Rebels win state wrestling tournament
Vestavia Hills sent Coach Stephen Gaydosh out a winner.
The legendary wrestling coach who has spent 33 years at Vestavia Hills High School is set to retire at the end of the school year, and the Rebels returned home with a blue map after the AHSAA state wrestling tournament, held at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville in February.
Vestavia topped the charts in Class 7A by outscoring Oak Mountain 134.5-131, capturing its first state championship since 2009.
James Edwards delivered Tuscaloosa County’s Josh Smith his first loss of the season in the title bout for the 220-pound weight class, winning by decision. To reach that point, Edwards won by decision over Le’Frederick Walker (Robert E. Lee-Montgomery) and by fall over Christon Taylor (Hoover). Edwards finished the season with a 39-3 record.
Edwards was one of five Rebels wrestlers who advanced to the championship match of their respective weight classes, and Hayden Hill was the only other one to secure an individual title.
Hill won by major decision over Chris Leatherman of Sparkman in the 160-pound title bout. He also defeated Dakota Collins (Thompson) and Robert Randolph (Mountain Brook) in the tournament and posted a stellar 48-2 mark on the year.
Bowman Hill placed second at 152 pounds, falling to Central-Phenix City’s Robert Morales in the first place match by decision. That match earned an award as the Class 7A top match of the tournament, as Morales won by a 9-7 decision. Hill won by fall over Perez Pickett (Prattville) and Riley Pike (Thompson) before losing in the final. He wrapped up his campaign with a 48-10 record.
In the 126 finals, Quin Estes lost by fall to Thompson’s Dominic Latona. Estes defeated Tyler Wilson (Smiths Station) by major decision and Tristan Clark (Tuscaloosa County) in a tiebreaker. Estes concludes his season at 31-16.
At 145 pounds, Matthew Paugh lost by fall to Robbey Killough of Prattville (who only lost one match all year) in the finals. Paugh finished with a 23-4 mark for the season, and beat Buckhorn’s Riley Yager by decision to reach the final.
Jack Stoves (132 pounds) and George Dazzio (170 pounds) each placed third for the Rebels. Wesley Hearstill finished fourth, and Murphy McCallum, Zachary Nelson and Morgan Long each advanced to consolation semifinals. Barrett Striplin made it to the first round of the consolation bracket.