Photo by Erin Nelson.
Mountain Brook’s Christopher Brown and Mortimer Jordan’s Aiden Morris compete in the AHSAA wrestling duals championship at Bill Harris Arena on Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. Photo by Erin Nelson.
BIRMINGHAM -- It is only up from here. That was Mountain Brook High School wrestling coach Justin Ransom’s message after his team won its first state championship in program history on Friday morning, defeating Mortimer Jordan 32-27 in the Class 6A State Duals Championship in Bill Harris Arena.
The Spartans (14-4) found themselves down 6-3 after three individual matches before rattling off five consecutive victories, propelling them to a 29-6 lead. Four straight wins for Mortimer Jordan cut the Spartans lead to eight, 29-21. Then, Nathan McCain secured the victory for Mountain Brook, winning a 5-3 decision in the 13th of 14 matches.
Ransom, the winningest coach in Mountain Brook wrestling history (153 wins) praised his 44-person roster for its hard work and growth to achieve this level of success.
“Words can't explain this because we’ve challenged our guys to finish and they did,” he said. “I’m ready to win more and I think that’s in the near future. Our kids pay the price every day in practice.”
The duals championship title marks the 182nd team state championship in Mountain Brook Schools athletics history. The wrestling team will continue its season as it seeks to continue its wave of success as it competes for individual state championships in the traditional state tournament in Huntsville in February.
Here's a breakdown of each match in the final:
- 106 pounds: Wyatt Chavez, Mountain Brook dec. Amonte Fleming, Mortimer Jordan, maj. dec. 10-2.
- 113 pounds: Caleb Wright, Mortimer Jordan dec. Stephen Springfield, Mountain Brook, 9-4.
- 120 pounds: Aiden Morris, Mortimer Jordan dec. Christopher Brown, Mountain Brook, 6-2.
- 126 pounds: Brodie Christmas, Mortimer Jordan dec. Douglas Johnson, Mountain Brook, 7-6.
- 132 pounds: Cruz Rainwater, Mortimer Jordan pinned Bill Bradford, Mountain Brook, Fall 1:14.
- 138 pounds: Nathan McCain, Mountain Brook dec. John Leon, Mortimer Jordan, 5-3.
- 145 pounds: Caden Todoroff, Mortimer Jordan pinned Stuart Andrews, Mountain Brook, Fall 1:34.
- 152 pounds: Jacob Horton, Mortimer Jordan dec. Coleman Bates, Mountain Brook, 4-2.
- 160 pounds: Judd Smith, Mountain Brook dec. Gavin Friese, Mortimer Jordan, 8-2.
- 170 pounds: Conner Horton, Mortimer Jordan dec. Sam Carroll, Mountain Brook, 7-3.
- 182 pounds: Jack Windle, Mountain Brook dec. Weston Tossie, Mortimer Jordan, 13-1 maj. dec.
- 195 pounds: Allen Baker, Mountain Brook pinned Terrence Bowie, Mortimer Jordan, Fall 2:59
- 220 pounds: William Courtenay, Mountain Brook pinned Jacob Anderson, Mortimer Jordan, Fall 1:00.
- 285 pounds: Malik Barfield, Mortimer Jordan vs. Daniel Ellis, Mountain Brook
