Local grapplers tested at Mccallie Invitational
Heritage, LFO, Ridgeland and Ringgold High Schools were among the 20 teams participating in the 2019 McCallie Invitational this past weekend in Chattanooga.
A total of eight area wrestlers placed in their weight classes in the prestigious tournament with half of those coming from Heritage.
After making it to the championship semifinals on Saturday morning, both Landon Albright (106 pounds) and Alex Eacret (195) finished in fifth place. Drew Dietz (120) and Nathan Boatman (132) both finished in sixth place.
LFO got a fifth-place finish from Jacob Brown (160) and a sixth-place finish from Taylor Frady (285).
Ridgeland was represented on the podium by Aiden Raymer (138), who finished fifth, while Luke Parks of Ringgold (220) took fourth place.
Heritage finished 11th overall with 91.5 points. LFO (40) ended the tournament in 16th place. Ridgeland (38) was 17th and Ringgold (33) was 19th.
Woodland of Cartersville cruised to the team title with 307 points. Host Mccallie (225) was second, just ahead of Chattooga (217). Woodward Academy (172) was fourth and Northwest Whitfield (158.5) rallied to get fifth.
Gordon Lee goes 2-1 at Armuchee
The Trojans traveled to Floyd County for a quadmatch at Armuchee on Friday night and came home with a pair of victories against just one defeat.
Gordon Lee downed the host Indians, 54-17 and slipped past Blessed Trinity, 42-35, but dropped a 54-27 decision to Rockmart.
Hunter Burnette went 3-0 at 120 pounds, while Nathan Hunley went 3-0 while splitting his time between 138 and 145 pounds. Kalob Ray also wrestled at both 138 and 145, finishing the night 2-0, while Austin Crowley was 2-0 at 220.
Justin Cruise (220) and Tomy Duke (132) both went 1-0, while Michael Atkins (285) and Jadyn Norton (126) each finished 2-1 on the evening.
Lafayette loses twice at Rockmart
The Ramblers traveled to Rockmart on Thursday and dropped both ends of a trimatch against Cartersville and the host Yellow Jackets.
Lafayette opened the night against Rockmart and lost by a final count of 65-24. Avery Sullivan (132 pounds), Karson Ledford (145), Caleb Zwiger (170) and Matthew Wallin (285) all had pins for the Ramblers.
The Ramblers’ final match of the night was a 45-24 loss to the Purple Hurricanes. Sullivan, Ledford and Zwiger all won by pin. Wallin earned a 4-3 decision, while Jacob Brown (160) won his match, 14-11.
Lafayette third at Chapel Hill
The Ramblers went 4-1 and placed third in the 10-team Chapel Hill Duals on Saturday.
Lafayette picked up victories over Douglas County (40-30), Villa Rica (48-12), New Manchester (48-30) and Temple (47-24), while the Ramblers’ lone loss came to Paulding County (51-30).
Four Lafayette wrestlers went 5-0 on the day. Sullivan (132/138) had three pins, one technical fall and one forfeit victory, while Brown (160), Zwiger (170) and David Patterson (220) all won three matches by pin and two by forfeit.
Ledford (145) had two forfeit victories, one pin and one major decision in his four wins, while Jazzen Nelson (132/138) recorded two wins by forfeit, one pin and one decision to finish the day with four W’s.
Hunter Deal (152) had three victories with one major, one forfeit and one pin. Jeremiah Proctor (220/285) had three victories by forfeit, while Caleb Romine (182) had two victories by pin on the day.