The 2021-22 Catoosa-Walker Wrestling Dream Team
Evan Wingrove arrived at Heritage as a freshman last season and quickly found at home at 138 pounds. He placed third at the Region 7-AAAA tournament and qualified for state, but was eliminated prior to the medal rounds. Still, it was enough to earn the rookie a spot on the Catoosa-Walker Dream Team honorable mention list.
However, that type of season simply wouldn’t be good enough for Wingrove this time around as the sophomore delivered one of the best campaigns by a Generals wrestler in the past few seasons.
Wrestling at 160 pounds, he won the Murray County Invitational and helped Heritage advance to the championship semifinals in the Class AAAA State Duals before tying for fifth place. He went on to win the 7-AAAA individual crown and claim a state sectional title after going 4-0 with three pins.
A bye and a pair of pins put him in the state finals before finishing runnerup to the defending state
champion, who was also a national champion as a freshman. Still, Wingrove became the third Heritage wrestler in the last four years to make it to the final bout.
This year’s Catoosa County
Wrestler of the Year ended with a sparkling 44-6 overall record, including 29 pins, and layed the groundwork for what could be another two years of dominance for the Navy-and-Red’s mat leader.
After making an immediate impact on the varsity team as a freshman, Jacob Hamilton returned to the mats for the LaFayette Ramblers this past season and once again established himself as someone the team could count on when big points were needed.
Hamilton was one of three state tournament medalists for LaFayette during the 2020-21 season.
He went on to make the Class AAA championship quarterfinals at 106 pounds before losing, but battled back to place fifth in his first-ever appearance at state.
That came on the heels of winning an individual Region 6-AAA championship and making the Catoosa-Walker Dream Team first team.
A year later, Hamilton took third place at the Murray County Invitational at 120 pounds, before settling back to a more comfortable spot at 113 for the second half of the year. He went on to win another 6-AAA
title and tied for fifth at state for a second straight season.
This year’s Walker County Wrestler of the Year — his first such honor — was bolstered by a 34-10 overall
record that included 24 pins and two wins by major decision.
He finished his sophomore season with 47 takedowns, 37 near-falls and 17 reversals.