HUNTSVILLE —
And the four-peat is complete.
Brandon Brindley, the All-American wrestler who is one of the most decorated athletes ever to attend Mortimer Jordan, finished off his senior season the way he finished three others — with a state title.
He did so in typical dominating fashion, with a 13-1 major decision win over Adam Pierce of Southside-gadsden in the finals of the Class 5A 138-lb. division of the AHSAA State Wrestling Tournament on Saturday.
Brindley was in command from the opening whistle, taking a quick 5-0 lead on a takedown and a 3-point near-fall. Pierce’s only points came when Brindley gave him an intentional escape late, hoping to take him down again and score a technical fall.
The gold medal ended another perfect season for Brindley, who was undefeated in 54 matches. He was one of seven state champions with unblemished records.
Brindley became part of a select group of Alabama wrestlers who have won four state titles in their career, according to the AHSAA. That group increased by four on Saturday, increasing from nine to 13 in a matter of three hours. (Steve Mordecai of Gardendale was the very first four-title wrestler in 1975-78.)
Another wrestler, Dalton Carroll of Walter Wellborn, already had four championships going into Saturday and was going for his fifth. But he was upset by Brian Shockley of Leeds for the Class 1A-4A 152-lb. finals.
Good things came in fours on Saturday, as four local wrestlers brought home gold medals, including two for Hayden.
The more dramatic of those two was the 5A 182-lb. finals between Hayden’s Anthony Scott and Clay Birch of Athens. Birch appeared to have the match won with a 3-2 lead as the final seconds of regulation time ticking down. But just before time expired, Birch was hit with a second stall warning, which gave Scott a point to tie the match.
In sudden-death overtime, Scott took Birch down a half-minute into the extra period, then scored the pin with 15 seconds left to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
The Wildcats’ other championship came from Trey Howse, who finally broke through after second-place finishes for two straight years. He narrowly defeated Brannon Estes of Southside-Gadsden 5-4 in the 5A 145-lb. finals.
Fultondale’s Zach Cummings took home the gold medal in the 1A-4A 145-lb. finals, defeating Dylan Bishop of Susan Moore 7-2. Cummings’ championship comes on the heels of a runner-up finish last year.
Three other local wrestlers made it onto the championship matches, but came up short of gold. Among them was 1A-4A heavyweight Cody Deason, the first wrestler from Corner’s still-new program to make it to the final bout. Deason could not handle Richie Boley of Ashville, losing 5-1.
Elliott Conn of Jordan was pinned in the 5A 132-lb. finals by Haden Ryals of Southside. The Panthers’ Chase Matthews also defeated Chase Johnson of Hayden 10-4 in the 5A 170-lb. finals.
All in all, Hayden had a very good showing at Huntsville, with two firsts, a second and a third-place finish (Hunter Flowers at 113 lbs.) and fifth place in the team standings. They were edged out of fourth in the very last bout of the tournament, when Muscle Shoals’ heavyweight won to nose out by Hayden by three points.
Susan Moore won its first-ever state team title, beating Oak Grove by 41/2 points in the 1A-4A standings. Perennial power Scottsboro bested Southside for the 5A crown, while Thompson had the 6A title wrapped up on Friday, the Warriors’ second straight championship.
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Related Photos
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Brandon Brindley, left, is on control of Adam Pierce of Southside-Gadsden in the 138-lb. Class 5A finals of the AHSAA State Wrestling Tournament on Saturday. Brindley won 13-1, taking his fourth state championship. Alex Millender
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Trey Howse gets a hug from Hayden coach Paul Moore after winning the Class 5A 145-lb. state championship Saturday in Huntsville. Alex Millender
Discussion
State Wrestling: Count 'em up - 1, 2, 3, 4
Brindley gets fourth state crown, among four local champions
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