Thompson Warriors wrestling team tops Hoover on Wednesday night

The Thompson Warrior wrestling team captured dual meet victories over Prattville and Hoover over the past two days. On Tuesday, the Warriors traveled to Prattville and came away with a dominating 63-8 victory over the Lions . On Wednesday, the Warriors stayed home to claim a 48-21 victory over the Bucs. The win clinched the area championship for the second consecutive season.

Wednesday’s match against the Bucs began with one of the more competitive contests of the evening. Thompson sophomore Michael Jackson just missed getting a takedown in the final seconds and lost a 14-12 decision to Hoover’s Josh Reynolds. The teams split the next six matches with Thompson getting pins from 160-pounder Tyler Gilson, 195-pounder Isaac McAdams and 285-pounder Seth Whitlock.

After Dylan Lesueur won by forfeit at 106 pounds, the Warriors captured five matches in succession. Sam Latona (120 pounds) and Gabe Hixenbaugh (132 pounds) won with first period pins, Emmanuel Oliver (113 pounds) won by technical fall, Chandler Akins (128 pounds) won by major decision and Nathan Roberts got a takedown with nine seconds remaining to pull out a 6-5 victory.

Thompson won all four of its dual matches since the turn of the new year. The Warriors are also coming off an outstanding performance in the prestigious Cheesehead Invitational in Wisconsin last weekend. Latona and Hixenbaugh each advanced to the championship match of their respective division.

Latona beat fellow All-American Cody Phippen of Platte City, Mo., 2-1, in overtime in the semifinals before dropping a 5-0 decision in the final. Hixenbaugh won five matches before losing by a technical fall in the championship match.

Thompson had five other wrestlers finish in the top 10. Lesueur was seventh, Whitlock was eighth, Oliver was ninth and Akins and McAdams were each 10th.

As a team, Thompson finished 11th among the 32 teams in the event.

The Warriors will play host to the 2018 Southeastern Pools Invitational on Friday and Saturday.