DOTHAN, Ala. (WTVY) – If there is anything that can define a community, support for high school sports is high on that list.

Every year, we see young men and women throw on jerseys and equipment marked with the names and mascots of their high school and take to many different types of playing surfaces for a season of difficult challenges that will hopefully lead to one goal being accomplished.

That goal: being able to write your name in the history books not just at a local level but statewide, as a champion above all the other great teams.

Here in Alabama, that goal is marked by one of the most iconic trophies that can be easily recognized whenever you walk by a trophy case in the hallways of your school or at your school’s gymnasium or wherever else. The coveted “Blue Map.”

It’s difficult to win the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s (AHSAA) ultimate prize in any sport, and it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to reach that crowning moment. But many have gotten the opportunity to do so across all of the association’s different sports, and that includes teams and schools representing our corner of Alabama here in the Wiregrass.

Let’s take a closer look into the record books and highlight the last Wiregrass team to be able to hoist the Blue Map in each of the AHSAA’s 16 sponsored sports, or if it’s never happened for a team in our area give a spotlight to who has been the closest to get there recently, and shine a bigger light onto the teams that are still talked about to this day in the little towns and thriving cities of our southeast Alabama area.

(As a quick note, we are specifically highlighting complete teams that won the state title in each of these sports, but we will highlight some recent individual state title winners as they warrant as well!)

Football | 2022 – Andalusia (4A) (Extended); 2015 – Elba (2A) (Core 5)

High school football is one of the most important talking points in the state of Alabama, and it is beyond special to have your name in the history books as a team that has been able to bring home a state championship off of the gridiron.

Here in the Wiregrass, the most recent area team to get it done happened back in 2022 when the Andalusia Bulldogs out in Covington County marched their way into Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama and chipped away at an impressive Cherokee County team to capture a 28-7 win and the school’s third football crown in program history and first since 1977.

If you are focusing in on just the Core 5 Wiregrass counties in Alabama (Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston), then the only team you can bring up in the recent conversation is the mighty Elba Tigers, who are the only team from one of those five since the turn of the century to bring home a Blue Map, doing it two separate times in Class 2A in 2011 (34-14 over Tanner) and 2015 (36-22 over Fyffe).

Basketball (Girls) | 2020 – Charles Henderson (5A) (Extended); 2017 – Geneva County (2A) (Core 5)

There is something special about getting to capture a state crown on the hardwood, with the environment of high school basketball in Alabama being one of the most underrated things to experience year after year. And while it may be argued, the value of girls high school basketball in this state is hard to match with the amount of talented young ladies being developed in this state in recent years.

The most recent Wiregrass girls squad to take home a Blue Map in basketball happened just before the world shut down in 2020, when the Charles Henderson Trojans out of Troy completed an undefeated 29-0 season with the closest win of that year’s State Finals championship games, beating Madison Academy 50-48 in 5A to grab their second state championship in three seasons.

Once again focusing in on the Core 5, our recent title victory came in 2017 courtesy of another two-point margin when the Geneva County Bulldogs bested Tanner 44-42 to bring home a 2A crown.

Since the turn of the century, 12 Blue Maps in total have come home to the extended Wiregrass, with six of those finding their way into our Core 5 counties.

Basketball (Boys) | 2025 – Providence Christian (2A)

Now that we’ve highlighted the girls, let’s take a glance at the young men of the Wiregrass and their most recent title triumph at the BJCC Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.

That latest area state title victory is the most recent of any sport as it occurred this past Friday in Birmingham, as the Providence Christian Eagles completed a dream season on the hardwood by defeating Tuscaloosa Academy 89-61 to capture the 2A State Championship trophy, the first basketball state crown in program history for the school.

7 state championships in total have been captured by our extended area since 2000, with just three of those being from the Core 5.

Softball | 2024 – Opp (3A) (Extended); Wicksburg (2A) (Core 5)

From the hardwood to the diamond, the 2025 season is currently ongoing for teams across the area, but we don’t have to look too far back to find our most recent local state champions.

