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Mountain Brook Pins Make the Difference in 29-28 Win Over Homewood in AHSAA 6A Duals Quarterfinals

January 16, 2024

Defending 6A Dual Champs Mountain Brook Advances to Final 4

On Saturday, Jude Smith, a junior from Mountain Brook High School, achieved a pivotal victory over Homewood’s Lantham Boyd. His winning move, a pin, resulted in a nail-biting 29-28 victory for the Spartans against Homewood in the AHSAA Duals Tournament’s Class 6A quarterfinal, held at McAdory High School. The Spartans, last year’s Class 6A state duals champions, came off victories against Pelham (64-7) and Homewood (36-28) to establish this quarterfinal face-off with the Patriots.

The Spartans initiated the final match with a 23-9 lead, winning five out of the first eight matches. However, Homewood wasn’t going down without a fight, winning the next four matches and closing the gap to a mere one point. With only two matches remaining, Smith turned the tide with a momentous pin at 2:32 in the 159-pound weight category, extending Mountain Brook’s lead to 29-22. Despite obtaining a forfeit and six points in the 167-pound weight class match, Homewood fell short by a single point.

Interestingly, the Patriots won over half of the 14 matches. However, Mountain Brook’s triumph was cemented by three wins via pins, including Smith’s. Sam Carroll and Stephen Springfield also contributed with their victories in the 192-pound and 122-pound categories, respectively.

Looking ahead, Mountain Brook will compete in the AHSAA State Duals Tournament semifinals this Friday at the Birmingham CrossPlex Bill Harris Arena, where they will face Pike Road at 8:45 a.m. Concurrently, Athens and Mortimer Jordan will compete in the other Class 6A semifinal.

For the first time in the seven-year history of the AHSAA Duals State Tournament, a “Final 4” format will be introduced, with both semifinals and finals taking place at Bill Harris Arena. This development sees the return of last year’s duals champions (Huntsville in Class 7A, Mountain Brook in 6A, and Jasper in 5A) and 2023’s runner-up teams (Smith Station in 7A, Mortimer Jordan in 6A, Tallassee in 5A, and Ranburne in Class 1A/4A) advancing to the semifinals.

The remaining quarterfinal matches of the 2024 Duals tournament were wrapped up this Saturday, and all semifinal fixtures are now set. The semifinal and final matches of the 2024 Duals Tournament will be live-streamed on the NFHS Network, thanks to production by Track Wrestling.

Simultaneously, the AHSAA Girls’ Invitational State Tournament will kick off this week at Thompson High School and will move to the Bill Harris Arena on Friday for their weight division championship matches. These matches will also be live-streamed on the NFHS Network.

Complete results from the boys’ duals matches are listed below:

AHSAA 2024 State Wrestling Duals Playoffs

CLASS 1A/4A
First Round
Saint James 58, T.R. Miller 17
Montgomery Catholic 54, Escambia County 21
Ranburne 42, Oak Grove 39
Cleburne County 68, Montevallo 12
Saint John Paul II Catholic 51, New Hope 27
Wilson 45, Madison County 27
Weaver 46, Dora 28
Corner 49, Piedmont 21
Quarterfinals
Saint James 45, Montgomery Catholic 18
Ranburne 39, Cleburne County 33
St. John Paul II Catholic 51, Wilson 30
Weaver 51, Corner 28

CLASS 5A
Quarterfinals
Gulf Shores 73, Beauregard 5
Tallassee 64, Elberta 12
Jasper 49, Southside 25
Scottsboro 55, Hayden 17

CLASS 6A
First Round
Homewood 36, McAdory 28
Mountain Brook 64, Pelham 7
Pike Road 52, Spanish Fort 24
Saraland 42, Wetumpka 34
Fort Payne 46, Hartselle 32
Athens 54, Mae Jemison 17
Gardendale 47, Pell City 16
Mortimer Jordan 73, Oxford 0
Quarterfinals
Mountain Brook 29, Homewood 28
Pike Road 63, Saraland 12
Athens 42, Fort Payne 36
Mortimer Jordan 51, Gardendale 25

