Ridgeland finishes runner-up at Area Duals
Four years ago, when Keith Mariakis came back to Ridgeland for his second stint as the Panthers’ head wrestling coach, he gathered his young, predominantly freshman squad and asked them to set some goals, both for that season and long-term.
“Every single one of them said they wanted to go to the State Duals,” Mariakis recalled.
Last Tuesday night, they finally made it happen.
For the first time in school history, Ridgeland qualified for the Class AAAA State Duals in Macon after a wild night at Heritage High School.
After beating county rival LaFayette and falling to top-seeded Gilmer in the Area 6-AAAA Duals, the Panthers came back to topple the host Generals before edging out Northwest Whitfield for true second place.
Mariakis said the feat would have been practically unthinkable just a few weeks ago.
“We weren’t going into right direction in order to get to State,” he said. “But we got settled down. We started practicing tougher and really started to get after it and things began to click.”
Ridgeland got a dose of confidence with a runner-up finish at the Calhoun Duals on Dec. 30, losing to Class AAAAA toughie Carrollton by just two points in the finals.
They opened the tournament by getting six pins and one technical fall in a 59-15 win over the Ramblers, but couldn’t solve the state powerhouse Bobcats in a 52-14 loss.
Northwest would get past Heritage to advance to face Gilmer in the finals, leaving the Panthers needing a win over the Generals to put themselves in position for a true second place match. But things weren’t looking good for Ridgeland, who found themselves trailing 33-9 with just five bouts left in the match.
That’s when the comeback began. Dylan Swanson got a pin at 152 pounds and Evan Burnette scored a decision at 160. Hunter Bain (170) and Ryan McGill (180) followed up with pins to slice the lead to 33-30.
Ridgeland then took the 36-33 win after the 195-pound match. Austin Coppinger was awarded a disqualification victory after the Generals were called for an illegal slam. Coppinger, who was in concussion protocol a few weeks earlier, was attended to by Heritage’s athletic trainer, who advised that Coppinger should not continue the match.
Gilmer pulled away in the final four bouts to beat Northwest, 4227, in the finals, which allowed Ridgeland to wrestle the Bruins for second place having not faced Northwest earlier in the tournament.
Pins by Mehki Ross (113), Chris Prescott (126) and Jacob Mariakis (138), plus a decision by Jordan Hughley (132), gave a Ridgeland a 21-18
lead halfway through the match. The Bruins would win the next two bouts to regain the lead, but Swanson got a pin at 160 to keep Ridgeland’s hopes alive.
Northwest would earn a decision at 170 and a pin at 195, but McGill got six big points with a pin at 182, meaning the Bruins would carry a slim 37-33 lead into the final bout where defending 220-pound state champion Chris Henderson would be waiting for the Panthers.
Henderson, needing just a major decision in order to win the match for Ridgeland on criteria, left no doubt as he scored a secondperiod pin to give the
Panthers a 39-37 victory, sending Mariakis scrambling to secure hotel and travel plans for a surprising trip south.
“We told each of them on Monday to imagine that there was going to be a match (on Tuesday) that each of them had to win or we wouldn’t win (as a team) and that’s exactly what happened for some of them,” Mariakis said. “Wrestling is such a tough sport and the teams around here are so good. I’m just really proud and happy for them.”
LaFayette’s tournament ended after the loss to Ridgeland. The Ramblers got an 8-2 decision by Cody Deal over Christian Gentry at 220 and pins by Brady Beard (145) and Cole Ingram (170).