Scottsboro posts convincing wins over Jasper, Tallassee to claim Class 5A Duals state crown
By Jasen Bowen
Co-No. 2-ranked Scottsboro put together two dominant performances Friday to win the AHSAA Class 5A Wrestling Duals State Tournament championship at the Birmingham Crossplex’s Bill Harris Arena.
Scottsboro defeated No. 4 Jasper 49-20 in the state semifinal round and Co-No. 2 Tallassee 51-21 in the finals.
“We wrestled well overall,” said Scottsboro head coach Chris Staton, whose team will compete in the traditional state tournament next month. “We had some matches that could go either way go our way and that let us be flexible in our lineups. Even the kids that just made weight contributed, because them (making weight) gave us a chance to be flexible. Real proud of the guys. They controlled what they could control, just wrestled and executed what we asked them to do.”
It’s Scottsboro’s second state duals state championship since the AHSAA began the duals state tournament in 2017. Scottsboro won its other state duals crown during the 2018-19 season.
Scottsboro, which moved to No. 1 in the new Alabama Wrestling Coaches poll that was released on Tuesday, had 12 different wrestlers, including seven that finished 2-0, win at least one match during semifinal or finals duals.
Championship Dual
Scottsboro 51, Tallassee 21 — Scottsboro started the dual getting pinfall victories from Ansel Goggans and Colton Durham in the 165- and 175-pound weight classes, and Luke Calfee and Drake Talley followed with key victories at 215 and 285 that Staton said were pivotal to the outcome.
Cole Synder followed with a win via pin at 113 for the Wildcats while Stone Staton won a 10-2 major decision at 126, Matthew Dupree got a pin at 132, John Stewart stayed undefeated with a 20-5 technical fall victory at 138, Josh Draskovic won a 9-2 decision at 150 before Aiden Goggans closed out the dual with a pin just 34 seconds into the 157-pound match.
Semifinal Dual
Scottsboro 49, Jasper 20 — The dual started with the 157-pound match, and after the teams split the first six matches, the Wildcats won four straight matches starting at 106 to take control of the dual.
Aiden Goggans recorded a 15-4 major decision victory at 157, Ansel Goggans won a 7-4 decision at 165 and Calfee won via pin at 215 before the Wildcats went on their four-match winning streak that included wins via pin from Gage Staton at 106, Synder at 113, Stone Staton at 120 and Dupree at 126.
The Wildcats also got wins via pin from Stewart at 138 and JJ Ake at 150 to close out the semifinal victory.