Starting with softball, the most recent title came in 2024 courtesy of the Opp Bobcats, who completed an undefeated 4-0 run in the 3A tournament to capture their first state championship for the program.

For the Core 5 counties, the most recent championship also came in 2024, with Wicksburg capturing the 2A crown with a 4-0 run in last season’s state tournament.

Wiregrass extended area teams have won a state title in softball in each of the last six seasons, excluding 2020 where no state tournament was held.

Houston Academy also has claim to being the final state champion ever for softball in the slow pitch category, which was retired as an AHSAA sponsored sport in 2002.

Baseball | 2024 – Ariton (2A)

Baseball has been a successful sport in recent times for Wiregrass area teams, with our corner of Alabama accounting for six titles in the last eight years thanks to the Ariton Purple Cats and the G.W. Long Rebels.

Ariton, in particular, is our most recent local state champions in baseball, as the Purple Cats took home their second straight 2A crown in 2024 with a 2-1 series win over Mars Hill Bible.

G.W. Long, without question, would be the most successful program in the region’s history, and possibly in any sport, as they have accounted for 17 state championships in baseball, their first coming in 1989 and the most recent in 2022.

Cheer | 2024 – Kinston (Varsity – Game Day 1A, Varsity 1A), Pike Liberal Arts (Varsity – Game Day 2A, Varsity 2A), Opp (Varsity 4A), Andalusia (Varsity – Game Day 5A, Junior High – Game Day – Small)

Three Wiregrass area squads took home state title victories in Cheer in 2024, with Kinston, Pike Liberal Arts, Opp, and Andalusia each grabbing the top prizes in 1A, 2A, 4A, and 5A, respectively.

Kinston and Pike Lib have brought home state titles in three straight years since 2022, while Opp has had a run of nine straight state titles since 2016.

Cross Country | 2023 (Girls) & 2024 (Boys) – Providence Christian

Providence Christian is, without a doubt, the most successful program in cross country in the Wiregrass in recent memory, as both the girls and boys programs have dominated the competition to multiple state title victories.

The Eagles girls most recently won a state title in 2023 in Class 4A, the last of a four-year run of titles that began in the fall of 2020. The first two of those titles came in Class 3A.

The PCS boys got their most recent state crown this most recent 2024 season, with the Eagles grabbing the 5A championship for their fourth straight title since 2021. Those title wins for the boys have come across three different classifications.

eSports | 2024 – Eufaula (NBA 2K)

eSports as a sponsored sport in the AHSAA is a fairly new thing, so there isn’t much history to look at when trying to find the all-time champions across all the games being competed in by state competitors at the high school level.

Eufaula is at this point the first and only Wiregrass area school to capture an eSports state championship, doing so in 2024 when they became the first NBA 2K champions in Alabama high school history.

Flag Football | N/A

Flag football is another very newly sponsored sport in the AHSAA, and because of that, the Wiregrass region is still waiting to see who will make history as the first local state champions in the sport.

The 2024 season saw three different teams represent the Wiregrass in the state playoffs, with Dothan, Enterprise, Northside Methodist, and Carroll looking to lead the way to the eventual crowning of an area state champion in the sport in the near future.

Swimming (Girls & Boys) | N/A

Swimming has been a sponsored sport for the AHSAA since 1966, but during that 59-year span, a Wiregrass area squad has yet to win a team championship in the sport.

The area squad that gave the best and closest shot in recent seasons to capture a state championship was Headland’s boys, who finished in 13th in the 2024 State Meet.

Volleyball | 2019 – G.W. Long (2A)

G.W. Long holds the most recent Wiregrass area volleyball crown in the state, winning the 2A championship in 2019 after coming back down 1-0 in the finals match to take the final three sets against Addison for the victory.

The Rebels’ title at the time broke a six-year title drought for the Wiregrass in volleyball, with the area having won just four state titles in total in the sport since the turn of the century.

Bowling (Girls & Boys) | N/A

Bowling as a sponsored AHSAA sport has been going on for just 15 years, with the association originally sponsoring the sport for girls only from 1972-1977 and picking the sport back up for both boys and girls since 2016.

