Sonoraville steps up to earn State Duals berth
Firebirds get clutch wins, including semifinal thriller vs. Ringgold
Sonoraville had to wait a few days to wrestle at the Area 3-AAA Duals, but at the end of the night on Tuesday, the result was certainly worth the wait.
The Firebirds came up with some clutch wins that led to a runner-up finish at the Duals, which secured a berth in the Class AAA State Duals in Macon this weekend.
Sonoraville, the No. 3 seed, started the tournament, which was originally scheduled to be held last Friday and Saturday before being postponed to Monday and then eventually Tuesday due to inclement weather, with a dominant victory over Westminster, 64-12.
They moved on to the semifinals for a much-anticipated matchup against Ringgold, the No. 2 seed, who had defeated Sonoraville by just one point earlier in the season. The match came down to the wire as Sonoraville trailed 33-21 going to the final two weight classes and needed to get two straight pins to send it to tiebreaker criteria for the result. That’s exactly what they got as Tyler Hunt (120) and Trevor Burdick (126) stepped up to pin their opponents.
With the final point total tied at 33-33, the match went to tiebreaker criteria, and it was so even that the referee had to go all the way down to the ninth tiebreaker, number of first points scored in matches, to get the result which went in favor of the Firebirds to send them to the region finals.
“Coming in today, we knew we were seeded No. 3 and we had to be focused on our first match,” said Sonoraville coach Randy Steward. “We didn’t look past Westminster. We just came out and were on fire in that first match to get that win. Then we knew we had to beat Ringgold to have a chance to get that State Duals berth, and the kids stepped up.
“We needed two straight pins at the end of the match, and who better to have up in those spots than Tyler and Trevor. The Ringgold wrestlers were doing everything they can to not get pinned, and our guys did everything they could to get the pin. I was extremely happy with how we fought and got the win.”
Following the dramatic win over Ringgold, Sonoraville took on Bremen in the finals, and the Blue Devils looked like the fresher team with the Firebirds coming off the hard- fought victory in the semis. Bremen won the match 46-22 to earn the Area 3-AAA Duals title.
Sonoraville then needed Ringgold to defeat Lovett in the consolation bracket to make sure the Firebirds wouldn’t need to wrestle in a “true-second match” against the Lions, and Ringgold clinched the win with a late pin to send Sonoraville to State.
Steward said earning the State Duals berth was just a continuation of the success the team has experienced so far in his first season as head coach.
“We’ve got some great kids,” said Steward. “I know everyone says that, but we really do. The response from the kids across they board has been really positive, and we’ve had some success this year.
“Our goal was to get there (to Macon), but now we want to do something down there. It feels good to know we’re going to State Duals, and I think the kids will be ready and fresh once we get down there to compete.”
Standouts for Sonoraville on Tuesday included Hunt, Burdick, Ian Clark (138), Brandon Bell (145) and Austin Dodson (220) among others.
Calhoun started Duals on Tuesday on a positive note with a 46-18 win over Haralson County to advance to the next round. Their run then came to an end with a 58-18 loss to Ringgold. Wrestlers earning two wins for the Jackets included Reece Poe (132), Jacob Callahan (138), Nelson Gravitt (152) and Brice Craig (195), and JC Fuller (285) won his only match of the day against Haralson County.
Calhoun coach Michael Herndon said his team didn’t have their best day, but they gave full effort in both matches.