Ranburne Town Council honors three RHS wrestlers

Bill Wilson, The Anniston Star, Ala.
·2 min read

Mar. 4—RANBURNE — The Ranburne Town Council called a meeting Wednesday night to honor three of its own.

Three wrestlers from Ranburne High School who each won an individual state championship last month in Huntsville were recognized with a proclamation from the town council.

The proclamation, which was read aloud by Mayor Rodney Brown, was passed unanimously by the council. The meeting was then adjourned and the mayor gave each wrestler and coach a copy of the proclamation.

Carson Hall won the 1A-4A state heavyweight championship, Christian Smith won the 1A-5A class 195 lb. state championship and Ben Buchanan won the 1A-5A state heavyweight championship.

After the meeting Buchanan spoke about the championships after he and his fellow wrestlers posed for photos

"It's an honor, all three of us, we put in the work, trained everyday, especially me and Carson, we went to practice together, my senior year and his freshman year, we absolutely just killed each other," said Buchanan.

"I think us three being state champions, doing what we've done for the past however many years we've been wrestling, we absolutely deserve it and it's still an honor to be up here and be recognized for it," said Buchanan.

Smith was also proud of their achievements as well.

"It's a huge honor, I'm glad that wrestling got a little bit of recognition and I think we deserved it ... we really pushed it," said Smith.

The wrestling team's coach, Jason Meeder, said a huge amount of work goes into wrestling along with heartache, hard losses and tears.

"If you've never wrestled you really don't understand," Meeder said after the meeting, citing the "dedication of them buying into the process."

"These guys, they give it all they've got, our practices are brutal and they put in the work, they never complain and it shows on the mat, for all three of these kids who won a state championship and all three be undefeated as state champions that's pretty impressive," said Meeder.

Staff writer Bill Wilson: 256-235-3562. On Twitter @bwilson_star.