Panthers place two at tourney
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, February 2, 2005
Pelham High School sent four wrestlers to last weekend’s AHSAA state wrestling meet at the Pelham Civic Complex. Two of them placed.
Both Tyler Burger and Kevin Hendricks earned a spot on the winners podium for the Panthers, who finished 11th in Class 6A team competition with 29 points.
Burger (40-5) lost by decision, 8-3, to Prattville’s Derek Carmichael, earning him second place in 145-pound weight class. Burger pinned his first-round opponent, Grissom’s Brian Schlessel, in 1:21, then took care of Bob Jones’ Zack Deheve by points, 9-5, before falling to Carmichael (34-1) in the title match.
Hendricks (41-8) swept through the consolation bracket to claim third place after falling to Hoover’s T.C. Pendleton (35-12) in the 152-pound class. Hendricks clinched third place with a 10-5 decision over Kody Bergeron (37-9) of Clay.
Brock Tuck and Kyle Mullins also competed for the Panthers.
Oak Mountain finished 14th in 6A team competition with 20 points.
Steven West wrestled in the consolation championship in the 112-pound weight class but fell just short of placing for the Eagles, getting pinned by Clay’s Matt McFarling (37-9) in 2:59. West finished the year with a 35-13 record.
D.J. Looney, Andrew Bell, Will Pierce and Mitch Ray also competed for Oak Mountain.
Spain Park, which finished third in 6A team competition, had three wrestlers finish as runner up in individual competition.
Heavyweight Ryan Pugh (38-5) lost narrowly to Jake Seitz (48-2) of Vestavia Hills, 4-2.
E.J. Graff (36-5), finished second in the 160-pound class while Quinton Smith (33-6) finished second at 189