Local wrestling teams fall short in state duals
The Heritage Generals advanced into the Round of 16 in the Class AAAA State Dual Tournament on Saturday, but fell one win a short of berth in the state finals.
Wrestling at The Marist School in Atlanta, Heritage — the No. 4 seed from Area 7 — took on the host school in their first match and beat the Area 6 champions, 49-24. However, Area 8 No. 3 seed Flowery Branch proved to be too much for the youthful Generals, who bowed out with 54-21 loss.
Individually, Tate Thomas went 2-0 with one pin at 106 pounds, while Braeden Oliver did the same at heavyweight. Cayman Hughey (132) also finished 2-0 on the day.
Landon Albright (120) was 1-0 with one pin. Garrett Pennington (138), Skylar Grant (152), Dax Akers (160) and Cooper Ables (170) were all 1-1 with one pin, while Mike Stokes (145), Ethan Thurman (195) and Zach Brown (220) also finished 1-1.
Andrew Moore (113), Dagon Posten (126) and Jamesen Shook (182) filled out the Heritage lineup.
Head coach Mike Craft said he was proud of what his young team has accomplished this far in the 2020-2021 season. Nine of Heritage’s current 14 wrestlers are underclassmen.
“Many of them started with a lot of hard work in the summer when it was unclear if we would have a season and when we were not allowed to wrestle,” he explained. “The whole team, including the coaching staff (assistant coaches Randy Malone and Mike Moore), have been working hard these last few months. In addition to quality teams, we have battled quarantines and injuries, even losing two starters at Area Duals due to injuries.
“But the hard work paid off. From reviewing the results in the (preliminaries), I bracket, I believe we are one of the top 12 teams in the state as we finished in the final 16.”
The Generals will host Murray County this Tuesday for Senior Night.
LaFayette, Ringgold fall in Class AAA
At North Hall High School, the LaFayette Ramblers, seeded No. 4 out of Area 6, were
matched up with Area 7 champion and top-ranked North Hall in their Class AAA opening round match and were handed a 64-12 defeat.
Facing a Trojans squad loaded with returning state champions, placers and qualifiers, North Hall opened with a 9-8 victory at 132 pounds before back-to-back pins at 138 and 145. They added a 10-8 win at 152 and an 8-0 win at 160 to take a 22-0 lead.
Another pin at 170 was followed by forfeit victories at 182, 195 and 220 to boost their advantage to 46-0.
North Hall would forfeit to LaFayette’s David Patterson at heavyweight and Jacob Hamilton at 106, but finished the match with pins at 113, 120 and 126 to eliminate the Ramblers from the tournament. The Trojans advanced with a 70-12 win over Oconee County, who beat North Murray (43-33) earlier on Saturday.
Meanwhile, No. 3 seed Ringgold was in Ellijay taking on Area 7 No. 2 seed Cherokee Bluff in a first-round match, but the Tigers were beaten by the Bears, 57-24.
Cherokee Bluff took a 6-0 lead on a pin at 220 pounds, but Ringgold won the next four matches. Brentlee Raby (HWT), Zane Rohrer (106) and Gage Keener (113) won by pin and Hudson Moss (120) picked up a forfeit to give the Tigers a 24-6 lead.
The Bears, however, would win the rest of the matches, getting pins at 132, 138, 145, 152 and 195, a technical fall at 182, a major decision at 126 and forfeits at 160 and 170.
Ringgold ended the day with 48-33 win over Monroe Area in a consolation match. The Tigers spotted the Hurricanes six points by forfeiting at heavyweight to start things off, but reeled off eight straight wins to seal the victory.
Zane Rohrer (106) won by forfeit, followed by a pin from Keener (113) and a forfeit win by Moss (120). Nolan Rohrer (126) and Eric Jeffery (132) both won by pin, Brayden Raby (138) picked up a forfeit and Michael Branam (145) and Landon Eaker (152) posted back-to-back pins for a 48-6 cushion.
Monroe Area won the final five bouts with forfeits at 160 and 170, a minor decision at 182 and pins at 195 and 220.
Gordon Lee loses to Wesleyan in Class A
The Trojans fell to Wesleyan, 51-27, in the first round of preliminaries at Commerce on Saturday. Gordon Lee, the No. 3 seed from Area 7, finished the day with a 72-12 win over Bowdon in a consolation match.
Penn Askew (138) went 2-0 for the Trojans, while Will Tumblin (106) and Tomy Duke (132) were both 1-0.
More information from the state preliminaries can be found on our website (northwestgeorgianews.com).