Tigers win the North
By Staff
Charles Prince, Hartselle Enquirer
SCOTTSBORO – The Tigers continue to rule the north. For the third straight year the Hartselle wrestling team won the 5A North Sectional Championship. With the win the Tigers advance to the State Championships this weekend. Hartselle totaled 245 points to finish 75 points ahead of second place Fort Payne.
Hartselle placed 11 wrestlers in the finals, the most ever in the history of Tiger wrestling. Four Tigers were crowned champions and seven other finished as runners-up.
Head coach Keith Corder praised his athletes for his team's fourth sectional title in five years.
"These kids have worked hard all year," Corder said. " and all that work paid off this weekend."
Winning the championship at 140 pounds for the Tigers was junior Corey Farmer who defeated Ben East 6-4 in overtime. Farmers match was voted Most Outstanding Match of the tourney. Farmer takes a 32-4 season record into the state championships.
Junior Luke Mize won the 135 pound title beating defending state champion Richard Pollard 12-3. Mize improved his season's record to 30-10. Junior Adam Faulk also beat the defending state champion, when he whipped Weston Burt 5-2 to take the 189 pound title. Faulk upped his record with the win to 13-2 this season. Brad Eubanks won the Heavy Weight title to improve to 21-18 this season.
Junior Kurt Hamilton nearly pulled a major upset, losing to three-time state champion Michael Cuthertson 6-5 in the 160 pound final.
Finishing as runners-up for the Tigers were Brett Bidwell (125) who is now 30-9 this year, Hunter Brasher (130) now 17-11, and Dennis Smith (145) now 35-11. Also finishing second in their weight class from Hartselle were Andrew Watson (152) now 9-16, Ben Eubanks (171) now 39-9, and Travis Lightle (215) now 35-9.
Eight-grader Rico Elliot (103) finished fourth and is now has a 19-20 record this year. Two freshman, Caleb Blanton (112) now 20-18 and Ryder Brasher (119) with a 15-14 record, failed to qualify for the semi-finals.
The Tigers will compete for the State Championship this weekend at the Pelham Civic Center.
