BY D. MARK MITCHELL
WRESTLING
The Opelika wrestling team finished runner-up in the AHSAA 7A Super Sectionals in Mobile. Ten of Twelve Bulldog wrestlers advanced to the AHSAA State Wrestling Championship at Von Braun Civic Center in Huntsville, Thursday through Saturday.
Trell Anderson, Brady Campbell and Kyle Epperson won their respective weight class at the Sectionals. Brayden Wilson finished second, Tommie Johnson, KK Howell and Brandon Wilson placed third, Trace Gaither was 4th while Derrick Hoyett and Calvin Fenn finished fifth.
SPRING SPORTS START
Opelika’s girls’ soccer team (3-0) shutout Eufaula 10-0 last week. The following five combined for the 10-goals: Scarlet Posadas (3), Maelee Story (3), Skylar Harris (2), Belinda Giron, and Karly Phatsadavong. Keeper Alex DeSantos shutout the lady Tigers of EHS. The girl’s roster is below.
Aimee Alcantara, Senior
Isabella Brandwein, Junior
Nehemias Chen, Junior
Daphne Cruz, Senior
Maricela Cruz, Senior
Julie Free, Sophomore
Susan Gaston, Senior
Belinda Giron, Junior
Katy Gomez, Sophomore
Skylar Harris, Junior
Jordin Henderson, Sophomore
Kameryn McDaniel, Sophomore
Hannah Norris, Senior
Dolores Pascual, Sophomore
Karly Phatsadavong, Sophomore
Penelope Posadas, Sophomore
Scarlet Posadas, Senior
Martha Story, Freshman
Breann Swanson, Senior
Dolores Tomas, Sophomore
April Vega Sanchez, Junior
Bailey Ward, Sophomore
Alejandra Desanto, Senior
BOYS SOCCER
The OHS boys Soccer team dropped to 0-2-1 on the season after tying Eufaula 0-0 last week. Foster Hulsey made countless saves in goal to secure a shutout for the Dawgs. Team memebers are:
John Ambrocio, Senior
Wade Awbrey, Senior
Dexter Baker Jr., Sophomore
Reese Beasley, Freshman
Joshua Beltran, Sophomore
Dax Campbell, Sophomore
Jake Campbell, Junior
David Cruz, Sophomore
Blaze Cutcher, Senior
Giovanni De Leon, Senior
Zavier Dowdell, Junior
Kenneth Frazier, Senior
Zyon Henderson, Junior
Alexander Lopez, Junior
Guillermo Lopez, Junior
Kelvin Lopez Godinez, Jr.
Bryan McEntire, Junior
Eduardo Moran, Senior
Pramode Phengsiri, Senior
Rigo Ramirez, Sophomore
Adolfo Ramos, Freshman
Tristan Tatum, Junior
Brayden Vasquez, Senior
Freddie Vasquez, Senior
Nolen Wilson, Senior
GOLF
The Golf teams opened the 2024 season by sweeping Valley (99-111) at Point University Golf Club in Lanett. The following were the scores for OHS.
Paige Bales 43
Allie Prescott 43
Molly Anderson 56
Kaylin Ward 56.
The golf team roster:
Molly Anderson, Senior
Paige Bales, Senior
Emily Gaberlavage, Fr.
Karly Phatsadavong, Sophomore
Allie Prescott, Senior
Kaylin Ward, Senior
The Bulldog Boys Golf Team defeated Valley 159–139 at Point University Golf Club on Thursday to open the season. Evan Henderson shot a 41 on nine holes to finish first, Cater Nesse fired a 41, Kyle Epperson and Bennet Young both shot 48 , Jimmy Fenn 50, and Jacob Anderson 55.
The following is a list of OHS golfers.
Jacob Anderson,Sophomore
Kyle Epperson, Junior
James Fenn, Sophomore
Kenneth Frazier, Senior
Roman Gagliano, Senior
Evan Henderson, Junior
Bryan McEntire, Junior
Carter Neese, Sophomore
Pramode Phengsiri, Senior
Elijah Rose, Freshman
Nolen Wilson, Senior
Bennett Young, Sophomore
TENNIS
The OHS girls and boys Tennis teams is off to 4-1 starts. The girls beat Pike Road (7-2), Wetumpka (7-2) beat Sylacauga (9-0) and BRHS (9-0) and lost to Hilcrest (4-5). The boys team beat AUM (5-4), Wetumpka (9-0), Tuscaloosa (8-1) and Benjamin Russell (9-0).
