Sonoraville shows fight as they finish third at State Duals
The Sonoraville wrestling team showed some big-time resiliency at the Class AAA State Duals in Macon as they fought back after suffering a tough loss on Friday night in the semifinals to earn a third-place finish on Saturday.
The Firebirds opened the action on Friday afternoon at the Macon Centreplex with a convincing win over Pierce County by a 56-21 score in the opening round to advance to the Class AAA semifinals. Sonoraville then lost a close, hard-fought battle to eventual State Duals runner- up Lumpkin County, 34-26, to fall into the consolation bracket.
The Firebirds didn’t let the loss keep them down as they came back on Saturday morning and once again defeated Pierce County, this time by a 51-24 score, before wrapping up their run in Macon with a gritty 31-29 victory over Jackson County in the Class AAA third-place match.
Sonoraville coach Randy Steward said his team didn’t reach their ultimate goal of wrestling for a State Duals title, but his kids showed a lot of character and pride with the way they handled themselves in Macon.
“I believe our thirdplace finish makes a very positive statement about the status of Sonoraville Wrestling,” said Steward. “It will have a dramatic impact in all areas of future success. I told the kids and the parents that this is just the beginning.
“We went down to Macon with every intent of meeting Bremen in the finals and avenging our Area Duals finals loss. We came up short against Lumpkin County. I had a real important talk with the kids back at the hotel late Friday night...talked about competing hard and setting a new standard for our program. I was proud that they listened and finished the weekend with a win.”
Four Sonoraville wrestlers had perfect weekends by going 4-0. That quarted included Allen Stone (106), Tyler Hunt (120), Trevor Burdick (126) and Hunter Wilson (152).
Earning wins in three of the Firebirds’ four matches was Charlie Brown (160), CJ Corley (170) and John Knight (195), and finishing with two wins apiece were Ian Clark (138) and Brandon Bell (145).
“All competed hard and it was truly a team effort,” said Seward. “I would like to give a special shout out to Allen Stone Tyler Hunt, Trevor Burdick and Hunter Wilson for all going undefeated at 4-0 as well as Charlie Brown, CJ Corley and John Knight for each going 3-1. Those kids put a lot of points on the board and each of them played critical roles in our success.”
The Firebirds will now turn their attention to preparing for Area 3- AAA Traditionals, which will be held on Jan 27-28 at Bremen.
“We took a well-deserved Sunday andMonday off,” said Steward. “I am really excited to begin the peaking process with each individual and get them ready for Traditional Areas in two weeks.”