Stonecypher, Sullens win tourney titles
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Seth Stonecypher took top honors in the 182-pound division. (Photo/Mark Turner) -
Devin Sullens was the tournament champion in the 285-pound division. (Photo/Mark Turner)
The White County Warriors put together a fifth-place finish at the King of the Mountain Tournament last weekend in Hiawassee, led by a pair of individual champions.
Juniors Seth Stonecypher and Devin Sullens each brought home an individual title from the tournament, which featured teams from Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.
Stonecypher posted a 4-0 record to win the 182-pound title, while Sullens also went 4-0 on the way to the 285-pound championship.
Senior Bradley Minor earned a spot on the podium as well, finishing third in the 195-pound division, while Sydney Sullens made the semifinals in the 152-pound weight class, and Sean Wurtz was a semifinalist in the 138-pound division.
Harris County won the team title with 198.5 points, while West Oak (SC) was second with 167 points. Mt. Pisgah (150), Gilmer County (120), WCHS (91), Hart County (82), Cherokee, N.C. (77), Banks County (68), Murphy N.C. (59), and Hayesville, N.C. (59) rounded out the Top 10 teams.
Sullens dominated on the way to winning the heavyweight title, posting four wins by pin. He started by pinning Harris County's Spencer Gasaway in 29 seconds, and then needed only 18 seconds to pin Banks County's Eli Ward in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, Sullens pinned Cherokee's Kelton Crawford, and then finished things off with a first period pin of Gilmer County's Tony Olea in the championship match. Sullens put Olea on his back midway through the opening period and ended the match at the 1:14 mark.
Stonecypher had three pins to earn a spot in the championship match. He pinned Union County's Sean Phillips at the 2:44 mark of the opening round match, and then pinned Andrews' Samuel Wood at the 3:16 mark of the quarterfinal match.
In the semifinals, Stonecypher put the match away at the 3:53 mark, pinning Mt Pisgah's Happy Chane. In the championship match, Stonecypher squared off with Union County's Cristian Martinez. The two battled in a tight match, with Stonecypher earning a 6-5 decision to win the weight class title.
Minor had a 3-1 record to earn a third-place medal in the 195-pound class.
After getting a bye in the opening round, Minor pinned Hart County's Logan Lopez in the quarterfinals. Minor ran into Banks County's Josh Stapleton in the semifinals and was knocked into the elimination bracket with a lost by pin to Stapleton.
Minor recorded a win in the elimination bracket semifinals, needing only 59 seconds to pin Murphy's Ryan Russell.
In the elimination bracket final, Minor dominated Hayesville's Ethan Taylor, posting a pin in 34 seconds.
Sidney Sullens had a solid effort as the only female in the 152-pound division. Sullens opened the tournament with two wins, pinning Savannah Christian's Griffin Bazemore in 19 seconds.
Sullens posted a 13-2 major decision in the quarterfinal over Andrews' Isaiah Matthews, but was beaten by Harris County's Drake LLathem in the semifinal round. Sullens suffered a 7-2 loss to Cherokee's Darius Saunooke in the elimination bracket semifinals.
Wurtz had a 2-2 record in the 138-pound division. He pinned Cherokee's John Bradley in the opening round, and then pinned Waverly Hall's Jake Byers in the quarterfinals, before falling to West Oak's Clayton James by a 12-11 decision in the semifinals.
Wurtz's tournament ended in the elimination bracket semifinal match with Westminster's Damien Thaxton, who notched a pin over Wurtz.