Boys:
Paxton Blackburn, Sophomore
Jake Caldwell, Sophomore
Van Click, Sophomore
Drue Gagliano, Junior
Roman Gagliano, Senior
Anderson Melnick, 8th
Connor Mullins, Junior
Devam Patel, Senior
Myles Tatum, Sophomore
Jacob Wood, Senior
Girls:
Emma Brown, Sophomore
Sarah Bush, Senior
Lila Cook, Freshman
Stella George, Junior
Maddie Hankins, Junior
Addison Kemp, Junior
Avery Massey, Sophomore
Mary Cara Montel, Sophomore
Presley Mullins, Sophomore
Kinsley Norton, Freshman
Shirley Pugh, Senior
Joanne Smith T, Junior
Lily Williams, Sophomore
SOFTBALL
The Lady Bulldog Softball team opens the regular season, Thursday Feb. 15, at Beauregard starting at 5 p.m. Following is the roster:
Emily Birmingham, Sophomore
Mylee Bordeaux, Sophomore
Braelynn Brooks, Sophomore
Katelyn Foley, Junior
Kali Harper, Junior
Katie Harrelson, Junior
Kristen Hickman, Freshman
Hannah Holley, Sophomore
Katie Johnson, Junior
Jade Jones, Junior
Erin Kemp, Freshman
Alyson Lee, Sophomore
Aleah McKenzie, Senior
Cailyn Morgan, Sophomore
Kaiden Sallie, Freshman
Jasmine Smith, Sophomore
Kennedy Soltau, Sophomore
Alaina Thomas, Freshman
Jancyn Thompson, Junior
Jamiah Williams, Senior
MacKenzie Young, Senior
BASEBALL
The Baseball Bulldogs open the season Thursday with a doubleheader against Russell County starting at 4:30 p.m. The roster is below.
Tristian Arnold, Junior
Caden Blair, Senior
Judson Cherry, Junior
Slade Clayton, Junior
Russell Copous, Senior
Logan Elkins, Senior
Davis Ford, Junior
Brodie Jones, Junior
Jackson Kilcrease, Senior
Parker Kilcrease, Senior
James Lovelace, Senior
Ethan Phipps, Sophomore
Sawyer Rollins, Sophomore
Jonathan Landon Rudd,
Sophomore
Jordan Waits, Sophomore
Culventae White, Senior
AREA BASKETBALL SUMMARY
Boys
The Lee-Scott Academy boys Basketball team (27-5) won the 3A State Championship after beating Bessemer 64-57 in the championship game Friday night at the Crossplex in Montgomery. LSA led all four quarters and outscored Bessemer three out of four quarters: first quarter 20/18, second quarter 14/11, tied 10/10 after third quarter and won the fourth quarter 20-18. Three Warrior players scored double-digits and made All-Tournament team. Sophomore Haiden “Shooter” Harper led the Warriors with 28-points, five rebounds and two assists. Senior Ben Aldridge scored 10-points, grabbed nine rebounds and recorded five assists, and freshman Barrett Cook added 11 points. Parker P. Wright, Tyler Kennedy, Chapman Harris, Wyatt Whatley and Owen Gibson played major roles in the win.
The Warriors won their fourth AISA basketball State Championship with a team that went a bunch of adversity. LSA started the season hot and continued through middle of January when two players went down with injuries, senior Ben Aldridge and sophomore Parks Myers. Aldridge, one of two seniors on the team and the leader on the court, missed six games while Myers missed two games. The Warriors dropped four out of five games without Aldridge and dropped from number one seed to the number three seed in the Region Tournament. Aldridge and all the team were healthy when they beat Valliant Cross in the semifinals of the Region tournament. After the game, Harper was not feeling well and eventually underwent surgery the day of the Region championship game. Lee-Scott beat rival Glenwood in the Region Tournament for the fourth time this season. The Warriors played the final two games with all players on the roster. CONGRATULATIONS!
Girls
Lee-Scott’s varsity girls palyed Glenwood for the AISA State Championship game and came up short. The Gators won 45-36.
Takayla Davis was named the Glenwood Player of the Game.
D. Mark Mitchell is the sports director at iHeartMedia, host of “On the Mark” Fox Sports the Game 910-1319, co-chair of the Auburn-Opelika Sports Council, chairman of the Super 7 and Dixie Boys Baseball state director.