Rebel wrestlers notch state title with 1st-year coach

The Vestavia Hills High School wrestling team was not satisfied with just sending former coach Steven Gaydosh out with a championship in 2016. The Rebels backed up the feat in 2017 with a second consecutive Class 7A state championship, this one under first-year coach Tee Adams.

The title, notched on Feb. 18 at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, marked the 15th for Vestavia, the most in AHSAA history.

Adams led the Rebels to 131.5 points in the tournament Feb. 16-18. Vestavia Hills’ output was enough to edge crosstown rival Hoover, who finished second with 107.5 points.

Thompson finished third with 97 and Hewitt-Trussville came home fourth in 7A with 94 points.

James Edwards reeled in the state title in the 220-pound division, as he finished off a perfect 41-0 season with a win over Sparkman’s Branden Moore in the final. Edwards defeated Spain Park’s Jaxon Bast in the quarterfinals before notching a win over Bob Jones’ Seth Dupree to reach the final.

Edwards’ twin brother, Jacob, competed in the heavyweight division, and nearly came away with a title as well. Jacob Edwards won by fall over Prattville’s Connor Knight and won by decision over Zackary Cangelosi from Sparkman to reach the final against a familiar foe: Hoover’s Austin Carter.

Both have faced off on the football field many times throughout their high school days, as the Edwards twins — who will both walk on to play football at Clemson — played on the defensive line opposite Carter on the offensive line at Hoover.

On the wrestling mat, Carter took home the title in a 5-2 decision to win the heavyweight crown and deny the twins the double dip.

Jacob Edwards was one of four Vestavia wrestlers to finish second in their respective weight divisions. Alex Thomas came home as the runner-up in the 120-pound division; Jack Stoves came home second in the 145-pound division, and Bowman Hill achieved the same result in the 160-pound category.

Thomas won by fall over Tyler Tanaka of Auburn and won a 7-1 decision over Thompson’s Emmanuel Oliver in the semifinals. Hewitt-Trussville’s Stone Barden knocked him off in the final in a tight 6-4 decision.

Stoves beat Hoover’s Jacob Brady in the quarterfinals and Grissom’s Jonathan Handy in the semifinals but fell to another Hewitt-Trussville wrestler, Conner Smith, in the final.

Hill pinned Hoover’s Robert Rudolph and Prattville’s Jeffery Mooney to reach the final, where he was defeated by Oak Mountain’s Barrett Blakely in the 160-pound championship.

Spencer Haddock (152-pound division) and Zachary Nelson (170) each fell in the semifinals but rebounded to win the consolation semifinal and third-place match. Peter Dazzio (138) and Rob Barrentine (182) placed fourth, while Nathaniel Nailen (126) and Murphy McCallum (132) also contributed to the state title.