Yellow Jackets send several wrestlers to today's state tourney

By Nick BirdsongStar Sports Writer
02-07-2008

Put-up or shut-up time begins now for local wrestlers.
The Alabama High School Athletics Association will begin the 2008 State Wrestling Tournament today at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville with Class 6A preliminaries and first round consolation matches scheduled to begin today.

For Oxford, the lone class 6A school from the Star's coverage area, the tourney provides the opportunity for a most unique opportunity at redemption. The Yellow Jackets qualified 11 wrestlers for last year's state tournament and walked away without a champion. This year, they've qualified the same number, with nine of the 11 being seniors.

"We've got just as many as anybody else in the state," said third-year Oxford coach Matt Thompson. "But it all boils down to how many of your guys can score. You may take 13, but if only eight of your guys can score then it really doesn't matter."
The Yellow Jackets began two-a-day practices in the morning and in the afternoon shortly after the Calhoun County tournament a couple of weeks ago in hopes of reaching their peak at the best time possible.

"We're wrestling pretty well," Thompson said. "In sectionals, we lost some pretty close matches. (The two-a-days) allowed us to have a few extra chances to put the extra, finishing touches on some things and work out some problem areas that we may have had." Thompson said last year's Oxford team suffered from dear in the headlights syndrome, as many of them lacked experience on the state's highest stage. With so many seniors representing the school this year, Thompson hopes that won't be the case this season.

"The majority of these guys have qualified before," Thompson said. "Some of these guys have improved from year-to-year. They've wrestled over the summer and they've just had natural improvement that comes with a year's time."

Freshman Eric Lee (105 pounds) and junior Dillon Chase (127) are the only underclassmen on the roster.

Nevertheless, Thompson said, only one thing will produce a better outcome than last season is a moment-by-moment focus from the second they hit the mats today.

"From a focus standpoint, you've got to take it one match at a time," Thompson said. "There aren't going to be any easy matches. All of these guys have earned the right to be here and qualified. You're probably going to go six minutes."

In addition to Lee and Chase, among the seniors Oxord will be sending are Dan Futral (137), Nathan Sherman (121), Miles Chamblee (132), Lee Lynch (147), Jerry Cooper (154), Chandler Tyree (189), Robert Sparks (217), and Lorenzo Stanley (287).

Competition in Class 1A-4A begins Friday. Locally, Piedmont, Saks, Weaver and Wellborn —which has won the last two state championships —will be participating. Wellborn's roster features one state champion from last season in eighth-grader Dalton Carroll (103), who won the state title in 2007 as a seventh grader.

Oxford sends 11 to state

From staff reports of Anniston Star
02-03-2008

OXFORD — New year. Same results.

Oxford qualified 11 wrestlers for next week's AHSAA State Wrestling Tournament which begins on Thursday and runs through Saturday at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville in finishing in fourth place with 147.5 points at the Class 6A Section 4 tourney it hosted on Saturday.

That total matches the number the Yellow Jackets sent to state last year, all of whom walked away without a title.

"I felt like maybe could have qualified one more," said third-year Oxford coach Matt Thompson, whose team finished behind Grissom (171), Bob Jones (165.5) and Huntsville (164).

"Overall, I thought we wrestled pretty well," he said. "It's a pretty tough section. It's pretty much the same 11. The majority of them went last year. I think they have a better idea of what it's like and are better wrestlers. They have a legitimate shot at placing. We're just going to get to work this week and work on some of our mistakes."

Eric Lee (105) and Dan Futral (137) turned in first-place performances for Oxford.

Also, finishing in the top four of their weight division to qualify for the state tournament for Oxford were Nathan Sherman (second, 121), Dillon Chase (fourth, 127), Miles Chamblee (second, 132), Lee Lynch (third, 147), Jerry Cooper (fourth, 154), Chandler Tyree (fourth, 189), Robert Sparks (second, 217) and Lorenzo Stanley (third, 287).
Overall team results were as follows: Grissom 171, Bob Jones 165.5, Huntsville 164, Oxford 147.5, Buckhorn 73, Pell City 46, Sparkman 32 and Gadsden City 15>

Most Outstanding Wrestler was Grissom's Sutherland Buford (287).
Best Match features Jacob Winkles of Huntsville (winner) vs. J.D. Malone of Buckhorn in the 173-pound final.