In that small timeframe, Wiregrass teams have not yet captured a state championship in the sport for either side, with the most recent effort from the area being Dothan’s appearance in the 2025 state tournament.

Indoor Track | 2024 (Girls) – Houston Academy (1A-3A); N/A (Boys)

The Wiregrass area has only seen two squads finish with state titles in Indoor Track & Field, with both of those coming on the girls side.

Houston Academy holds the most recent of those two titles, when they took the 2024 1A-3A state crown to bring the Wiregrass their first Indoor Track team title since Abbeville won the 4A-5A championship in 1985.

On the boys end, they are still awaiting their first team championship, with five area teams (Providence Christian, Ashford, Charles Henderson, Enterprise, and Dothan) making finishes in the 2025 State Meet.

Wrestling (Girls & Boys) | N/A

Wrestling has been a sponsored AHSAA sport for boys since 1956. The girls side of things, while being competed in separately for a while, became the association’s most recently sponsored sport, with 2024-25 marking the first season of girls wrestling being recognized officially by the state’s major high school sports authority.

No Wiregrass area team has won a team title through the AHSAA since its introduction, with Enterprise, without a doubt, being the closest squad to capturing one in recent seasons.

For the boys, Enterprise fell short of the 7A duals crown in 2024 to Huntsville, and competed strongly in the 2025 State Tournament for a 6th place finish in points. Kameron Stiffler (132 weight class) and Grier Hunt (144) each brought home individual state titles for the Wildcats in the 2025 Meet.

The Wildcats girls finished third in points in the first-ever official AHSAA girls tournament in 2025, with three girls taking home individual titles for Enterprise: Evelyn Holmes-Smith (138), Mackenzie Schultz (152), and Mallory Ladd (185).

Golf | 2019 (Girls) – Providence Christian (1A-3A); 2022 (Boys) – Elba (1A-2A)

It’s been about 3 years since the last Wiregrass school captured a team state title in golf.

For the girls side of things, Providence Christian holds the distinction of being the only area school to capture a golf crown, winning titles across a three-year span from 2017 through 2019.

On the boys end, Elba won the last Wiregrass golf championship in 2022, completing a back-to-back run after their title in 2021 and that being the last of six straight state golf titles for the area that ran back to 2016. Houston Academy holds the distinction as the most successful boys golf team since the turn of the century, winning 9 titles.

Outdoor Track | 2021 (Girls) – Providence Christian (3A) ; 1989 (Boys) – Geneva (3A-4A)

Providence Christian’s girls area the last Wiregrass area team to capture a state title in Outdoor Track & Field, doing so in 2021 for the first and only championship title for Girls Track in area history.

The boys side of things hasn’t seen a state title in track in 36 years, with Geneva’s 1987-1989 teams being the last to do it for the Wiregrass. Geneva is one of only three Wiregrass schools to capture state titles in outdoor track since the sport became sponsored by the AHSAA, the other two being Enterprise and Andalusia.

Soccer (Girls & Boys) | N/A

Soccer became a sponsored sport for the AHSAA in 1991, and during the 34-year span a Wiregrass area team has yet to capture a state title.

Six schools participated in the 2024 State Soccer Tournaments for both girls and boys as the most recent and closest teams to a state title in the sport: Providence Christian, Houston Academy, Eufaula, and Dothan’s boys and girls, and Carroll and Enterprise’s girls.

Tennis | 2014 (1A-3A) (Girls) & 2024 (4A-5A) (Boys) – Houston Academy

Houston Academy holds the distinction of being the only Wiregrass area school in the Core 5 to capture a team state title in tennis for both girls and boys.

The Raiders girls last did so in 2014, with Andalusia being the only other Wiregrass school in the Wiregrass extended region to win a title since sport sponsorship began for girls in 1963.

On the boys side, HA won the 2024 4A-5A state title, with the Raiders capturing five state championships in the last six seasons (excluding 2020).

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