CLASS 7A
Quarterfinals
Smiths Station 42, Daphne 36
Enterprise 59, Baker 21
Hewitt-Trussville 35, Bob Jones 25
Huntsville 46, Thompson 22

AHSAA 2024 State Wrestling Duals Championships
at Birmingham CrossPlex, Bill Harris Arena, Friday, January 19
CLASS 1A/4A
Semifinals
Ranburne vs. Saint James, Friday, Jan. 19, 3:30 p.m.
St. John Paul II Catholic vs. Weaver, Friday, Jan. 19, 3:30 p.m.
1A/4A Finals
Ranburne-Saint James winner vs. St. John Paul II-Weaver winner, Friday, Jan. 19, 5:15 p.m.
1A/4A Consolation Finals
Ranburne-Saint James loser vs. St. John Paul II-Weaver loser, Friday, Jan. 19, 5:15 p.m.

CLASS 5A
Semifinals
Gulf Shores vs. Tallassee, Friday, Jan. 19, 8:45 a.m.
Jasper vs. Scottsboro, Friday, Jan. 19, 8:45 a.m.
5A Finals
Gulf Shores-Tallassee winner vs. Jasper-Scottsboro winner, Friday, Jan. 19, 10:30 a.m.
5A Consolation Finals
Gulf Shores-Tallassee loser vs. Jasper-Scottsboro loser, Friday, Jan. 19, 10:30 a.m.

CLASS 6A
Semifinals
Mountain Brook vs. Pike Road, Friday, Jan. 19, 8:45 a.m.
Athens vs. Mortimer Jordan, Friday, Jan. 19, 8:45 a.m.
6A Finals
Mountain Brook-Pike Road winner vs. Athens-Mortimer Jordan winner, Friday, Jan. 19, 10:30 a.m.
6A Consolation Finals
Mountain Brook-Pike Road loser vs. Athens-Mortimer Jordan loser, Friday, Jan. 19, 10:30 a.m.

CLASS 7A
Semifinals
Smiths Station vs. Enterprise, Friday, Jan. 19, 3:30 p.m.
Hewitt-Trussville vs. Huntsville, Friday, Jan. 19, 3:30 p.m.
7A Finals
Smiths Station-Enterprise winner vs. Hewitt-Trussville-Huntsville winner, Friday, Jan. 19, 5:15 p.m.
7A Consolation Finals
Smiths Station-Enterprise loser vs. Hewitt-Trussville-Huntsville loser, Friday, Jan. 19, 5:15 p.m.

2024 Girls’ State Wrestling Tourney
At Thompson HS, Wednesday, Jan. 17
Matches begin, 6 p.m.
At Thompson HS, Thursday, Jan. 18
Matches begin, noon

Tournament Placement Matches
At Birmingham CrossPlex, Bill Harris Arena, Friday, Jan. 19
Placement matches (championship finals, 3^rd-4^th match, 5^th-6^th match; 7^th-8^th match), 12:40 p.m.

AHSAA Wrestling Duals Tourney Champions (2017-2023)
2023 Finals
7A: Huntsville (28-0) 32, Smiths Station (22-4) 6
6A: Mountain Brook (14-4) 32, Mortimer Jordan (31-3) 27
5A: Jasper (24-5) 38, Tallassee (23-1) 33
1A/4A: Dora (33-2) 39, Ranburne (23-3) 31

2023 Consolation matches
7A: Thompson (25-10) 68, Enterprise (22-4) 3
6A: Hartselle (17-2) 36, Wetumpka (14-3) 35
5A: Gulf Shores (27-2) 37, Hayden (30-3) 27
1A/4A: Saint James (18-3) 36, New Hope (13-2) 30