Hank Turner of Pinson Valley and Lane Lucas of Mortimer Jordan get tangled up at the end of their 138-lb. championship contest at the AHSAA South Super Sectional in Montgomery. Turner won the title with an 8-3 decision.

Pinson Valley took a trophy back home, and will take most of their team members to Huntsville this weekend for the state wrestling championships.

The Indians ran away with the Class 5A title at the AHSAA Super Sectional Meet last Friday and Saturday, outscoring runner-up Mortimer Jordan by 491/2 points and qualifying 11 out of 14 wrestlers for the state meet.

It’s the first time Pinson has won a sectional title since 1995, coach Gene Richardson said.

Of those 11 Indians qualifiers, seven of them made it to the championship bout in their weight class, with Hank Turner taking the gold medal at 138 pounds and Adam Crocker doing the same at 145.

After polishing off the rest of the Class 5A field at sectionals, the Tribe now gets to lock horns with Arab, the top-ranked team in the state.

When the two teams met in early January, the Arabian Knights came away with the victory, but only by 10 points.

“I think we’ll wrestle competitively against Arab,” Richardson said. “I think we all know we’ve given ourselves a chance to beat them by getting 11 guys into state. Our kids this year have bought into working hard, competeing, making no excuses and believeing they can win.”

The Blue Devils also had an excellent meet, and will take seven wrestlers to Huntsville. Braxton Worthington was the sole champion, winning each of his three matches by pin; he took down Pinson’s Cameron Hamby in 3:39 in the finals.

Hayden did not finish as high in the team standings, finishing sixth overall (just a half point behind fifth-place Brookwood). But seven Wildcats will make the trip north on Friday, led by gold medalist Chase Phillips at 113 pounds. He edged the Devils’ Cason Jordan by a 4-3 decision in the finals.

In Class 1A-4A, Fultondale placed fourth in the team standings, 34 points behind the champions from Tallassee. Eight Wildcats qualified for the state finals, with Tim Muphree winning gold at 106 pounds. None of his bouts went the distance, as Murphree won three by pin and another by technical fall.

 

NORTH SUPER SECTIONAL

Gardendale and Corner didn’t have to travel as far, as they were assigned to the North Super Sectional at the Birmingham CrossPlex’s Harris Arena.

The Rockets didnt climb very high, but they did qualify three wrestlers for the state finals. Heavyweight Daniel Adkins showed why he is one of the top heavyweights in the state, after breezing through his four rounds with pins in each. No match went past three minutes.

Corner brought its largest team in years to the Harris Arena, but only one of them qualified for state. Dalton Absher took the bronze medal at 126 pounds.

All six teams will make their way to the Von Braun Center in Huntsville later this week for the state championship. Wrestling gets under way on Thursday evening for Class 6A, and Friday for the others. Championship matches will take place on Saturday afternoon.