Wetumpka falls in 5A/6A Wrestling Duals Finals
BIRMINGHAM – Gardendale High School’s wrestling team opened its second straight AHSAA Duals Championship match appearance Friday with pins in the first three matches en route to a 38-19 win over Wetumpka at Bill Harris Arena.
Keenan Wyatt won his 152-pound match with a pin at 1:37. Carson Kim followed won by fall just 39 seconds into his match at 160 pounds, and Derrick Olvik needed just 1:39 for his pin. The Rockets (31-10) picked up another pin at 126 pounds when Isaiah Powe won at 2:31. Wetumpka rebounded to post wins at 220 pounds with Abe Preston and at 285 pounds with Nathan Waters winning the most exciting match of the finals with a 9-8 decision over Gardendale’s Riley Dunn. Wetumpka’s Mason Blackwell also posted a 5-4 decision over Kennedy Wyatt in another clutch match.
In the final count, the Rockets’ the pins were the difference as Gardendale won eight matches and Wetumpka won six.
Thompson won the Class 7A Duals title over Vestavia Hills 33-25 in the first match of the day, and Cleburne County will close out the 2021 Duals tourney facing Ashville at 6 p.m. The match is being live-streamed over the NFHS Network.
The AHSAA State Wrestling Traditional Championships will be conducted over two weekends this season with Class 1A/4A at Montgomery’s Garrett Coliseum and Class 7A back at Bill Harris Arena on Feb. 12-13. Class 5A/6A will compete at Von Braun Center in Huntsville the next week, Feb. 18-20.
