Phoenix to compete at state dual matches

The first of two 3A state wrestling championships will be determined Saturday when the GHSA state duals matches are held at Stephens County.

In Georgia, the wrestling championships are divided into first a state duals meet and then the traditional team match, which is set to held Feb. 10-12 in Macon.

So for right now, Sonoraville is one of eight schools that is setting their sights on a state duals trophy this Saturday and just like the past few years, the Phoenix will definitely be in the hunt.

The elite eight teams at the meet are in contention for a title that will be determined sometime late Saturday afternoon as the Phoenix will open up against Morgan County in the first of four opening-round matches set for that morning.

The eight-team AAA bracket also shows just how strong the wrestling at this classification is in Northwest Georgia as six of the eight teams at state are from the Northwest region.

Besides Sonoraville, Rockmart, Adairsville, North Murray, Murray County and Gilmer are also at the state matches with Oconee County and Morgan County rounding out the field.

Sonoraville head coach Randy

Steward said it’s hard to pick out a possible favorite.

“I know Gilmer is very strong and they should be a high seed,” he said. “I know Rockmart is very good and I’m sure they will be a high seed. And if we wrestle well and can avoid the pins that have been a problem for us lately, I definitely feel like we have a chance to do well. But there’s a lot of good teams and I think it will really comes down to who wrestles the best on Saturday. But when we’re wrestling well throughout our entire lineup, I always like our chances.”

In the top bracket first-round matches, Murray County will go against Gilmer while in the bracket below them, Adairsville will wrestle against Oconee County with the two winners then squaring off against each other for the right to get to the semifinals.

In the bottom bracket, Sonoraville tangles with Morgan County while the other half has North Murray against Rockmart. The two winners will then meet each other in the second round with the winner going to the semifinals.

Teams that lose automatically go into the bottom of the bracket to compete for who will be the third place team.

Last year, Sonoraville was fourth in the 3A state duals.