By Rubin E. Grant
The Mountain Brook wrestling team made history last week.
The Spartans had never won an Alabama High School Athletic Association state championship of any kind, not in the traditional state tournament which began in 1959 or the State Duals tournament which started in 2017.
But last Friday, the Spartans were able to hoist a championship trophy after defeating Mortimer Jordan 32-27 in the Class 6A Wrestling Duals Finals at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
“We got the monkey off our back,” Mountain Brook coach Justin Ransom said. “We challenged our guys to finish the drill. They bought into what we were trying to teach them and believed in themselves and just did it.”
In the immediate aftermath, Ransom was still coming to grips with what the Spartans had accomplished.
“It’s surreal,” he said. “All year we’ve been telling them that they were better than they were and to make history they had to believe it. We were finally able to get everything to fall in place.
“Along the way, we had a very tough road against No. 1 McAdory (in the first round), No. 3 Homewood (in the quarterfinals) and No. 4 Wetumpka (in the semifinals). And Mortimer Jordan won the (Class 5A-6A traditional) team state champion last year.”
The Spartans defeated McAdory 38-21, Homewood 33-26 and Wetumpka 41-22 to set up its dual with Mortimer Jordan.
Mountain Brook (14-4) took control against Mortimer Jordan by winning five consecutive individual matches, including pins by Allen Baker at 195 pounds, William Courtenay at 200 and Daniel Ellis at 285.
Mortimer Jordan (31-3) rallied with four straight wins by Caleb Wright at 113 pounds, Aiden Morris at 120, Brodie Christmas at 126 and Cruz Rainwater at 132.
Ransom praised his “smaller guys” ability to finish matches and avoid pinfall losses. Mountain Brook’s Nathan McCain clinched the team victory with a 5-3 decision over John Leon at 145 pounds in the next-to-last individual match.
“The guys did what we asked,” Ransom said. “Sometimes in wrestling you can avoid pins and get bonus points if you can keep matches tight. Our 106 (Wyatt Chavez) earned bonus points, our 120 (Christopher Brown) hadn’t wrestled all year but stepped in for an injured teammate and kept his match close and our 126-pounder (Douglas Johnson wrestled a two-time state champion and took him to the limit before losing 7-6.”
Courtenay was ecstatic about the Spartans ending their wrestling state title drought.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Courtenay said. “I also play football and we didn’t quite make it, so it’s nice to see we won.”
Courtenay, a junior, was an offensive lineman on Mountain Brook’s football team that lost to Saraland 38-17 in 2022 Class 6A championship game.
With the Duals championship secured, the Spartans will turn their focus to the traditional state tournament next month in Huntsville
“I’m looking forward to chasing another state title in February,” Ransom said. “The guys did everything from a team aspect in the Duals and now they can battle it out for themselves for individual titles and maybe we can go back-to-back with another team title.”
Class 6A Championship Match Results
Mountain Brook 32 Mortimer Jordan 27
106: Wyatt Chavez, Mountain Brook dec. Amonte Fleming, Mortimer Jordan, Mag. Dec 10-2.
113: Caleb Wright, Mortimer Jordan dec. Stephen Springfield, Mountain Brook, 9-4.
120: Aiden Morris, Mortimer Jordan dec. Christopher Brown, Mountain Brook, 6-2.
126: Brodie Christmas, Mortimer Jordan dec. Douglas Johnson, Mountain Brook, 7-6.
132: Cruz Rainwater, Mortimer Jordan pinned Bill Bradford, Mountain Brook, Fall 1:14.
138: Nathan McCain, Mountain Brook dec. John Leon, Mortimer Jordan, 5-3.
145: Caden Todoroff, Mortimer Jordan pinned Stuart Andrews, Mountain Brook, Fall 1:34.
152: Jacob Horton, Mortimer Jordan dec. Coleman Bates, Mountain Brook, 4-2.
160: Judd Smith, Mountain Brook dec. Gavin Friese, Mortimer Jordan, 8-2.
170: Conner Horton, Mortimer Jordan dec. Sam Carroll, Mountain Brook, 7-3.
182: Jack Windle, Mountain Brook dec. Weston Tossie, Mortimer Jordan, 13-1 maj. dec.
195: Allen Baker, Mountain Brook pinned Terrence Bowie, Mortimer Jordan, Fall 2:59
220: William Courtenay, Mountain Brook pinned Jacob Anderson, Mortimer Jordan, Fall 1:00.
285: Daniel Ellis, Mountain Brook, pinned Malik Barfield, Mortimer Jordan, Fall 3:52
