- Tallassee Mayor Bobby Payne greets co-head coaches Jared Jones and John Mask Saturday night as the state champion Tigers arrived back in town after two days at the AHSAA State Wrestling Championship in Huntsville.
Tallassee, with a 117-89 lead over Fultondale and St. Clair County to start the championship round, posted a 6-for-6 mark en route to winning the school’s first team state championship at the AHSAA’s 59th State Wrestling Championships being held at Huntsville’s Von Braun Center.
At the end of the round, Tallassee’s lead swelled to 143.5 points, putting them on top of sectional rival St. James (96.5). The result was a flip of last year’s finish when the Trojans held on to take the title away from the Tigers.
Of the eight wrestlers qualified for sectionals, Tallassee kept six alive and wrestling throughout the championship bracket. Those six wrestled their way to state championships.
Kennon Reese (126 pounds) — He pinned Peyton Entrenkin (Ohatchee) to advance to the final and defeated Austin Everett (Dora) in the championship match.
Defending champion Josh Epperson (132) — With a 50-4 mark, Epperson picked up a 19-7 win over Tyler Medfield (Cleburn County) to advance and defeated Will Mizic (Weaver) in the championship match.
D.J. Rivers (152) — With just 11 wins on the year, Rivers pinned Marcus Sharit (St. Clair County) in the championship semifinal and defeated Coleman Adams (St. James) in the championship match.
B.J. Thomas (160) — The Tallassee senior upended Dalton Wiggins (Ranburne) and claimed the 18-8 victory to move into the championship match where he defeated Matthew McGough (Sumiton Christian).
Drew Baker (182) — Baker’s path to the championship wasn’t an easy one as he gutted out a 5-4 win over 65-match-winner Dylan Harmon (Oak Grove) to advance to the championship. In the finale, he defeated Austin Durbin (Fultondale).
Devontae McKenzie (195) — After pinning his first opponent, McKenzie made short work of Mitchell Holcomb (Fultondale) to advance to the championship match. In the finale, he defeated Robbie Mckenna (Oak Grove).
The three-day meet was squeezed into a two-day meet due to the weather conditions that forced postponement of the first day’s schedule Thursday. All thee classifications completed championship round matches through the semifinals Friday and finished at 10 p.m.
“We want thank our teams, coaches, officials, the City of Huntsville, the Huntsville Sports Commission and their tireless staff of volunteers for their dedication in helping us make these adjustments,” AHSAA Executive Director Steve Savarese said. We also want to thank the many fans who attended the wrestling the first day. It was a wonderful day of cooperation from everyone involved. We are looking forward to another outstanding day of wrestling Saturday.”
A celebration is planned for later on Saturday night at the parking lot in front of Cozumel’s as the team will receive a police escort into town.
