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Shelby County’s Nick Sykes and Montevallo’s Drew Adams continued their family legacies with state titles, joining Xander Shook to give the Wildcats and Bulldogs three combined championships. (For the Reporter/Dawn Harrison)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

HUNTSVILLE – For the Sykes and Adams families, wrestling runs in their bloodline. Not only do they compete in the same sport, excellence and state championships have become expectations.

That continued in 2025 as the Shelby County Wildcats’ Nick Sykes won his third-straight Class 5A state championship, adding to his brother Cole’s success, while the Montevallo Bulldogs’ Drew Adams followed in his cousin Charlie’s footsteps with his first state title.

The Wildcats’ Xander Shook joined them atop the mountain as he capped his career with his first state championship on Saturday, Feb. 16 at the AHSAA Class 5A Wrestling State Championship at the Propst Arena in Huntsville.

Nick Sykes won the boys 132-pound division to cap off a phenomenal 60-1 campaign. He racked up scores of 17-2 to secure technical falls in his first two matches of the state tournament, including at the 1:15-mark of the first round and 2:32-mark of the semifinals.

From there, Sykes outlasted Arab’s Colby Silva in the finals to secure a pin at the 5:22-mark to win the state championship. It is his third-straight state championship after winning the 120-pound state title in 2023 and the 132-pound championship in 2024.

Drew Adams finished off a 27-3 season with a boys 165-pound state title. He opened the tournament strong with a 15-0 technical fall at the 3:05-mark of the first round, and he advanced to the finals with a pin against Lincoln’s Hunter Smiley at the 3:20-mark.

He would then face Arab’s Brody Patrick in the championship match and in the second period, he secured the winning pin at the 3:25-mark to end the year as a state champion.

Shook finally made it to the mountaintop after finishing in second place a year ago and fourth in 2023. Shook claimed the title in the 175-pound division to end the year with a 42-4 record.

He secured pins in all three of his matches, starting with a pin at the 2:46-mark of the first round. He would then pin Elmore County’s Connor Pike at the 5:04-mark of a marathon semifinal match.

From there, Shook had to go into deep waters again in the finals but emerged with a pinfall victory against Corner’s Troy Thomas at the 5:00-mark to cap his Wildcats career with a state title.

Montevallo’s Amylia Thomas came in second place in the girls Class 1A-5A 126-pound division. She advanced to the semifinals off a 59-second pin in the first round before getting a pin at the 3:24-mark of the semifinals. She then suffered her first loss of the season in the finals against Weaver’s Ashlyn Coleman by an 8-1 decision.

Montevallo’s Blakely Baggett claimed second place in the girls Class 1A-5A 132-pound division. After she reached the semifinals off a second-period pin in the first round, she advanced to the finals off of a disqualification.

Shelby County’s Garrett Slaughter finished in fourth place in the boys 126-pound division. After reaching the semifinals with an 18-5 major decision in the first round, he overcame a loss to reach the third-place match off a second-period fall against Montevallo’s Austin Cummings.

Shelby County’s Logan Loyd came in fourth place in the boys 150-pound division. He advanced to the semifinals of the main bracket with a major decision in the first round but then fell to the eventual state champion, Beauregard’s Reese Thorn.

However, he bounced back to eke out a 12-11 decision to reach the third-place match, which he would only lose off a third-period pin.

Shelby County’s Ethan Burnette came in fourth place in the boys 285-pound division. He advanced out of the first round thanks to a 6-4 decision, but after a loss, he needed to defeat Elberta’s Austin Harrison by an 8-3 decision to secure a place at state.

His run came to an unfortunate end after he suffered an injury at the 1:30-mark of the third-place match.

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