Bingham, Connors lead Mavericks over weekend with Brawl at the Hall titles
As student-athletes returned to class following the Christmas break, high school wrestlers began preparing for the final stretch of the 2024-25 regular season.
While schools were on hiatus, the Anderson County High School wrestling team stayed hard at work, competing against tough opponents.
The Mavericks, continuing a strong campaign, opened 2025 at the Brawl at the Hall in Viking Hall on the Tennessee High campus in Bristol.
The Anderson County boys returned from Northeast Tennessee with seven medals, including one gold.
“It was a good weekend for us,” Anderson County Coach Matt Slone said. “We faced some good competition there.
“We’ve been to three tough tournaments this year and wrestled well, but I would say this was the deepest tournament we’ve been in from top to bottom,” he said.
“We also had some guys who wrestled really well and didn’t place because their brackets were so tough,” Slone said.
“You had Halls, Dobyns-Bennett, David Crockett and Tennessee High,” he said. “Then, you had a team from South Carolina that was third or fourth in the state in its classification, and a team from North Carolina that was second in its classification.”
The Mavericks’ gold medal came from Joshua Bingham in the 215-pound weight class.
Bingham, the state’s top-ranked 215-pounder, won the title.
Lady Mavericks sophomore Danielle Connors, the state’s top-ranked 126-pound female wrestler, also won her bracket.
Other notable
finishes included:
• Hayden Harrell (144 pounds): Fourth place
• Eli Bratton (144): Fourth place
• Aiden Reed (113): Sixth place
• Evan Prewitt (157): Sixth place
• Tripp Haire (126): Seventh place
• Max Wolfley (138): Seventh place
Bates Classic
Before Christmas, the Mavericks competed in the Bates Classic in Virginia, where they had more strong performances.
Harrell took first in his division, and Bingham finished as the runner-up, falling to the nation’s No. 17-ranked 215-pounder in the championship match.
Bratton took third, Prewitt placed fourth, and Zed Houlet (120 pounds) finished fifth. Reed and Haire each placed seventh in their respective divisions.
