Huntsville, AL – Weaver leads after day one, gets five wrestlers through to championship semifinals. (Includes rundown of wrestlers still active for area teams)
Top-ranked Weaver, seeking its third consecutive Class 1A-4A state wrestling title, emerged as the leader after the first day of the state tournament.
The Bearcats lead the 1A-4A field with 53 points, 11 ahead of second-place Ashville and 15 better than St. James after the first day of competition at Huntsville’s Von Braun Center. Competition resumes Friday and concludes Saturday.
As for other area teams, Ranburne is sixth with 33 points, Cherokee County 14th with 18, Cleburne County 17th with 15, White Plains 18th with 13.5, Piedmont 19th with 12, Ohatchee 25th with seven, Pleasant Valley 31st with four and Saks 34th with two.
Scoreless W.S. Neal, Wellborn and Wilson are tied for 35th.
Oxford is 18th in 6A with eight points. Class 5A competition, which includes Alexandria, starts Friday.
Hoping to complete the sweep of the 1A-4A duals and conventional state titles, Weaver got five wrestlers through to their weight class championship semifinals: Cael Fulmer (106), Haiden Hise (120), Dalton Fink (126), Caden Thornton (157) and Brandon Jolliff (215).
Peyton Andrews (113), Gabriel Snyder (132), Dylan Brown (138), Gianlucca Torres (144), DaShawn Kirby Barnes (150), Christopher Thornton (165), Hunter Hise (175) and Zachary Hooks (190) remain alive in consolation brackets.
“I don’t feel like we wrestled great today, but they wrestled tough,” Weaver coach Andy Fulmer said. “In the past, we’ve been on one side of the mat, but we were kind of spread out today. I think that had something to do with it.
“We had a match way down where 7A normally wrestles, and then we’re back over here where we sit and where our fans are. I’m hoping tomorrow, it’ll settle down a little bit and we’ll be kind of in our little area the whole time.”
Highlights for other area teams:
Class 1A-4A
RANBURNE: Carter Driver (106), Zck Buchanan (175) and Zaden Benefield (285) are through to championship semifinals. Hunter Hulsey (113) and Braden Driver (138) remain alive in consolation brackets.
CLEBURNE COUNTY: Austen Mayfield (144) advanced to his championship semifinal. Jacob Biggers (106), Jackson Letson (132), Colton Mayfield (157), Brayden Beam (175) and Will Johnson (215) remain alive in consolation brackets.
CHEROKEE COUNTY: Kurtis Soles (132) and Andrew Young (150) advanced to championship semifinals.
WHITE PLAINS: Mason Hahm (120) reached his championship semifinal. Tanner Jarrell (126), Wesley Beebe (144), James Heard (157) and Houston Jarrell (165) remain active in consolation brackets.
PIEDMONT: Myles Bailey (106), Hendrix Keener (113), Izak Bailey (132), Hunter Bagley (144), Caleb Tidwell (157), Elijah Young (215) and Dalton Chandler (285) remain active in consolation brackets.
OHATCHEE: Jaxon Tuiolosega (126) reached his championship semifinal. Phoenix Tuiolosega (106) and James Howard (175) remain active in consolation brackets.
PLEASANT VALLEY: Baron House (132) and Connor Crump (285) remain active in consolation brackets.
SAKS: John Bussey (190) remains active in the consolation bracket after reaching the championship quarterfinals.
WELLBORN: Noah Smith (106), Noah Screws (144), Kaydon King (150), Ethan Carroll (190) and Andrew Salter (285) remain active in consolation brackets.
Class 6A
OXFORD: Karlise Hubbard (106), Tristan Williams (144), Jeremiah Edwards (165) and Caleb Tinner (285) remain active in consolation brackets:
