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PREP ROUNDUP: Decatur's Oliver Howard repeats as state 6A wrestling champ

the decatur daily, ala.
·6 min read

Feb. 17—HUNTSVILLE — Decatur's Oliver Howard and Athens' Will Anderson closed out the 2024 AHSAA State Wrestling Championships in grand fashion on Saturday, capturing individual state titles on the final day of competition at the Von Braun Center.

Howard, a senior competing in Class 6A at 190 pounds, defeated Mountain Brook's Sam Carroll by a 4-2 decision to cap a perfect 40-0 season and win his second straight state championship. Howard, wrestling at 160 pounds, went 25-0 to win a championship last year after finishing runner-up at 160 pounds as a sophomore.

Howard's dominating performance saw him claim wins over Homewood's Hayden Eldridge and Russell County's Devin Presley on Thursday before defeating McAdory's Erik Lessears in Friday's semifinals.

Anderson, wrestling at 144 pounds, scored an 8-1 decision over Buckhorn's James Mays to win his championship. Anderson advanced to the finals with wins over Talan McNutt (Pell City), Aiden Arthur (Spanish Fort) and James Alford (Helena).

A pair of Hartselle wrestlers earned runner-up finishes Saturday, with Gage Roberts falling to Gardendale's Brodie Christmas in the 126-pound final and Jameson Falciani finishing second to Wetumpka's Christian Preston at 215 pounds.

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Softball

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Hartselle 12, Enterprise 2: Katie Norgard went 3-for-3 with a homer, double and four RBIs to lead Hartselle on Saturday.

Kaelyn Jones had three hits, including a double, and two RBIs for the Tigers, while Katie Gillott doubled, singled and drove in a run. Tiger Howell pitched three innings for the win, allowing one earned run on four hits.

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Hartselle 10, Oak Mountain 1: Brityan Godfrey homered twice and drove in four runs for Hartselle.

Jones doubled and drove in three runs for the Tigers, while Blayne Godfrey added two hits and one RBI. Gillott singled and drove in a pair of runs.

Blayne Godfrey allowed one run on three hits over four innings for the win, striking out six with two walks.

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Hartselle 13, West Limestone 3: Brityan Godfrey homered, singled and drove in four runs for Hartselle.

Jones had two doubles and two RBIs for the Tigers, while Gillott added three hits and one RBI. Norgard and Morgan Osborn had two hits and one RBI each and Howell pitched two innings for the win, allowing two runs on five hits.

Amileah Flannagan had two hits, including a homer, and one RBI for West Limestone and Addie Wallace hit a solo homer.

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Austin 10, Hayden 10: Abby Lindsey had two hits, including a double, and three RBIs as Austin played to a tie on Saturday.

Claire Wright and Rebecca Horn had two hits and two RBIs each for the Black Bears, while Kinsley Higdon added three hits and one RBI.

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Brooks 3, Austin 0: Higdon singled to account for Austin's lone hit.

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Priceville 10, Dora 0: Katee King singled twice and drove in three runs for Priceville on Saturday.

Darby Thigpen and Xoi Gaines had one hit and two RBIs each for the Bulldogs and Kelsey Green pitched four scoreless innings for the win, striking out five while allowing just two hits.

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Priceville 3, Grissom 0: Elizabeth Murphy pitched six shutout innings to earn the win for Priceville, allowing one walk and three hits while striking out seven. Thigpen had two hits for the Bulldogs.

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Ardmore 7, Madison Academy 2: Ashlyn Mullins homered, singled and drove in two runs for Ardmore on Saturday.

Addison Mikel had a hit and two RBIs for the Tigers, while Aynslee Malone pitched four innings for the win, allowing one earned run on four hits with two strikeouts.

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Cullman 7, Ardmore 6: Ellie Riley, Avery Dunn and Peyton Pennington had one hit and one RBI each for Ardmore. AG King, Ragan Brownlow and Lexi Mooney had one RBI each.

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Ardmore 13, East Lawrence 1: Makena Hall singled twice and drove in two runs for Ardmore.

Malone doubled twice and drove in one run, while King added a hit and two RBIs. Dunn pitched three innings for the win, allowing one run on three hits with a pair of strikeouts.

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West Limestone 11, Sparkman 1: Amileah Flannagan hit a grand slam to help lead West Limestone past Class 7A Sparkman on Saturday.

Ashlyn Smith had two hits and one RBI for the Wildcats, while Aubrey Bethune added a hit and two RBIs. Addie Wallace hit a solo home run and Ella Yarbrough singled and drove in one run.

JuliAnn Kyle pitched three innings for the win, allowing one run on three hits with two strikeouts.

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West Limestone 5, Pell City 3: JuliAnn Kyle homered, singled and drove in three runs for West Limestone.

Wallace drove in a run for the Wildcats, while Bella Birdsong added a double. Katie Lyn Kyle pitched six innings for the win, allowing three runs on four hits with four strikeouts.

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West Point 9, Falkville 0: Madison Veal, Melody Sims and Hope McClanahan had one hit each for Falkville on Saturday.

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Winston County 5, Falkville 1: McClanahan drove in one run for Falkville. Veal, Allie Smith, Kasey Foote and Grace Rowe had one hit each for the Blue Devils.

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Baseball

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Hartselle 4, Bob Jones 0: Nic Chumley tossed a complete-game shutout for Hartselle on Saturday, scattering three hits over seven innings to top Class 7A Bob Jones.

Cam Palahach had a hit and two RBIs for the Tigers, while Carter Lee drove in two runs. Jo Williamson had two hits.

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Brewer 11, Elkmont 5: Brayden Murphy led Brewer with three hits and two RBIs on Saturday.

Logan Powers doubled and drove in two runs for the Patriots, while Murphy pitched four innings for the win, allowing two runs on four hits with four strikeouts.

Bryson Miller and Ethan Adams had one hit and one RBI each for Elkmont.

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J.B. Pennington 16, Brewer 8: Danny Burney had a pair of RBIs for Brewer. Marc Rychetsky had one hit and one RBI for the Patriots.

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Ardmore 16-5, New Hope 6-2: Caden Bailes had three hits and four RBIs to lead Admore in game one on Saturday.

Tre Rolin tripled, singled and drove in three runs for the Tigers, while Carter Smith added a single and three RBIs. Seth Frame worked three innings to earn the win, allowing two hits while striking out six.

Connor Calder had two hits and one RBI for Ardmore in the finale. Layne Williams and Carter Smith had one hit and one RBI each for the Tigers, while Keaton Johns pitched four innings of relief for the win, allowing one unearned run on four hits with one walk and one strikeout.

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Athens 10, Ardmore 3: Jaylen Malone doubled, singled and drove in three runs to lead Athens on Saturday.

Jack Elliott, Walker Fleming and Grayson Hays had two hits and one RBI each for the Golden Eagles, while Caiden Dumas added three hits.

Johns had two hits and one RBI for Ardmore, while Frame and Skyler Jean added one RBI each.

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Good Hope 7, Danville 6: Jackson Randolph had three hits, including a double, and two RBIs for Danville on Saturday.

Reece Cowart doubled, singled and drove in two runs for the Hawks, while Eli Coker and Avery Brewer added two hits and one RBI each.