3 individuals win state, Rebels finish 2nd overall

The Vestavia Hills High School wrestling team had a strong showing at the State Wrestling Championship in Huntsville on Feb. 13-15, with three individual wrestlers bringing home state championships to lead the way to a second-place team finish.

The Rebels finished with 153.5 points as a team during the state tournament. Vestavia was only bested by Thompson, which scored 13 more team points.

“I felt like we performed very well over the weekend,” Vestavia head coach Tee Adams said about his team’s showing at the state championship meet.

Jack Lamey, John Edwards and Sam Willoughby all earned first-place finishes in their weight class. Lamey, a freshman, won in the 145-pound weight class by a 3-1 decision over Zeke Smotherman from Huntsville. Lamey won by 8-1 decisions in the quarters and semifinals of the tournament.

Edwards, a sophomore, took home gold in the 160-pound division with a win by decision in the championship match. Edwards defeated Ashunti Perry of Thompson to win the state title. He won by fall in the quarterfinals, but he prevailed to win the ultimate tiebreaker in the semifinals to advance to the finals.

Willoughby followed suit with his fellow underclassmen and took home the 170-pound weight class championship with a 12-9 win by decision. The senior took care of the quarterfinals with a win by fall and then a win by decision in the semifinals.

The Rebels had three other wrestlers finish as runners-up in their weight classes. Sophomore Zach Flurry came up just short in the 106-pound division, with a championship loss to Blaise Albarado of Thompson by fall at the 3:22 mark.

Senior Bryant Segars fell to James Latona of Thompson by majority decision in the 126- pound division, and senior Chandler Merrill lost in the final match in the 152-pound weight class by a 5-3 decision to Thompson’s Will Miller.

Junior Christopher Hayes finished in third place in the 113-pound division, senior Jacob Gammill placed in fourth in the 182-pound division and junior Dawson Ray finished in fourth in the 285-pound weight class.

Adams said he thought his team gave its full effort in the state tournament.

“Our team left it all out on the mat,” he said. “We didn’t hold anything back. Our guys, over the course of the year, continued to get better, and it showed at the state tournament.”