Rebels fall to Thompson in Class 7A duals wrestling final

BIRMINGHAM -- The tide seemed to turn for the Vestavia Hills High School wrestling team during the Class 7A Duals Wrestling State Championship match last Friday night at the Birmingham CrossPlex’s Bill Harris Arena.

The Rebels pulled to within four points with seven weight classes left to wrestle, but Thompson shut the door, ultimately winning the title 41-24. 

Vestavia head coach Tee Adams said his team fought hard, but battled stiff competition in the loss.

“We have to give all the credit to Thompson,” he said. “Our boys wrestled well, but the better team came out today. Now we know who we are. We’re going to hit the road running on Monday and battle back now.”

Senior Jacob Gammill started the match strong with a quick pin of Carson Freeman in the 184-pound weight class at the 1:55 mark to give the Rebels the early lead. Thompson’s Michael Jackson tied it up with a pin of his own at the 5:49 mark to defeat Trey Saunders in the 197-pound weight class.

The back-and-forth continued when Thompson won by pin, with Alex Ward pinning Aiden Littleton at the 2:14 mark, before the Rebels responded by tying the match at 12-12, as Dawson Ray completed a pin on Tucker Hutson in the 287-pound weight class. 

Thompson swung the match in its favor with a couple wins in a row. Blaze Albarado won three points on an overtime, sudden victory to give the Warriors the 15-12 advantage. Ronnie Vines won on a major decision, boosting the lead to 19-12.

The Rebels did not quit, earning a three-point decision to bring the total back to 19-15, as Vestavia’s Christopher Hayes battled to overtake Corey Jones and earn the points. The Rebels did not have much to cheer about after the win as Thompson controlled the rest of the match.

Adams said his team was close multiple times, but could not get the points when needed most.

“Giving up bonus points there,” he said. “I thought our guys wrestled well, but we have to understand match situations and understand where we are in the match. We lost some close ones there, and it was some great action, but we just have to pull those close ones out.”

Thompson rattled off three straight wins, pushing the overall score to 34-15 after a pin, tech fall and a major decision through the 128- to 140-pound weight classes. 

Vestavia got a major decision win by Jack Lamey to pull to within 34-19, but the Warriors needed just one more win to be crowned state champions. 

Thompson earned a major decision and a three-point decision to ultimately win the state championship. Vestavia’s Sam Willoughby closed the match with a five-point tech fall win in the 172-pound weight class.

Adams said he’s going to take the loss as a lesson and hopefully his team will move forward going into the individual season, which concludes with the super section tournament Feb. 7-8 and the state tournament Feb. 13-15.

“Starting Monday, I know where we are,” he said. “I have a lot of guys upset, so we are going to take that and how they feel and use that as our fuel to go forward.”

A full photo gallery from the event can be found here.