ON THE MARK
D. MARK MITCHELL
WRESTLING
Opelika’s wrestling team participated in the “Smiths Station Panther Wrestling Invitational” last weekend. Eighteen wrestlers represented the Bulldogs in the meet, featuring 20 teams from Alabama and Georgia.
Four OHS grapplers won their respective weight class. Brady Campbell won the 145lb weight class with a 4-0 record; Jack Pritchard placed second in the 195lb class with a 3-1 record; Brayden Wilson (126lb) and Micah Smith (132lb) finished fourth in their respective weight class with 4-2 records.
The other 14 wrestlers did not finish in the top four, but contributed with enough points for OHS to finish in fourth place as a team. Lee County, Georgia, won the meet, followed by Smiths Station and third place finisher Bob Jones.
Head coach Jim Davis has two female wrestlers on the team: Shy’Kayla Brooks and Heidi Peralta-Fernandez. The girls wrestled in the second annual “AHSAA Girls’s State Championship” last weekend.
Brooks made history at OHS, becoming the first female to place in the state wrestling tournament, going 4-2 to earn fourth place. Peralta-Fernandez finished with one win and two losses, but did not place in the tournament.
Davis was forced to postpone senior night, scheduled for Jan. 20, due to unknown circumstances. One would guess COVID caused teams not to have enough grapplers to participate. No date was given to recognize the OHS senior wrestlers.
INDOOR TRACK
Opelika’s Indoor Track Team travelled to Birmingham last Monday for the “Dr. Martin Luther King Indoor Track Classic” at the Crossplex.
The following is a summary of Opelika’s results.
60 METER DASH
7.58 SB Bailey Williams – 27th
7.62 SB Jakori Thorntan – 30th
7.66 SB Qualik Harry – 33rd
400 METER DASH
53.78 SB Kaden Cooper – 7th
55.68 SB Kyrian Moss – 16th
800 METER RUN
2:11.66 SB Kyrian Moss – 10th
2:18.17 SB Charles Brewer – 14th
2:21.35 SB Sam Washburn – 18th
1600 METER RUN
4:39.06 SB Charles Brewer – 2nd
5:15.41 SB Michael Hart – 18th
5:39.30 SB Zalen Shaw – 27th
3200 METER RUN
12:22.04 SB Peyton Weston – 17th
13:07.02 SB Patrick Seymore – 20th
60 METER HURDLES
8.93 SB Tykell Thomas – 3rd
9.30 SB JaClarence Perry – 5th
10.14 Theo Hubbard – 9th
4X200 METER RELAY
1:35.55 Relay Team – 2nd
4X400 METER RELAY
3:45.72 Relay Team – 1st
4X800 METER RELAY
9:20.04 Relay Team – 3rd
HIGH JUMP
6-2 Davian Jones – 1st
5-6 Makai Simpson – 6th
LONG JUMP
20-6.5 Davian Jones – 1st
18-9.25 Kaden Cooper – 8th
18-1.75 SB Anthony Edwards – 11th
TRIPLE JUMP
41-2.75 Davian Jones – 1st
39-11.75 Kaden Cooper – 4th
37-0.75 Anthony Edwards – 8th
POLE VAULT
11-0 Ben (Benjamin) Royal – 5th
9-6 Kylin Fears – 6th
8-6 William Garner – 7th
SHOT PUT
42-6.5 Mikeil Heard – 1st
41-9.5 Marquavian Johnson – 3rd
38-8.5 William Garner – 6th
The Bulldog runners will travel back to Birmingham on Friday to participate in the “Last Chance Meet”. The AHSAA State Indoor Championship will be at the Crossplex in Birmingham, Feb. 4 through 5.
BASKETBALL
The OHS basketball teams lost an area game at Eufaula last week.
Opelika’s Lady Bulldogs trailed by one point with three minutes left in the game. The girls were whistled for numerous fouls and lost 54-49. Haley Sanders scored a game high 22 points.
Eufaula won the area regular season after beating OHS, and will host the Area tournament. Opelika’s varsity boys’ basketball team lost at Eufaula, 90-61, in area play.
The Bulldogs beat the No. 1 ranked Tigers in the Mainstreet gym two weeks ago.
EHS avenged the loss, playing a near perfect game.
Opelika was led offensively by
Isaiah Knight (19 points) and Grady Bynum (14 points).
Both teams host rival Auburn on Feb. 3 in the Mainstreet gym.
You can listen to the AHS/OHS varsity girls’ and boys’ games on FOX Sports the Game 910-1310 am presented by the Orthopaedic Clinic. Airtime at 5:25 p.m.
TIDBITS
Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller appeared on the “On the Mark” radio show and said the softball fields at West Ridge Park will be turfed one field at a time. Originally, the plan was to have both fields turfed prior to the 2022 season.
The city plans to turf all 11 fields at West Ridge Park. The Billy Hitchcock Miracle Field is currently the only field with sports turf. The turf on the miracle field allows wheelchairs to be used along with other handicapped equipment.
Opelika head football coach, Erk Speakman confirmed OHS will play Theodore at Bulldog Stadium Sept. 23. This will give the Bulldogs a 10 game schedule, five road games and five home games.
D. Mark Mitchell is the sports director at iHeartMedia, host of “On the Mark” Fox Sports the Game 910-1310, co-chair of the Auburn-Opelika Sports Council, chairman of the Super 7 and Dixie Boys Baseball state director.