Ridgeland wrestlers come in seventh, LFO 11th at Ooltewah Invitational
The Ridgeland Panthers finished in seventh place overall at the Ooltewah Invitational over the weekend.
Ridgeland put five of its wrestlers on the podium, including 145-pound champion Aiden Raymer. Raymer, who got a bye in his first match, collected two pins in his next two matches before a 13-0 major decision over McMinn County’s Austin Cooley in the finals.
Garret Romans (138) took third place, while Aiden Barber (106), Dagan Turner (132) and Tommy Lamb (285) all finished fourth as the Panthers finished with 76.5 points.
LFO finished in 11th place with 47.5 points. Jacob Brown took first place at 160 pounds with three pins and a 21-6 technical fall over Walker Valley’s Michael Teasley in the finals. Tyler Frady (220) also had two pins on the day, but fell to Baylor’s Jonathan Snodgrass in the final.
Ringgold also competed in the tournament and finished in 16th place with three team points.
In Friday night’s JV tournament at Ooltewah, Ridgeland’s Elijah Langston went 3-0, while T.J. Atkins went 2-0. Camden Bain and Kevin Schmelzer each finished 2-1 and Matthew Ballew went 1-2.
Private school powerhouse Baylor won the event with 150 points, followed by Walker Valley (137) and East Hamilton (133.5).
Ridgeland’s female wrestlers competed at Columbus’ Jordan High in the Iron Maiden Tournament on Friday and Laneyah Fairbanks claimed the 146-pound championship, while Emily Teague and MacKenzie Thrasher also performed well on the day. They will wrestle again on Dec. 21 in Jackson County.
The Gordon Lee Trojans traveled north to Knoxville over the weekend as just one of two teams from the Peach State competing in a tournament at Knoxville Catholic.
Hunter Burnette (120) and Penn Askew (132) both finished as runner-up in their weight classes as the Trojans finished in 14th place (84.5 points) in the 31-team field.
Jefferson County of Tennessee finished with 210 points to win the team title, while Knoxville Halls (190) was the runner-up. The only other Georgia team in the field, Coahulla Creek, was fifth overall with 162 points.
Gordon Lee also won a pair of matches in Fort Oglethorpe on Thursday, beating Gordon Central, 42-27, before a 60-12 victory over the homestanding LFO Warriors.
Makayden Martin (106 pounds), along with Burnette (120) and Askew (132), went 1-0 on the night, while Austin Crowley went 1- 1 at 220 pounds.