Firebirds earn Area 3-AAA crown
Sonoraville led by seven individual champs at Bremen
The Sonoraville Firebirds went to Bremen for the Area 3-AAA Traditional Tournament on a mission. After an impressive run through the brackets by several wrestlers that mission was accomplished.
Sonoraville had seven wrestlers earn area titles in their individual weight classes and others put together solid performances to rack up enough points for the Firebirds to top the team scores at 217.5 and be crowned Area 3-AAA Traditional Champions. The title breaks a 10-year streak of consecutive titles host Bremen had put together.
The Blue Devils finished second with 185.5 points, followed by Lovett (149) and Adairsville (110.5)
“Winning the area traditional team title was a goal, and I’m happy for the kids,” said Sonoraville coach Randy Steward. “We sure wish we could’ve gotten more kids to advance to Sectionals. That being said, to have eight underclassmen in the finals and to win seven of those matches was a big deal. We need to compete hard again this weekend at sectionals.”
Sonoraville was led by seven individual champions, including Eli Knight (106), Hector Arbos (113), Allen Stone (120), Jayce Derryberry (126), Tyler Hunt (132), Trevor Burdick (138) and Charlie Brown (182). Charlie Brown also made it to the finals at 195 before losing a tough match to finish as runner-up in the weight class. All eight of those wrestlers will advance to compete at Area
The Firebirds had two fifth-place finishers, Davin O’Neal (145) and Ryan Redd (220), and a sixth-place finisher in Brandon Bristol (285).
Calhoun also had a solid showing at area traditionals at Bremen with five wrestlers extending their season to qualify for sectionals. Four Jackets finished third in their weight classes, including Johnny Santana (106), Blake Bailey (113), Reece Poe (138) and JC Fuller (285). Sexton Golden finished fourth at 195 to round out the qualifiers.
“As young as we were this year and having two of our three returning state qualifiers not wrestling, we didn’t know how we would end up at the area tournament,” said Calhoun coach Michael Herndon. “Our guys wrestled their hearts out this weekend, and it showed with five of them qualifying for sectionals. Coach (Matt) Herndon and I are extremely proud of these guys looking to keep working hard and hopefully move on to the state tournament.”
The qualifiers will compete at Class AAA B Sectionals at Bremen on Saturday with action starting at 9 a.m.
In other recent prep wrestling action:
Warriors have four qualify for sectionals
Gordon Central traveled to Armuchee on Saturday to compete in the Area 3-AA Traditional Tournament and had solid performances from several wrestlers.
The Warriors had nine wrestlers place in the top six in their individual weight classes with four of those taking a top-four spot to move on to sectionals. Shane Davis (120) and Ethan Mitchell (220) each took third, and Augustis Gordon (113) and Christian Davis (120) both finished fourth. Those four will compete at Class AA B Sectionals at Rockmart High this Saturday.
Branson Towe (182) and Fernando Martinez (106) each took fifth, and Erasmo Tamaro (138), Braxton Caldwell (145) and Trent Dutton (182) all finished sixth. The Warriors finished seventh in the team standings with 121 points.
“We’re super proud of each and every one of our Gordon Central wrestlers this season,” said coach Cory Nix. “We are proud of each Warrior that competed today, and this is the beginning of a culture change for the wrestling program.”