Mae Jemison Varsity Wrestling

Closing the chapter on Jemison’s 2024 wrestling season. I have a ton of thoughts about this season:

Losing 2 state qualifiers prior to the season (plus around 30 other talented athletes) and still qualifying 7 and making the dual playoffs again was huge. State was very difficult for us, we peaked a week too early and I think the two weeks we had to miss due to ice hurt our training cycle badly. I truly believe we were a top 10 team this season, heck multiple of my guys beat state placers during the season or at sectionals, just didn’t show up when we needed to - it happens.

But as disappointing at the ending was, I had the most fun I have ever had with a group. Every day of the season was a blast, our coaching staff was easily one of the best in the state, our kids worked insanely hard, and this was by far my favorite group of athletes I’ve ever coached. If you have been around my team you know they are just great kids.

I want to take a moment to thank a few people
-
Ashlyn McMeans for being the best team mom out there and learning wrestling and being supportive of this group and me.
Darren Freeman for not only being the best coach and mentor, but for being one of my best friends and role models for the kids, without you these past few years would not have been no where near as successful. Isaiah McDougal for taking a chance on Jemison wrestling, giving his time back to the sport, and trusting my lead while beating up the kids every day, you made such a noticeable impact on our heavier weights in the room and always brought great vibes. Joshua Guyton for helping get our heavyweights prepared and making positive connections with the team. Jamil Jones for coming and rolling around with our guys and pushing them.

And lastly Michael Shankles who has been my lifelong mentor, ear to vent to after practices and tournaments, and my coach who always holds me and my team to high expectations.

Saying goodbye to this group is going to be very tough.

Today marked the end of the 2024 season and the end of a great career for George Mullins.
Over 100 wins, x2 State Placer (5th both times) and a x2 Section Finalist.
I know it’s not where he wanted to finish, but life rarely gives you what you want and instead gives what you need to empower you to do greater things.

I am very proud of him. Our hardest worker in our room, never complained, lead by example each day and helped everyone around him get better - on top of already taking college classes at UAH!

I hope he continues his career at the next level, but if he decides that this is it then it was a pleasure being a small part of his journey in wrestling.

George went out with a win, a smile, a black eye and a bloody nose, just how we imagined it.

Jemison wrestling finishes 7th in the AHSAA 6A North Super Section and qualified 7 wrestlers (out of 10 total) to the AHSAA State Championships next week!

R Yarbrough - 6th (will FF due to missed weight)
J Rice - 4th
R Jones - 3rd
G Mullins - 2nd
K Rogers - 3rd
J Gambles - 4th
D SantaCruze - 4th

Proud of these guys. For the most part we are peaking at the right time and wrestling really well, lots of fun matches this weekend and we are excited to see if we can get some of these guys on the podium next week.

Final regular season tournament at Columbia was a success for the Jags!
R Yarbrough - 1st
G Mullins - 1st
J Gambles - 1st
K Rogers - 2nd
J Rice - 3rd
D SantaCruze - 3rd
M Simpson - 7th
J Scott - 7th
J London - 9-12th
L Rice - 9-12th

Time to prepare, game plan, and peak at the right time. We have been steadily improving recently, beating a lot of kids who beat us early in the season and closing the gaps on our losses.
Let’s punch some tickets to state next week!

Ended our dual season losing to the 5A State Dual Champions Scottsboro 58-17, won 4 matches, was leading in 3 more but couldn’t close out, and gave up 3 FFs on top of the losses. Very proud of my guys and how they are competing as we near the end of the season. Small things to clean up still but I am hoping we qualify most of them to State next weekend.

This group of seniors will definitely be missed, arguably my favorite group of seniors I’ve had in my 4 years of working at Jemison (last year’s group could be a tie 🤣).

I have so many stories about each of these guys, but to keep it short just know the growth that each of them have made since I’ve met them has been the best part. We are all better for having played a role in each other’s lives. I love each of them as if they are my own children, and I know they will all be successful at whatever path they choose when they graduate.

They even had me tearing up today because of how proud I am of them knowing our journey together [All but George have wrestled less than 2 years total]. It has not always been easy, but it has always been worth it.

Career Win Totals:
George Mullins - 101
Robert Jones - 68
Derrick SantaCruze - 55
Jeremiah Gambles - 54
Joseph London - 15
London King (not pictured) - 16

This group always exceeds our expectations.
Last year we placed 1 person at the Dick Clem and took 13th, this year we took 4th as a team (missing 1 key wrestler too!) and had 7 placers. Still some things to clean up before Sectionals but for missing 2 weeks of practice and competition during the middle of the season I am super proud of these results.

Placers:
J Rice - 4th
R Jones - 1st
L King - 4th
G Mullins - 2nd
K Rogers - 4th
J Gambles - 4th
D SantaCruze - 3rd

I cannot tell you how incredibly sad, frustrated, and disappointed I am that the Jemison Wrestling Girls team’s season is over without being able to compete for State Titles/Placements this year.

I am not going to place blame, but to continue with a tournament of high significance when teams aren’t allowed to travel to that tournament (and you KNOW they can’t) seems unfathomable to me.

These girls trained club in the offseason, trained all year, won tournaments, competed hard, and they are crushed by this news.

However, and I want yall to know this, after a few moments of receiving the news in our team group message every one of our girls had the same message: we are going to keep training for next year. Luckily, none of them are seniors.

So as sad as I am, I am incredibly proud of these ladies for their perseverance, dedication, trust in us coaches and commitment to wrestling and to their team.
As always, Go Jags.

We did not show up tonight. Everyone looked flat, kids missing weight, lackluster effort, etc. just didn’t seem prepared for the big stage yet; it doesn’t help giving up 18 pts before the dual starts.

I take responsibility - time to learn and get prepared for sectionals next month. I’m still very proud of our group, regardless of the wins and losses; they have dealt with a lot this season and have continued to fight to be better each out.
Back to the grind!

Busy week for Jemison Wrestling. Very hard fought matches - I think we were a little tired at the end but I’m very happy with how competitive we were this week.

Qualifying for playoffs on Tuesday, only losing 2 matches (our 1st year 132lb wanted to bump up twice to get matches) to Columbia and Hazel Green on Thursday and almost beating Huntsville Varsity B team while giving up 3 FFs, and finishing the week at the Arab Invitational where we came away with 6 placers out of 10 wrestlers. Last season we only had 1 placer at this tournament, I call that progress.

J Rice - 4th
R Jones - 3rd
G Mullins - 3rd
K Rogers - 4th
J Gambles - 4th
D SantaCruze - 5th

Lots to work on, still time for improvements!

Back 2️⃣ Back!! Jemison Wrestling is playoff bound after defeating Buckhorn 46-21 to secure a spot in the 2024 AHSAA State Dual Playoffs for the second year in a row!

For those that don’t know we lost to Buckhorn 42-27 a few weeks ago, and that is in addition to losing 3-4 starters this week - but like I said yesterday our team that stayed is full of dreamers.

😤

Jemison Wrestling competes at Region Duals tomorrow for a chance to go back to the playoffs.

We have lost 19 kids this first semester for various reasons, but I am confident in who we have left. No excuses - we are going there to win.

As Dave Chappelle said in his latest special: “the person with the most powerful dreams wins the moment.”

We have a team left of dreamers.