Published: November 20, 2008 03:34 pm         

Masters of the mats

By Robert Carter

The North Jefferson News



Once again, North Jefferson’s five wrestling teams are ready to continue a tradition of excellence in the sport. Here’s a preview of this year’s teams.



MORTIMER JORDAN

The Blue Devils come off a hugely successful season, with two Class 5A state champions in their weight class — the first ever for Jordan — and a sixth-place team finish, way above expectations. Brandon Brindley (112 lbs.) returns to defend his state crown, as does James Stewart (160), state runner-up last year. The rest of the team is young, but coach Terry Tingle says, “Three or four have a shot at placing in the state.”



FULTONDALE

The Wildcats’ 2007-08 season was in keeping with its long, stellar history in the sport. Coach Billy Hughes’ squad captured county and regional titles, and finish fourth at the state championship, with Brett Pennington (145 lbs.) winning a state crown. Pennington returns as team captain, along with state qualifiers Steven Ingram (140), Sam Robles (171), Aaron Martin (125, up from 112 last year) and Chris Self (152), whom Hughes calls “The Enforcer.” The Cats were 37-4 last year, but are missing six starters from that group. “We have many young, inexperienced wrestlers stepping up to fill voids in the line-up and must depend on them,” Hughes says.



GARDENDALE

The Rockets have a new head coach in Jake Helveston, who comes to the school from three years at Evergreen Valley High in San Jose, California. Like the rest of Gardendale’s sports teams, Helveston’s team faces the big jump to Class 6A from 5A. He also faces a manpower shortage, with three vacant weight classes at the moment. On the plus side, the Rockets return Joe Jones, the 5A heavyweight state champion from 2007-08, as well as Daniel Swann, who was state runner-up last year at 130 pounds. “There is a lot of drive and determination on this team,” Helveston says, “and I think we will surprise a lot of people this year.”



HAYDEN

Coach Paul Moore, the only wrestling coach Hayden High has ever had, has good prospects coming up after last year’s campaign that ended with second place in the section and eighth in the state. Josh McCoy, the state 5A champ as a sophomore two years ago, leads a team that includes state qualifiers Brett Briner, Cody Doyler and Matt Kimbrough. Freshmen made the varsity team this year at the two lightest classes.“We lost three good seniors, but we look to have a pretty good season if our young kids do well,” Moore said.



CORNER

The Yellow Jackets are so new, the team doesn’t even have their singlets in yet. Hopefully their gear will show up by Thursday, when Corner squares off with Fultondale in their first meet. This program is essentially brand new — the school has had a wrestling program in the past, but it has been at least a decade, so the Jackets are starting from scratch. First-year (of course!) coach Lance Kennedy takes a green but large team into a new era. The road ahead will be pretty tough against the established programs in the area, but anything can happen when the whistle blows.