By Brandon Park
Staff Writer

The Morgan County High School Mat Dogs hosted the Morgan County Christmas Classic wrestling tournament last weekend, where seven schools competed for top honors.
The Mat Dogs ended the two day tournament in third place, tallying a total of 209.5 points.
Individually, Dustin Mines, Patrick Childers and Carlton Hyman finished the tournament in first place in their respective weight divisions.
Jacob Akins, Mack McKenzie and Zach Yost finished the tournament in second place in their respective weight divisions.
Childers (152) led the Mat Dogs with a record of 4-0, winning all his matches by fall, while racking up 46 total points.
Mines (103) also finished the tournament undefeated, winning two of his matches by decisions and one by forfeit. Mines totalled 18 points for the tournament.
Hyman (285) was the final Mat Dog to finish the tournament with an undefeated record, winning all three of his matches by falls. Hyman totalled 18 points throughout the tournament.
Akins (112), Yost (145),  McKenzie (119) and Stiara Mathis (285) finished the tournament with just one loss a piece.
Akins, who competed in three matches, won one by fall and the other by a decison, lossing his only match by a decision. He totalled 17 points during competition.
Yost competed in four matches, winning three by fall. His only loss came by way of a fall. Yost tallied 16 total points.
McKenzie, who competed in only two matches, won and lost by a fall. He totalled four points during the competition.
Mathis competed in three matches. He won two by a fall, and was defeated once by a fall. Mathis totalled four points.
Tavise Simmons (130), Kyle Palmer (135), Jared Rector (140), Marquis Leary (160), Justin Kruytoff (171) and Andrew Behrendsen (189) all competed in four matches during the tournament, and all finished with 2-2 records.
James Bearden (103) and Dustin Taylor (189) finished the tournament with a 1-2 record in the their respective weight divisions.
The week prior to the Morgan County Christmas Classic, the Mat Dogs traveled to Baldwin County for a match against Baldwin County High School and Central High School.
The Mat Dogs earned victories against both opponents, totalling 57 points to Baldwin’s 21 and totalling 63 points to Central’s 18.
Against Central, Akins, Simmons, Palmer and Yost all won their matches by falls. Akins totalled two points, Simmons totalled two points, Palmer totalled nine points and Yost totalled 12 points in their wins.
Carlton Hyman won his match by decision, totalling 10 points in the victory.
William Collier, Kruythoff and Taylor lost their matches by falls.
Against Baldwin, Bearden, Mines, Akins, McKenzie, Simmons, Palmer, Nicholas Simmons, Yost and Childers all won their matches. Bearden, Mines and McKenzie all won by a fall and totalled five points, while Simmons and Palmer won by a fall and totalled 2 points a piece.
Akins won his match by a fall and totalled 11 points, and Nicholas Simmons won his match by a fall and totalled 10 points.
Yost won his match by a decision with 20 points, and Childers dominated his match, winning by a fall and scoring 17 points to his opponents zero.
The Mat Dogs are scheduled to compete in their final regular season match next Friday, December 30 at Troup County.
The Area 8-AAA Duals are scheduled for January 9-10.