Morgan County’s wrestling team recently wrapped up its regular season by winning the Area 4-AA duals meet. The Mat Dogs hosted Glen Hills and Burke County in Madison on Jan. 10 at the school’s competition gym.
Butler, Josey, and Laney are also in the area, but didn’t enter the tournament because they couldn’t fill a full roster. Regardless, Morgan easily defeated the Spartans and Bears to secure their fourth consecutive area title.
“Winning the area is always great, no matter what our competition may end up looking like,” first-year head coach Stewart Spence said. “It’s a funny season because we’re so senior-heavy with guys competing for individual state titles and are fully committed to the sport, me, and our coaching staff. On the other hand, the other half of our team is mostly freshmen. So, we’re very young, while we’re also very independently accountable.”
Seniors Blake Atkinson, Kaleo Wilcoxson, Jatavious Ward, Braxton Jones, and Jamari Mundy are the team’s leaders. Sophomore Evan Moss has also pulled his own weight this season and been a contributor.
This season’s Mat Dogs’ roster is deep from top to bottom, which excites Spence and his coaching staff. Spence is hoping the mixture can bode well for his team at the state duals tournament this weekend at East Jackson.
“It’s a good mix to have, but it’s also one of those years when you hope something greater can come of it for the state tournament next week,” Morgan County’s head coach said. “At the same time, it’s a growth period for our younger guys, to see how things should go and how the future needs to be. So, it’s really exciting.”
Last year, Morgan didn’t last long at the state duals meet. The Mat Dogs defeated Jordan in the first round, then lost to eventual champion Rockmart in the second and were eliminated by Union County in the loser’s bracket.
With senior leadership and a strong underclassmen group, Morgan hopes for better results this weekend. The Mat Dogs have a good chance to win or place, as they’re currently ranked among the top teams in Class 2A.
“I think that we’re a team that other people may be overlooking, and they’re gonna be surprised when we show up, and we hit another team in the mouth, and we try to make some noise at the state tournament,” Spence said. “I’m looking for us to break into the top eight, if not place a little bit higher. I would love to say that we’re gonna go in there and win it all, and that’s the goal, that’s the only thing we’re shooting for. However, I am realistic, and the guys know I’m transparent about it. We’re going up there to try to knock some people off their high horse, because a lot of people are overlooking Morgan County right now.”