Christian McCary reached 200 wins in Beauregard Photo courtesy of Edith McCary

Wrestlers to host playoff match

By Michael Butler

The Tallassee wrestlers continued their stellar season with dominating wins in the Class 5A/Region 1 Duals at Beauregard. Now the Tigers are one win away from reaching Birmingham again.

Tallassee beat Valley (84-0), Elmore County (70-9) and Beauregard (64-12) on Wednesday. They topped Carver-Birmingham (75-6) and Shelby County (60-15) on Thursday. In the process, Christian McCary surpassed 200 victories putting him in rare company among THS wrestlers. Just three others have reached the 200 mark: Josh Epperson (235), Zak Haynes (224) and Kennon Reese (213).

McCary was named MVP at the 18-team Julian McPhillips Tournament won by Tallassee at St. James in Montgomery over the weekend. McCary was among eight first-place finishers in purple and gold: Thomas Patterson (115), Mason Nelson (122), Ramon Lozada (128), Land Bell (152), Ethan Jones (159), Nolan Addeo (217), Jude Rogers (HW).

Tallassee will now be the host for the quarterfinal round of the AHSAA Duals. Elberta will be the opponent on Friday, Jan. 12 at 3:30 p.m. The Tigers beat Elberta in the same round last year, 57-11.

"We're so excited to host the quarterfinals," said THS head coach John Mask. "I know it's an early start, but we sure hope that everyone will come out and support these young men."

This year, the semifinal and championship rounds will be held at the Birmingham Crossplex. Last year, only the finals were there.

Tallassee (29-0) finished last year with a 32-1 duals record. The only defeat came in the state duals final, 38-33 to Jasper.

"Our wrestlers have been working hard," Mask continued, "and really desire an opportunity to make it back to Birmingham."

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