ACHS wrestlers launch ’25 season with high hopes
Anderson County’s Zed Hulet controls Clinton’s Keenan Hoskins from the top position during action Saturday at the Dan Dugger Preseason Tournament at Karns High School. (photo:Tony Cox )
The Mavericks brought nine boys to the preseason event, while the Lady Mavericks were represented by standout Danielle Connors, a returning state qualifier.
Several experienced wrestlers saw early action in the preseason tune-up, including Aiden Reed (113 pounds), Zed Hulet (138), Hayden Harrell (144), Max Wolfley (152), Edwin Presson (157), Evan Prewitt (175), and Henry Linkes and Gabe Smith, who both competed at 190 pounds. Newcomer Daniel Massengill (132) also made his preseason debut for the Mavericks.
The tournament served as an early test for a program that has become a fixture on Tennessee’s wrestling scene. Anderson County has reached the state duals in each of the past two seasons and had multiple individual state qualifiers last year. That included one state champion and another finalist.
Despite losing top-tier talent to graduation, head coach Matt Slone remains confident his squad will make an impact this season — especially on the individual level.
“For the second year in a row, we’ve lost state placers,” Slone said. “We lost a state champion last year and we lost another state finalist.
“We’ve got a great group of kids. We’ve also got some new kids, and there might be one or two spots where we don’t have wrestlers for the duals. But we can probably do better in the individual state tournament.”
With youth and some holes in the lineup, the dual meet season may pose challenges. Still, Slone refuses to lower the bar.
“We have a young team, and we’ll have some spots where we don’t have guys in dual meets, but that doesn’t mean our expectations are going to change,” he said. “We’ll be able to compete.”
The Mavericks opened the regular season Tuesday night with a tri-match against Powell and Karns. Results were not available at press time.