Baldwin County High School had six student-athletes sign scholarships to play their respective sports at the next level on Wednesday, March 6, in the gymnasium.

Three wrestlers (Joaquin Crook, Nick Portis, Alia Vickery), two tennis players (Braxton Tuttle, Josh Rice) and one golfer (Austin Vilborg) were recognized for their commitments to continuing their athletic and academic careers.

Crook and Portis will remain teammates and make history on the inaugural wrestling team at Andrew College in Cuthbert, Georgia. Similarly, Tuttle and Rice signed to also stay teammates at Coastal Alabama-North.

Vickrey cemented his pledge to be part of the upstart Montevallo wrestling program and Vilborg sealed his commitment to Coastal Alabama-South and will team up with a former Baldwin County Tiger in current Coyote head coach Lee Huggins.

Crook, a two-time all-state honoree and three-time state qualifier, amassed 134 wins in his Baldwin County career with a 56-win season as a senior which ranks 30th all-time in Alabama for single-season wins. Portis collected 110 wins over his career and finished as an all-state wrestler with a sixth-place finish at the state tournament.

Vickrey, a two-time state qualifier, one-time all-state honoree and North-South All-Star, logged 114 career wins as a Tiger and signed to be part of the second team fielded by Montevallo. The inaugural Falcons squad finished 6-8 overall and just earned its first national qualifier with Gabe Hixenbaugh’s Super Region II championship in the 133-pound division last weekend.

Tuttle started playing tennis his junior year and made huge strides which was noticed by a few college coaches. Baldwin County head tennis coach Zeb Hilburn said he has “proven himself not only on the court playing, but also as a team leader and a great young man with a bright future. He mentors his teammates, and practices tennis any chance he gets.”

Rice has been on the Tiger tennis team since his sophomore year and boasts a 3.9 GPA with an ACT score of 28. The student-athlete is a proven leader on the court, Hilburn said, and he motivates and works with fellow teammates to help and make them better.

Vilborg has been on the golf team since seventh grade and is now a team captain as a senior for Baldwin County head golf coach Destin Harris. Vilborg won the Jimmy Green Junior Tour’s 16-18-year-old division for 2023 with a scoring average of 78 and was an all-county honoree after the 2022 season.