OHS Wrestling Team County Champs!

Despite missing three regulars, Oxford still repeats as county champs By Nick BirdsongStar Sports Writer 01-27-2008

WELLBORN — Oxford repeated as champions at the 2008 Calhoun County Wrestling tournament held on Saturday at the Howard Waldrep, Jr. Sports Center on the campus of Wellborn High School. The Yellow Jackets prevailed without the services of three of their regulars.

The Class 6A Jackets finished the competition with 181 points on the strength of six first-place finishes. Despite not having any first-place performers, Piedmont finished 2nd (146 points) ahead of Weaver (137), Wellborn (131.5) — which has won the last two AHSAA Class 4A-1A state championships — and Saks (115.5).

"I'm proud of them," said third-year Oxford coach Matt Thompson, who was named county Coach of the Year for the second year in a row. "We had several people out for different reasons, but they all stepped up and did what they were supposed to do."

Oxford will now shift its focus to the eight-team sectional tournament it will host beginning Saturday at 9 a.m. The top four finishers in each weight division will advance to the state finals, set for Thursday Feb. 7 at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville.

"The intensity paid off and they pulled off some close matches,"
Thompson said, "Now, we need to continue to work on our technique and get better at that. We need to mentally prepare. At sectionals, there's a lot of pressure and not everybody can perform under it."

The 140-pound championship between Oxford's Matt Hudgins and Wellborn's Blake Gray was voted best match.

"It was hard," said Hodgins, a senior who managed to pull away with a one-point win in the match. "My forearms were cramping up, but coach kept telling me to suck it up and go after him. Coach just pushes me so much. He's one of the best coaches I've ever had. It doesn't matter whether I'm hurt or sick. It's just all in our practices and stuff."
For Gray, whose record dropped to 30-10 on the season, the hard-fought battle will serve as motivation to drive him in seeking his ultimate goal by season's end.

"It's my senior year and I want to win a state championship," Gray said. "So it helped me out a lot to wrestle a 6A guy (before sectionals). I know I need to improve."

Oxford also got first-place finishes from Eric Lee (103-lb. weight class), Nathan Sherman (119), Lee Lynch (145), Jerry Cooper (160) and Robert Sparks (215).

Wrestling Match

There will be a wrestling match this afternoon against Pell-City @ 5:00 p.m. Please come out and support the yellow jackets.

Oxford wins big in Tennessee

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Wes Norton pinned all four of his opponents to win MVP honors and was among six Oxford wrestlers to win their weight classes leading the Yellow Jackets to the team title in the 21-team McGavock Invitational.Saturday.

The Yellow Jackets collected 218 points.

Dillon Chase (125), Miles Chamblee (130), Dan Futral (135), Robert Sparks (215) and Lorenzo Stanley (285) also won their weight classes, while Lee Lynch was runner-up at 145.

Stanley’s 5-4 decision over E.J. Smith of Hunters Lane (Tenn.) in the 215 title bout was voted best match of the tournament.

From staff reports, Anniston Star
12-09-2007

Wrestlers are headed North

The OHS Wrestling Team is headed to Nashville Tennessee for a wrestling tournament on December 7th and 8th. Go Jackets!

9th Grade Wreslters Dominate at Vestavia

Congratulations to the 9th grade wrestling team. They competed in a match in Vestavia on Saturday. Six of the nine wrestlers placed in this match.

Wrestling Fundraiser

OHS Wrestling Team is sponsoring a 5K at Oxford Lake this weekend. It is a fun cross country course that goes through the woods, behind the golf course, and around the lake! It even has a small log jump! Sound like fun...right? Also, there will be a 1 mile fun run for children through age 14 for prizes. Registration is at 8:30...race begins at 9:00. Cost is $15. Please come out and support our team.