Phoenix have 5 competitors at state event

The Sonoraville High School wrestling team will have five competitors at the GHSA 4A state tournament this week in Macon after the Phoenix qualified at last Saturday’s Traditionals Sectional at LaGrange High School.

Noah Chastain in the 120-pound division, Thomas Young at 113, Logan Moore at 132, Trinton Parker at 190, and freshman Branson Mathews at 215 were the five Phoenix wrestlers to secure top six finishes and punch their ticket to the last high school tournament of the winter.

Chastain had the Firebirds’ highest finish,placing second in the 113-pound division and scoring 12 points for his team. He won three of four matches — all by pins — before losing in the finals.

He began the day with a victory by fall over Jackson Burns in 31 seconds and in the quarterfinals, he pinned Travis Davis of Hardaway in a minute and 18 seconds. In the semis, he took down Colt Mitchell of Region 7-4A Central in a minute and 23 seconds to reach the finals.

But in the first place match, Oliver Webb of Southeast Whitfield (another 7-4A opponent) won by a major decision over Chastain, putting the Sonoraville wrestler second.

Young, Moore, and Parker all had third place finishes in their respective weight classes for Sonoraville.

Young won three of his four matches to reach the semifinals in the 113 to come in third and secure nine points for his team.

He received a bye in the first round and then defeated Franklyn Brown of Burke by a fall in 72 seconds. But he lost his next match by a decision, 11-8, to Bryan Ruiz of 7-4A rival Southeast Whitfield to move into the consolation bracket. In the semifinals there, he defeated Noah Arrington of Troup in the semifinals to clinch a spot in the third place finals. And there he encountered and beat another Region foe — Jonathan Arehart of Catoosa Heritage in a pin in 90 seconds.

Moore also won three of four matches in the 132 bracket and scored nine points for his crew.

He started the championship round with a bye, advancing him to the quarterfinals where he won by a fall over Preston Strickland of Troup at the 2:35 mark of their match. In the semifinals, Moore lost to Danny Krutules of Region mate Central on a pin four minutes into their match.

That put him in the consolation round and he came back to win his second semifinal by a fall over Jacobi Rogers of Fayette County by a fall at 1:59. That put him in the third place finals, and there Moore won again, taking a 12-0 major decision over Ethan Williams of 7-4A rival Northwest Whitfield.

Parker was also busy in the 190, taking third with four wins in five matches and scoring nine more points for the Phoenix.

In his first match in the championship group, he won by a pin over Christian Nix of Westover School in 69 seconds. Then he took a 10-2 major decision over Whitewater wrestler Austin Anderson

to get into the semifinals.

But there he lost a close 5-3 decision to Tony Burnecke of league rival Northwest Whitfield, to go into the consolation bracket, meaning he had to win again to get to the third place match. And that’s exactly what Parker did win a sudden victory over Bradley Mashburn of Bainbridge for a 6-4 decision that gave him one more match.

His last match was a grueling one with Parker losing a 6-5 match to Brandon Lively of Burke County. (Burnecke now has almost 60 wins this year with 58 and Lively has won 30 of his solos).

Freshman Branson Mathews is the fifth Sonoraville wrestler who competes this

week after he was sixth in the 215-pound class and won his first two matches, before losing his last three.

He began with a solid win by pin over Dawsyn Sikes of Wayne County in the first round at the 2:29 mark and then followed that up in the quarterfinals with a major decision 10-2 over Ethyn Castro of Bainbridge. But in the semifinals, he lost by a fall to Zan Talifierro of Troup in 64 seconds to move to the consolation semifinals. There in a rematch with Sikes. Mathews lost by a fall at the 2:03 mark and he ended the day against Central wrestler Ty Brewer with a loss by fall in the fifth place match.

Bobby Tomlin at 126, Aundreay Hamilton at 138, and Memphis Polley at 285-and-up lost two of three matches and where they placed in their was classes was unknown while Ely Fox competed in the 156 for the Phoenix, losing both of his matches.