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After years of support for the sport of girls wrestling, the Thompson Warriors claimed the first sanctioned Class 6A/7A state title as Kelsey Seigler, Lynleigh Weltzin and Elizabeth Rosenstein won titles. (For the Reporter/Dawn Harrison)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

HUNTSVILLE – From the very first year that girls were able to compete in their own separate state tournament, coach Shawn Weltzin and the Thompson Warriors have been at the forefront, not only participating but advocating for the sport’s growth.

So in the first year where boys and girls competed in simultaneous, sanctioned state championships on the same stage, it was only fitting that they walked away as champions.

Thompson claimed the Class 6A/7A girls wrestling team state championship in addition to the boys title at the AHSAA Wrestling State Championships at Propst Arena at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville on Saturday, Feb. 15.

For Weltzin, it’s the culmination of years of building the program through developing and coaching the wrestlers with the same staff that build the boys team into a dynasty.

“It’s a relief because when the seniors were in middle school, I kept telling them that by the time they were seniors, we would win a team state title,” Weltzin said. “The first thing I told one of them was, ‘I told you so,’ when we did.”

He said the fact that they were able to win both titles in the same year speaks to the program’s unity.

“Really, I think it does mean more, at least to me,” Weltzin said of winning both titles in the same year. “We are and have always been one program or team. I think it proves to everyone that we care about the program as a whole and developing wrestlers as a whole and not just a boys team or a girls team. Every coach on our staff coaches everyone in the room, so it’s awesome that we can all celebrate this together.”

The girls had a much closer battle than the boys did as they defeated Daphne by 14 points with their winning total of 150 points in the team standings.

Kelsey Seigler won the 106-pound division to finish off her 36-6 season. After earning 7-2 and 4-3 decisions to reach the finals, she defeated Daphne’s Alanah Girard by another 4-3 decision to secure the state championship.

Lynleigh Weltzin earned first place in the 120-pound division to claim the state championship. She secured a pin at the 1:46-mark in the first round before pinning her semifinal opponent at the 3:23-mark.

However, she had a down-to-the-wire thriller in the championship match, where she defeated Grissom’s Jessalynn Allen by an 8-7 decision and give Allen her first loss of the year.

Weltzin finished the year with a 33-10 record and joined her brother Jordan as a state champion while being coached by her father Shawn.

Elizabeth Rosenstiel won the 145-pound championship with three pins over the week. After needing just 57 seconds to take her first-round matchup, she pinned Saraland’s Jolene Walls at the 3:48-mark in the semifinals. She went on to defeat Daphne’s Annabelle Harris at the 1:49-mark of the finals to take the title and wrap up a 43-1 season.

Kaydence Seigler finished runner-up in the 114-pound division. She secured a 9-1 major decision in the first round before earning a 6-1 decision over Daphne’s Danielle Selman in the semifinals to reach the championship match.

Aenaya Vines reached the finals of the 138-pound division and finished in second place. She made quick work of her first two opponents in the tournament, pinning Russell County’s Laree Rodman 53 seconds into their first-round match and Sparkman’s Jessica Cook at the 1:37-mark of the semifinals.

Talita Vas came in second place in the 152-pound division after she reached the finals with pins at the 4:45-mark of the quarterfinals and the 4:43-mark of the semifinals, the latter coming against Tuscaloosa County’s Maddie Taylor.

Ava Ngyuen made it all the way to the finals in the 185-pound division thanks to a 42-second pin in the quarterfinals and a 7-0 decision against Central-Phenix City’s Hannah McDuffee in the semifinals.

Gissell Trejo took a second-place finish in the 235-pound division with a 43-second pin in the quarterfinals and a 15-3 major decision in the semifinals against Robertsdale’s Bentley Betts.

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