Tiger grapplers improve to 30-4

By Staff
Staff Reports, Hartselle Enquirer
The Hartselle grapplers whipped Scottsboro and Fort Payne before wrestling in the Grissom Duals last week. They picked up six wins in six matches.
Hartselle 48, Scottsboro 26
The Tigers won despite losing four matches.
Hunter Brasher lost 16-7, Andrew Watson lost 16-1 and Brad Eubanks lost 3-2 in double overtime, while Caleb Blanton lost by pin.
Winning by decision for Hartselle were Rico Elliott, 10-2, Brett Bidwell, 8-2, Luke Mize, 20-5, and Travis Lightle, 10-0.
Tigers who won by pin were Andrew Durham, Dennis Smith, Corey Farmer, Kurt Hamilton and Adam Faulk.
Hartselle 52, Fort Payne 18
Fort Payne took three matches, as Brasher lost 10-8 in overtime, Smith lost 18-14 and Durham lost by pin.
Four Tigers won by decision, Elliott, 20-5, Blanton, 5-2, Watson, 8-2, and Hamilton, 23-8. Winning by pin were Bidwell, Mize, Farmer, Faulk, Lightle and Eubanks.
Head coach Keith Corder felt his team was not at their best despite winning the two matches.
"We weren't crisp," Corder said. "But anytime you're not happy with your performance and you still win two matches, I guess it's a good thing."
Grissom Duals
The Tigers ran their record to 30-4 with four easy wins at the Grissom Duals.
First, Hartselle topped Sparkman 78-6, then they whipped Armurchee, Ga., 58-9, then they topped the defending 6A state champions form Grissom, 39-25, and finally, they whipped Bob Jones 53-19.
The win over Grissom was the first in school history for the Tigers.
In the Sparkman match each Tiger starter won his match by a pin.
For the day, Elliott, Mize, Smith, Watson, Farmer, Hamilton, Faulk and Lightle went 4-0, while Eubanks went 3-0. He was held out of the Bob Jones match because of a sore shoulder.
Bidwell compiled a 3-1 record on the day, while Durham, Blanton and Brasher all went 2-2.
Season records for the Tigers are now Lightle at 37-1, Faulk 35-1, Mize 33-4, Elliott 33-5, Hamilton 32-2, Farmer 31-2, Smith 30-8, Eubanks 29-5, Brasher 28-11, Watson 24-11,
Bidwell 25-9, Blanton 19-15 and Durham 17-9.
Hartselle hosts the Tiger Duals II on Jan. 15 at 8 a.m.
They open the tourney against Pelham 8 a.m., followed by a 9:30 match against Red Bank of Chattanooga, Tenn., then at 12:30 p.m. they face Prattville and finally at 2 p.m. they face Notre Dame of Chattanooga, Tenn.
Other schools participating are Hoover, Vestavia Hills and Grissom.