By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor
HUNTSVILLE – After winning it all for both boys and girls wrestling last year, the Thompson Warriors brought home a red map from Huntsville's Propst Arena after finishing second in the boys team standings.
Thompson finished with 173.5 points to earn second place in Class 7A on Saturday, Feb. 14, falling to region foe Oak Mountain's total of 206.5 points.
The girls came in sixth place in Class 6A/7A this time around with 49.5 points.
Braylen Johnson and Wyatt Carroll won individual titles on the boys side while Anna Gann and Lynleigh Weltzin were victorious in the 6A/7A girls classification.
Johnson won the 113-pound division state championship with a 4-0 record. He rolled to two technical falls to start before securing a first-period pin against Auburn High's Connor Boos in the semifinals and a 19-4 technical fall against Hewitt-Trussville's Gavin Bittle in the finals.
With the wins, Johnson wrapped up a 54-1 season.
Carrol was the champion in the 215-pound division. He pinned all four of his opponents to finish the year 28-6, including a third-period pin in the semifinals against Hewitt-Trussville's Braxton Reaves and a first-period pin against Smiths Station's Xerxes Ellison for the state title.
Drew Adams came in second in the 175-pound division. After winning his first-round match by technical fall, he grabbed a second-period pin in the quarterfinals and outlasted Huntsville's Shane Smith for a 1-0 decision in the semifinals. He lost the state championship to Hewitt-Trussville's Trip Cole to finish the year 38-9 and as the state runner-up.
Austin Owen came in third place in the 157-pound division. He made the semifinals with an 11-6 decision win but dropped an 8-4 decision there. He then won both of his consolation bracket matches, first by a 53-second pin and then by a 4-1 decision to take third and finish the year 45-18.
Brady Walsh finished third in the 132-pound division. He made the semifinals with a third-period pin but dropped a tiebreaker to Trey Denny. Walsh won both of his consolation bracket matches, first by a second-period pin and then by a 17-1 technical fall in the third-place match, finishing the year 50-11.
Brandon Bethea earned third in the 165-pound division. He initially made the quarterfinals with a first-period pin but lost there, forcing him to win a 14-10 decision and 9-2 decision in the consolation bracket to earn third. He finished the year 36-8.
Turner Hutson rounded out Thompson's third-place finishers with a podium place in the 150-pound division. Hutson needed sudden victory to reach the quarterfinals, where he lost by technical fall, but he bounced back with a first-period pin and another with nine seconds left in the third-place match. He ended the year with a 41-16 record.
Logan Treadwell came in fifth in the 285-pound division. He made the semifinals with a 5-1 decision in the quarterfinals but lost to eventual state champion Sheldon Sharp of Bob Jones. After losing in the consolation semifinals as well, he earned a second-period pin in the fifth-place match.
Cayden Ervin rounded out Thompson's placing wrestlers with a sixth-place finish in the 190-pound division. He won his first two matches to make the semifinals, first with a second-period pin and then with a pin at the 1:26-mark, guaranteeing him a top-six finish.
The Warrior also walked away with two girls state champions after dominant runs.
Lynleigh Weltzin won the 6A/7A 126-pound state championship. She won her quarterfinal match by a pin at the 1:13 mark and followed it up with a 16-0 shutout of Pell City's Amy Hurley, taking a technical fall. She then beat Central's Haven Saxon by a 7-0 decision in the finals to win the state championship without surrendering a single point.
Anna Gann took the state title in the 6A/7A 185-pound division. After rolling to a 29-second pin in her quarterfinal match, she won a 6-4 decision against Robertsdale's Bentley Betts by escaping a late takedown and shutting out Betts from there.
She then defeated Benjamin Russell's Brooklyn Cottingham by a pin at the 5:14-mark of their championship match following a scoreless first two periods.
