling (Mae Jemison) 38-1, Sr. def. Brandon Franklin (Leeds) 31-5, Sr. (Dec 14-7).
Consolation match: Michael Nitti (Huntsville) 27-8, Sr. def. Seth Shelton (Madison County) 23-8, Sr. (Dec 9-2).

172 Results
1. Ethan Pippin, Westminster; 2. Hayden Pitts, Ohatchee; 3. Samuel Bramlett, Madison County; 4. Lawrence Chatman, Leeds.
Championship match: Ethan Pippin (Westminster) 40-0, Jr. def. Hayden Pitts (Ohatchee) 11-5, Sr. (Dec 8-3).
Consolation match: Samuel Bramlett (Madison County) 26-11, Sr. def. Lawrence Chatman (Leeds) 31-7, Jr. (Dec 5-4).

184 Results
1. Christian Knop, Alexandria; 2. Monquavias Ricks, Deshler; 3. Ryan Dozier, Leeds; 4. Deshawn Mitchell, Madison County.
Championship match: Christian Knop (Alexandria) 31-0, So. pinned Monquavias Ricks (Deshler) 26-5, Jr. (2:52).
Consolation match: Ryan Dozier (Leeds) 46-11, Sr. def. Deshawn Mitchell (Madison County) 17-13, Sr. (Fall 2:00).

197 Results
1. Jaeger Clark, Huntsville; 2. Stephen White, Madison County; 3. Slater Fuller, Deshler; 4. Austin Snelling, Ohatchee.
Championship match: Jaeger Clark (Huntsville) 42-2, Jr. pinned Stephen White (Madison County) 34-6, So. (4:00).
Consolation match: Slater Fuller (Deshler) 20-4, Sr. pinned Austin Snelling (Ohatchee) 18-5, Sr. (0:43).

222 Results
1. Skyler Mizzell, Saint Clair County; 2. Jack Tindall, Arab; 3. Ross Thompson, Susan Moore; 4. Luke Troyanek, Westminster.
Championship match: Skyler Mizzell (Saint Clair County) 33-3, So. pinned Jack Tindall (Arab) 46-6, Jr. (1:33).
Consolation match: Ross Thompson (Susan Moore) 31-13, Jr. def. Luke Troyanek (Westminster) 21-16, Sr. (2:43).

287 Results
1. Kendall Farr, Westminster; 2. Hunter Alexander, Arab; 3. Boots Ellett, Huntsville; 4. Darrien Eason, Mae Jemison
Championship match: Kendall Farr (Westminster) 34-3, Sr. def. Hunter Alexander (Arab) 47-10, Sr. (Dec 4-2).
Consolation match: Boots Ellett (Huntsville) 19-14, Jr. pinned Darrien Eason (Mae Jemison) 23-17, Jr. (3:35).