Elmore County had an impressive showing in the AHSAA State Wrestling Championships this weekend.
Five individual wrestlers won state championships from across Elmore County.
In Class 6A, Wetumpka’s Christian Preston won the 220-pound state championship while Willie Cox won the 285-pound state championship. Stanhope Elmore’s Connor Russo earned arguably the biggest match of the day with a state championship win in the 170-pound class.
In Class 5A, Tallassee’s Land Bell won the 132-pound class while Elmore County’s Myles Eyerly won the 285-pound championship.
“I thought this was such a great representative for our county and the river region as a whole,” Stanhope Elmore coach Hunter Adams said. “When you have a state champion from four out of our five schools, it shows that a lot of programs are doing good things. For a long time, it would be one every two or three years. Now we have five from one county. It was a great showing and it’s really demonstrative of the support for the sport and shows it’s not a cult sport anymore. It’s a sport that kids want to take part of around her.”
Wetumpka’s two-headed junior duo at the bottom of the weight classes continued their year-long dominances. Preston went 4-0 on the weekend and finished his season with a 10-8 sudden victory over Russell County’s Avery Boyette.
It was a rematch and repeat of last week’s sectional championship where Preston (36-4) beat him before. The sudden-victory was the only match of the weekend where Preston did not pin his opponent.
“I think the motivation of getting over that hump helped Christian,” Wetumpka coach Josh Highland said. “The finals match was a little dramatic and he had to take it to overtime off a questionable call, but he won it in a fashionable way.”
In the heavyweight class, Cox earned a decisive 6-3 win over his opponent from Gardendale. Cox, which had only lost two matches all season long, went 4-0 on the weekend. He won by decision in each match and won by at least two points in every single match played.
His closest match game in the semifinals when he won a 4-2 sudden-victory over an opponent from Robertsdale.
“The heavyweight is one of those weights that seem to get left behind,” Highland said. “People really look over it and most people are usually gone by the time they get to the heavyweight finals. But he showed all weekend long why he is the best heavyweight in 6A.”
In the 170-pound weight class, Stanhope Elmore’s Russo avenged his only loss of the season. Russo, who finished the season with a whopping 47-1 overall record, took down an undefeated Aiden Knight (84-1) from McAdory.
The two faced off last week in the sectionals, and despite never giving up a takedown, Russo lost due to stalling penalties. This week, he didn’t let the match come down to the referees.
He earned a near-fall in the second period, which gave him a 3-2 lead. He then turned on the defense and never allowed another point and gave him a state championship.
“It was another great match and it didn’t play out like the one last week. They both wrestled differently this week. Knight played much more defensively and didn’t allow Connor to shoot at his legs and it came down to a lot more ‘on the mat’ wrestling. The near fall was the difference maker in the match and he wrestled very well on his feet the rest of the match to get the win.”
Eyerly, Elmore County’s heavyweight champion, doesn’t wrestle quite like a heavyweight. In a weight class that is often more rare to see a pin, Eyerly knows how to take care of business.
He did that over and over again this weekend, earning pins in two of his three matches. He was able to pin both of his opponents in the quarterfinals and semifinals, then entered the championship against the same wrestler he lost to in the sectionals championship last weekend.
He was set to face off with Sam Schepker from Gulf Shores, but wasn’t going to let a repeat of last weekend happen. He changed his wrestling style and pulled out a decisive 7-2 win to claim the championship win.
He ended his season with a 38-6 overall record.
“He came in as the 2-seed, so we knew he was going to probably see the kid from Gulf Shores again in the finals,” Elmore County head coach Mason Thornton said. “He ended up with three big wins and almost three pins to win the championship. We’re super proud of him. We were a little too aggressive last week going for a trip, and went down big because of it. This week, we really worked on our throw defense and when Gulf Shores went to throw him, we ended up on top.”
Bell, wrestling in the 132-pound class, was one of the most dominant wrestlers of the entire weekend. He pinned every single one of his opponents over the weekend, securing victories over wrestlers from Elberta, Southside and Jasper.
Bell, who is only a sophomore, finished the year with a 43-3 overall record.
“That was probably one of the most dominant matches I’ve ever seen from a Tallassee wrestler in the finals,” Tallassee coach John Mask said. “He had his guy on his back probably 30 seconds into the match and didn’t get the call. Then in the second period, we took him down and pinned him. It was just a dominating match, but that’s the kind of year Land has had. He’s been a dominant wrestler.”
Those five were not the only wrestlers from the county to compete or place this weekend. Wetumpka's Chad Strickland finished 2nd overall, while Ramon Lozada finished 4th and Roman McWilliams finished 5th. Melvin Owens did not place.
Elmore County's Tyler Payton finished 4th overall, while Stran Webb, Shawn Colvin, Clark Wood, and Carson Thomas did not place.
Holtville's Brady Goodwin and Hunter Chavis both participated but did not place, along with Stanhope's Kristian Seals.
Tallassee, which sent 11 wrestlers, saw Rutland Phillips finish 2nd, Mason Nelson finish 3rd, and Caden Griffith finish 4th. Avery Brantley, Ethan Jones, Christian McCary, Tra'Mel McCoty, Joseph Hooks, Nolan Addeo, and Corbin Grover all wrestled on the weekend.
