Jackets hold slim lead
- Updated: February 16, 2017
Oxford holds tenuous 6A lead after first day of state wrestling finals; Cleburne County second in 1A-5A, Alexandria, Weaver 5-6
By East Alabama Sports Today
HUNTSVILLE – The day’s matches had just concluded moments earlier and Oxford coach Matt Hicks was busy assessing the results. He sounded concerned.
The Yellow Jackets grabbed the first-day lead in Class 6A of the state wrestling championships, but Hicks knew it was far from over.
The Jackets scored 85.5 points and left the VonBraun Center with a 13-point lead on Southside-Gadsden, but when asked if his team wrestled well Hicks said “not exceptionally.”
Oxford qualified 13 wrestlers for the finals, but only six advanced to the semifinals of their weight classes — Landon Burrage (113), Jakob Chisolm (120), Wesley Slick (126), county champion/MVP Matt King (160), Josh Thomas (195) and Clay Webb (285). Webb’s two victories both came by pins inside one minute.
“We had some do what was expected and some who didn’t,” Hicks said. “If you want to interview somebody who wrestled really well, you need to talk to Southside. They’re doing outstanding. They’re outwrestling everybody.”
Five of the Jackets’ other seven qualifiers lost in the second round, and that’s where the calculating comes in. Southside has eight wrestlers in the field and seven are in the semifinals. Pinson Valley has 10 in the field and are expected to load up on points through the consolation bracket.
The Yellow Jackets beat Southside in the State Duals tournament earlier this season to go along with their Calhoun County title and last week’s South Section championship.
“It tells me it’s still anybody’s tournament,” Hicks said of the night’s results. “It’s not over by any stretch of the imagination. If we wrestle well tomorrow we’ll have a clearer understanding, but it’s far from over.”
Arab leads the Class 1A-5A standings. The Knights scored 77.5 points on the first day and hold a 7.5-point lead over Cleburne County. Alexandria was fifth (45) and Weaver sixth (45).
Defending state champions Nick Souder of Weaver (126) and Christian Knop of Alexandria (182) both have kept their hopes alive of repeating, reaching semifinals.
Other semifinalists from the Calhoun-Cleburne county bloc include Weaver’s Cody Souder (106), Kyle Clapper (170), Caleb Allison (220); Alexandria’s Jaden New (106), Fletcher Swindall (120), Aaron Whittaker (145); Cleburne County’s Dylan Turner (113), Zac Williamson (138), Tyler Mayfield (152), Jason Higgins (160), Christian Seale (170), Sam Pate (182); Ohatchee’s Caleb Montgomery (220) and Wellborn’s Zach Chandler (220).
Among the early upsets of note, Weaver heavyweight Connor Uesry stunned Arab’s North section runner-up Hunter Alexander in the opening round 6-5. Uesry fell in the next round and wrestles Saks’ Jordan Brooks, the South section runner-up, in his first match Friday.
TEAM SCORES
CLASS 6A: Oxford 85.5, Southside-Gadsden 72.5, Homewood 57.5, Wetumpka 55.5, Pinson Valley 54.0, Athens 48.5, Gulf Shores 46.0, Gardendale 40.0, Clay-Chalkville 38.0, McAdory 32.0, Chelsea 25.0, Spanish Fort 24.0, Austin 23.0, Columbia 23.0, Pell City 23.0, Benjamin Russell 20.0, Helena 20.0, Opelika 17.0, Stanhope Elmore 17.0, Fort Payne 16.0, Park Crossing 16.0, Pelham 15.5, Minor 12.0, Muscle Shoals 11.0, Carver-Montgomery 10.0, Center Point 9.0, Shades Valley 9.0, Northview 8.0, Daphne 7.0, Florence 7.0, Hueytown 6.0, Baldwin Co 5.0, Northridge 5.0, Brookwood 4.0, Carver-Birmingham 4.0, Hartselle 4.0, Paul Bryant 3.0, Russell County 3.0, Sidney Lanier 2.0, Walker 1.0, Decatur 0.0, Robertsdale 0.0.
CLASS 1A-5A: Arab 77.5, Cleburne County 70.0, Tallassee 63.0, Mae Jemison 48.0, Alexandria 46.0, Weaver 45.0, Moody 40.0, Hayden 35.0, Madison County 32.0, Scottsboro 31.5, Dora 31.0, Wellborn 30.0, Holtville 27.0, Deshler 24.0, St. Clair County 23.0, Mortimer Jordan 20.0, Westminster Christian 19.5, Leeds 18.0, Susan Moore 16.0, Fultondale 14.0, Montgomery Catholic 14.0, Oak Grove 13.5, Ohatchee 13.0, Elmore County 9.5, Alabama Sch. For Blind 9.0, Lee-Huntsville 9.0, Piedmont 8.0, Saks 8.0, St. James 8.0, Beauregard 7.0, Shelby County 7.0, Wilson 6.0, Sumiton Christian 5.0, Montevallo 4.0, Prattville Christian 4.0, American Christian 3.0, New Hope 3.0, Ranburne 3.0, East Limestone 2.0, Ashville 1.0, Corner 1.0, Gordo 1.0, Beulah 0.0, Curry 0.0, Dadeville 0.0, J.B. Pennington 0.0, Lincoln 0.0, St. John Paul II 0.0, Thomasville 0.0.
STATE SEMIFINALS MATCHES
CLASS 6A
113 – Landon Burrage, Oxford (S-2) vs. Trent Young, Athens (N-1)
120 – Jakob Chisolm, Oxford (S-1) vs. Marshall Stone, Homewood (N-2)
126 – Wesley Slick, Oxford (S-1) vs. Kim Coleman, Gardendale (N-2)
160 – Matt King, Oxford (S-1) vs. Sam Ingram, Chelsea (N-2)
195 – Josh Thomas, Oxford (S-2) vs. David Turner, McAdory (S-3)
285 – Clay Webb, Oxford (S-1) vs. Nasir Hillaire, Minor (N-2)
CLASS 1A-5A
106 – Jaden New, Alexandria (S-1) vs. Joseph Martin, Arab (N-2); Cody Souder, Weaver (S-2) vs. Jailen Young, Jemison (N-1)
113 – Dylan Turner, Cleburne County (S-5) vs. Macon Edwards, Fultondale (N-1)
120 – Fletcher Swindall, Alexandria (S-2) vs. John McAlpin, Scottsboro N-1)
126 – Nick Souder, Weaver (S-1) vs. Sebastian Berry, Jemison (N-2)
138 – Zac Williamson, Cleburne County (S-2) vs. Chace Phillips, Hayden (N-1)
145 – Aaron Whittaker, Alexandria (S-2) vs. Carial Tarter, Mortimer Jordan (N-1)
152 – Tyler Mayfield, Cleburne County (S-1) vs. Patrick Harden, Arab (N-2)
160 – Jason Higgins, Cleburne County (S-5) vs. Will Spencer, Arab (N-1)
170 – Kyle Clapper, Weaver (S-1) vs. Christian Seale, Cleburne County (S-4)
182 – Christian Knop, Alexandria (S-1) vs. Monquavias Ricks, Deshler (N-2); Sam Pate, Cleburne County (S-2) vs. Davion Watkins, Lee-Huntsville (N-1)
220 – Caleb Montgomery, Ohatchee (S-2) vs. Skyler Mizzell, St. Clair County (S-3); Caleb Allison, Weaver (S-1) vs. Zachery Chandler, Wellborn (S-4)
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