Davis steps away from sport a champ

By By Todd Thompson, Hartselle Enquirer
HUNTSVILLE - Kyle Davis’ sleepless night Friday gave him plenty to think about in the hours leading up to his match with David Gonder in the Class 5A 130-pound finals in the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s state tournament at the Von Braun Center.
Call it Davis’ vision quest.
Davis had to overcome several stalling penalties and a takedown attempt right after the end of the third period.
It was Davis’ first win over Gonder this season and put him in a select group of former Hartselle wrestlers who won state championships, including Kurt Hamilton and Caleb Blanton, who won a title in 2007.
Hartselle senior Ethan Hamilton finished with a 3-1 record in the state tournament and finished third, while David Filiatrault was knocked out of the tournament in the consolation round and did not place in his first state appearance.
Hartselle finished 11th as a team with just three wrestlers in the tournament. Scottsboro outdistanced Fort Payne to win the Class 5A state title.
Gonder had beaten Davis in two meetings between the wrestlers this season - pinning Davis in the first match with a four-point decision in the second matchup.
Gonder, who won the state championship last year at 125 pounds, easily won his first two matches to reach the championship.
Styles felt that Davis’ getting the upperhand on Gonder early was the key to the championship match. “Kyle took him down several times and he was able to keep him on the mat. We knew that was what it was going to take to win it and he did it.”
More importantly, Davis stayed focused on beating Gonder in a match that would go the entire six minutes.
After getting the lead, Davis was content to go the distance with Gonder and that strategy almost proved costly in the third period when Gonder tried to score on a takedown at the buzzer.
He took the lead early in the match and held off Gonder’s late challenge to the delight of the Hartselle fans.
Davis, wrestling in his final high school tournament, wanted to go out a winner in the final match. He knew Gonder already had a state championship, he wanted to end his career with his own title.
He beat Chelsea’s Curtis Crooks 6-2 and Hayden’s Brandon Buchanan 18-15 to set up the matchup with Gonder in the championship.
Hamilton picked up one win on the first day of the tournament to set up the matchup with Carter. The Hartselle senior opened with a pin of Erwin’s Roderick Hubbard in the first round.
He finished the tournament with three pins in his four matches. Hamilton pinned 24 opponents this season.
Carter took an early lead and held off Hamilton in the second round after getting hit with a stalling penalty.
Carter was the third seed from the south in the 171-pound weight class after defaulting in the sectional championship due to an injury.
I hate it for Ethan because he certainly deserves to be in this circle right here.It’s unfortunate the two best wrestlers in the state were put in the same bracket, but it happened. He’s got nothing to hang his head about.”
Hamilton, a three-time state qualifier, closed out the tournament with pins of Southside’s Dakota Isbell and Scottsboro’s Zach Mardis to claim third place – his highest state finish of his career.
David Filiatrault finished 1-2 in the state tournament in his first appearance. The junior posted an impressive 19-4 decision in the first round over Shelby County’s Joshua Reid before suffering a 9-5 loss to Cedric Moore of Erwin in the second round.
He finished his season with 15 pins.
Filiatrault was knocked from the tournament when he was pinned by Thomas Blottin of Chelsea in the consolation bracket.