County high school wrestling teams have solid day at Calhoun Duals.
All three of Walker County’s high school wrestling teams were among those competing at the Calhoun Duals on Friday and all three made solid showings for themselves.
Ridgeland and Gordon Lee each made the four-team championship pool with the Panthers eventually finishing as the runnerup in a narrow loss to Carrollton. Gordon Lee took third place, while LaFayette went 3-2 overall.
Ridgeland opened with a 56-24 win over LFO before they handled Southeast Whitfield, 63-15. A 43-34 win over a good Trion squad put them in the championship pool.
There they defeated Gordon Lee, 54-21, to punch their ticket to the finals. However, they were denied the title with a 39-37 loss to Carrollton.
Chris Prescott (126), Dylan Swanson (152), Ryan McGill (170) and Chris Henderson (220) all went 5-0 on the day, while Jordan Hughley (132) was 4-0. Jake Clayton (120) and Hunter Bain (182) both finished 4-1, while Mekhi Ross (113) went 3-2.
“We wrestled well today,” head coach Keith Mariakis said. “We’ve still got some areas to improve in, but placing second is not a bad showing. We’ve just got to learn to not give up bonus points at times.”
Gordon Lee won its first three matches against East Hamilton (36-35), Calhoun (5130) and Hiram (63-18). They dropped a 38-27 decision to Carrollton before losing to the Panthers.
Zach Murdock was 5-0 on the afternoon, while Tucker Miller (3-0) and Braden Jarvis (20) both were unbeaten on the day. Avery Geer and Caleb Vines were each 4-1, while Hunter Burnette, Hunter Hartman and Jarrett Lassetter were each 3-2. Senior Chase Weber returned from an earlyseason injury to go 1-1.
LaFayette opened with a 48-36 win over Fannin County, but dropped their next match to Trion, 45-24. They took down both East Hamilton (44-30) and Adairsville (42-31), but Carrollton would complete the Walker County sweep by beating the Ramblers (44-33).
Cole Ingram went 5-0, followed by 4-1 performances by Tyler Beard and Cameron Hollingsworth. Cody Deal was 3-1, while Austin Rogers and Matthew Wallin were both 3-2.
All three squads will compete at their respective Area Duals next weekend.
Gordon Lee will head to Trion High School to participate in the 3-A Duals on Friday and Saturday, while LaFayette and Ridgeland will square off in the 6-AAAA Duals at Heritage High on Saturday.
The State Duals are set for Jan. 12-14 in Macon.
Trojans place fifth at Rockmart
Murdock took first place at 160 pounds and Jarvis finished first at 170 to help Gordon Lee to a fifth-place showing at the Rockmart Invitational this past Wednesday.
Vines placed fourth at 220 for Gordon Lee. Caiden Scroggins (132) and Lassetter (152) also had to settle for fourth as the tournament’s five-match rule did not allow them to wrestle for third place.
LaFayette, who finished out of the top 10 in the team standings, was led by Deal, who placed second at 220.