By Erik Harris
BIRMINGHAM — Pinson Valley placed fourth in the Alabama High School Athletic Association Class 6A North Super Section wrestling tournament over the weekend.
Fifth place went to Clay-Chalkville.
Hank Turner was the only Indian to finish first at the CrossPlex facility in Birmingham, but nine other Indians qualified for the state tournament, which is scheduled for Feb. 12-14 in Huntsville’s Von Braun Center.
The Pinson Valley wrestling team
photo courtesy of the Pinson Valley Twitter account
Turner beat Muscle Shoals’ James Green in the semifinals of the 152-pound weight class before downing Ty Summers of Clay-Chalkville in the finals.
Deon Gregory (170 pounds) finished the weekend second in his weight class and teammate Taylor Rhodes (285) came in third.
Cameron Hamby (120) and Tate Brannan (132) both finished in fourth place for the Indians. Khymel Chaverst (160) placed fifth and George Vazquez posted a sixth-place finish.
Josh Walker (126), Zac Kusiak (138) and David Pike (182) all edged their way into the state tournament with seventh-place finishes.
Final section standings:
1. Arab 279.5 points
2. Southside-Gadsden 176
3. Athens 169
4. Pinson Valley 139.5
5. Clay-Chalkville 134.5
The Cougars qualified 10 wrestlers for the state tournament. Jacob Smith (106), Fabian Esparza (113), Stuart Turner (132), Justin Carty (138), Luis Palacios (145), Austin Weldon (160), Tyler Chatman (170), Dyron Swain (182), Brandon Wood (220) and Keilend Clayton (285) will all represent the Cougars in Huntsville on Thursday.
