Hornet wrestlers shine at sectional

The Chelsea Hornets wrestling team had the best performance in school history over the weekend, qualifying 11 individual wrestlers for the state tournament and coming in second place in the team standings.

The top eight finishers from eight weight class at the Class 6A North Super Sectional meet, which was held Friday and Saturday at the Crossplex in Birmingham, advanced to the state tournament. In qualifying 11 wrestlers for state, this year’s Hornet team bested the 2016 squad, which sent 10 wrestlers. There are 14 total weight classes.

The outstanding team performance was led by a pair of second-place finishers in senior Brantley Ledbetter and junior Sam Ingram. Ledbetter was the runner-up in the 126-pound weight class, while Ingram was second at 170 pounds.

A pair of seniors, Clint Glaze (152 pounds) and Caleb Gore (185), finished in third place in their respective weight divisions, while sophomore Elliot Gage came in fourth at 160 pounds.

Other state qualifiers for Chelsea were freshman Adam Byerman (seventh place – 113 pounds), senior Ben Byerman (sixth place – 120 pounds), junior Gavin Rigor (sixth place – 132 pounds), freshman Eli Padgett (sixth place – 138 pounds), junior Hunter Guarnieri (7th place – 145 pounds), and junior Hakeem Stanford (fifth place – 182 pounds).

The wrestling team is coached by Heath Butler and Adam Oliver.

Chelsea also finished second in the team standings at the sectional with 184.5 team points. Gardendale won the tournament with 207 points.

The state tournament will be held this weekend at the Von Braun center in Huntsville.

 

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