The Tallassee wrestling team wrapped up one of its best seasons in program history with a state championship appearance this weekend.
Tallassee had four wrestlers qualify for the individual state championships this weekend in Hunstville, but were only able to send three participants due to injury.
Land Bell, Bry Hathcock and Christian McCary were all able to wrestle in the tournament while Brendan Emfinger was unable to wrestle and had to forfeit both of his matches due to injury.
“I can’t say enough about the hard work and dedication by our wrestlers this year,” Tallassee coach John Mask said. “We are supper proud of our guys and very excited about the future. Several young men wrestled at the state tourney which is a very high honor. Land Bell (41-5), Bry Hathcock (27-13) and Christian McCary (38-9) all competed this weekend and will be back next year.”
Tallassee did not have any of its individual wrestlers medal in the championship. Hathcock, who was participating in the 126 pound weight class, lost both of his first two matches in the tournament.
McCary, participating in the 160 pound weight class, saw an early exit after suffering an injury in his first match of the tournament. He was forced to forfeit his first match due to the injury, then was unable to wrestle in the consolation bracket.
Bell was the lone Tallassee wrestler to win a match in the state championships. He was participating in the 132 pound weight class, and won his first match of the tournament by decision.
In the quarterfinals round, Bell lost by decision, 3-2, and was sent to the consolation bracket. He won his first match of the consolation round and would have had a chance to medal, but he was forced to forfeit his fourth match of the day due to injury.
“It goes that way sometimes,” Mask said. “Some years you have injuries and struggles, but I think they’ll be better men because of it and will be back next year working harder than ever. It’s great to get young kids there to see it. They’ll be back and improve. It’s a great job from them to get there.”
Despite none of the individual wrestlers medaling in the state championships, the 2021-2022 wrestling season was still one of the best seasons in Tallassee school history.
Tallassee finished the team portion of the season with a 29-1 record, and was one of the top eight teams left in the Class 5A/6A division of the season. The Tigers were able to win the Region 2 championship and had a handful of All-Region wrestlers on their team.
“I’m tickled about the year and I’m not going to let the individual state championships get me down,” Mask said. “This is one of the best teams we’ve ever had as a team. We had 10 guys who were a match away from going.”
Elmore County high school sent one wrestler, Ramon Lozada, to the state tournament. Lozada wrestled in the 113 pound weight class and medaled by earning fifth place. He won his first two matches of the tournament, 15-3 and 16-4, to reach the semifinals round.
Lozada went on to lose his next two matches before winning the fifth place match to secure his medal.