State wrestling tournament to be held this week
The 2021 GHSA State Traditional Tournament are scheduled for this week at the Macon Coliseum and the CatoosaWalker County area will once again be well-represented.
Area tournaments were wrestled this past Saturday and, in a change from previous seasons, the top three wrestlers in each weight class qualified for the state tournament as there will be no state sectionals this year.
Class A
Gordon Lee will be taking 11 wrestlers to Macon with one alternate (fourth-place) following the Area 7-A tournament at Darlington.
Montgomery Kephart will head to the finals as area champion at 170 pounds. Kephart got a bye in his first-round match before winning by decision in finals.
Wil Tumblin (113) and Tomy Duke (132) both placed second, while third-place finishers included Zane Murdock (126), Zach Watson (145), Nathaniel Hunley (152), Timy Duke (182), Justin Cruise (195), Mason Leming (220) and Gabe Lowe (285). Penn Askew will be an alternate at 138.
Also headed to state for Gordon Lee is Makayden Martin, who will compete in the girls’ 102-pound class.
Trion won the team title with 215 points, followed by
Armuchee (106), Gordon Lee (102), Darlington (78) and North Cobb Christian (48).
Class AAA
At the 6-AAA tournament at Sonoraville, the host Phoenix took the top spot with 196 points. Coahulla Creek (134) was second, followed closely behind by LaFayette (125), Ringgold (102) and LFO (32).
The Ramblers will take nine wrestlers to Macon, led by three area champions.
Jacob Hamilton (106) had a major decision and a regular decision in winning his weight class. Levi Ledford (138) had a pair of pins to claim the top spot, while Karson Ledford
(152) got a first-round bye before a pin in the finals.
Placing second was Avery Sullivan (132), Carson Lanier (145), Hunter Deal (160) and David Patterson (285), while Braxton Beavers (120) and Caleb Zwiger (170) both took third.
Gage Keener (113) and Hudson Moss (120) were Ringgold’s two champions. Keener had a pin and a major decision, while Moss used a bye and a pin to take the weight class.
Levi Lowery (182), Kaiser Cross (195) and Brentlee Raby (220) were all runnersup, while third place went to Zane Rohrer (106) and Nolan Rohrer (126). Eric Jeffery (132) and Brayden Raby (138) will
be state alternates after placing fourth.
And for the Warriors, Nick Kapherr (145), Tyler Frady (220) and Taylor Frady (285) are headed to state after thirdplace showings. Ethan Kinsey (152) was fourth and will be on stand-by as an alternate.
Class AAAA
As for 7-AAAA, Heritage will send six Generals to state, including a pair of area champions, after five state qualifiers and only one area champ a year ago.
Cayman Hughey (132) got a major decision and a quick pin to reach the finals where he scored a decision to earn his
title. Meanwhile, Zach Brown (220) got a first-round bye and a pin before a minor decision won him an area championship.
Also headed to Macon will be second-place finishers Tate Thomas (106) and Garrett Pennington (145), while Evan Wingrove (138) and Skylar Grant (152) qualified with thirdplace showings. Cooper Ables (170) placed fourth and will be an alternate.
“I’m proud of our two seniors’ (Brown and Pennington) strong finishes and leading the team,” head coach Mike Craft said. “It’s a great finish for them and we are looking forward to seeing them on the medal stand at state.
“I’m also excited that sophomores Cayman Hughey and Tate Thomas led our younger wrestlers with an (area) championship and another (area) runner-up finish. The future looks bright with freshmen Evan Wingrove and Skylar Grant (both) finishing third and freshman Cooper Ables in fourth.
“Although we didn’t achieve all our goals for the event, we are headed in the right direction as we improved over last year. Also, losing returning state medalist Drew Dietz and Victor Johnson to injuries really hurt us. We look forward to getting them back in the lineup next year.”
As for Ridgeland, the Panthers had a pair of area champions.
Aiden Raymer (152) used a bye and two pins to claim the top of the podium, while Tommy Lamb (285) bulldozed his way to a title with three pins, all in the first period, to stay unbeaten (13-0) on the year.
The Panthers will have state alternates in Hunter Barber (106), Evan Doyal (126) and Caleb Sain (195).
Central-Carrollton won the team title with 162 points, edging out 7-AAAA duals champion Northwest (154). Pickens (140.5) was third, followed by Southeast (133), Heritage (114.5), Ridgeland (87) and Cedartown (63).
The state tournament began on Tuesday morning and will run through midday on Saturday.