Photo by Dawn Harrison.
Spain Park’s John Robert Thompson finished as the runner-up in 113-pound weight class at the state wrestling tournament.
The Oak Mountain, Spain Park and Chelsea high school wrestling teams pulled together top 10 team finishes at the state wrestling tournament Feb. 13-15 in Huntsville.
The Eagles battled with top Class 7A teams to ultimately finish in seventh place with 42 team points. They were four points away from sixth-place Spain Park. Three wrestlers finished in the top four in the state in their respective weight classes.
Freshman Camden Tipton finished in third place in the 106-pound division. He earned the third-place finish after defeating Blake Byerley from Auburn with a sudden victory in overtime.
Senior Sullivan Tipton was upset in the semifinals round by Gray Ortis from Mountain Brook, putting him at third place in the 138-pound division. He won the third-place match with a pin at the 2:20 mark against Manuel Marrero of Bob Jones. He went 50-2 in his season.
Senior Jacob Goldfon finished in fourth place in the 220-pound weight class after losing the third-place match to Kyle Watson of Smiths Station by fall at the 4:17 mark.
Chelsea finished in ninth place in 6A with 69.5 points. Chelsea edged out 10th-place Fort Payne by a half point.
Junior Preston Royster was the Hornets’ top finisher, with a fourth-place finish in the 160-pound division. Royster defeated his first two opponents in the tournament by fall before being placed in the third-place match.
Adam Byerman placed fifth in the 126- pound division for the Hornets. Elliot Gage also finished in fifth in the 195-pound weight class. Robert Montgomery came in sixth in the 220-pound weight class.
Spain Park finished sixth in 7A. Jaxon Bast was crowned 7A’s 285-pound weight class champion with a win by fall over Thor Zogg of Tuscaloosa County at the 5:00 mark. Freshman John Robert Thompson finished as the runner-up in the 113-pound weight class after being defeated by Yanni Vines of Thompson by a 6-0 decision.
