Heritage wins first region wrestling crown
A total of 58 local wrestlers qualify for sectionals
After more than a decade of trying, the Heritage High School wrestling program claimed its first-ever traditional region championship Saturday at Pickens in what was a very tight 7-AAAA tournament.
On the strength of four individual champions and one runner-up finish, the Generals collected 144 points to hold off Northwest Whitfield (137) for the title. Pickens (133) was third, followed by Cedartown (129), Southeast Whitfield (109.5), CentralCarroll (100) and Ridgeland (53).
Drew Dietz won the first individual title for the day for Heritage at 132 pounds, pinning Northwest’s Eli Johnson in the finals in a time of 1:47. Evan Wingrove took the 160-pound title after a 6-1 win over Northwest’s Tony Burnecke.
The 170-pound title went to Skylar Grant, who needed just 21 seconds to pin of Cedartown’s Isaac Ritter, while Dax Akers won at 182 by pinning Central-Carroll’s Parker Brewer in 3:43.
Heritage’s other finalist was Mike Stokes. However, he would lose to Northwest’s Drake Kitchens by pin in the 138-pound final.
Tate Thomas was third at 106 pounds, while Nolan Caylor took third at 195.
Fourth-place finishes went to Landon Albright (120), Victor Johnson (126) and Eli Richardson (285). Connor McGinnis (220) earned state sectional alternate status with a fifth-place finish.
RIDGELAND QUALIFIES FIVE
The Panthers had five wrestlers punch their tickets for sectionals after their performances on Saturday.
Aiden Barber was the highest finisher for Ridgeland. He advanced to the 120-pound final before losing to Cedartown’s Adam Payton, 11-4.
Malachi Hutchinson was third at 145, while Hunter Barber (106), Evan Doyal (113) and Camden Bain
(138) all placed fourth. Caleb Woody (182) finished fifth and will be an alternate at sectionals.
The top four wrestlers in each weight class will wrestle this coming Saturday in the Class AAAA state sectionals at Troup County High School in LaGrange.
GORDON LEE SENDING 12 TO SECTIONALS
The Trojans brought a dozen wrestlers to the Region 7-A traditional tournament at Trion High School on Saturday and all 12 qualified for this Saturday’s state sectionals at Jeff Davis High School.
Gordon Lee finished with 135 points, good enough for fourth place in the team standings. Trion easily won the team trophy with 307.5 points, followed by Armuchee (182) and Darlington (140.5). Christian Heritage (35) and North Cobb Christian (33) rounded out the standings.
Three of the Trojans
finished runner-up in their weight classes.
Penn Askew was second at 145 pounds. He lost to Gus Hames of Trion in the finals. Timy Duke (182) fell to Trion wrestler Bladyn Bowman, while Gabe Lowe lost to Trion’s Zach Sharp at 285. All three matches were decided by pin.
Finishing third for Gordon Lee was Wil Tumblin (120), Avery Bloodworth (152), Dalton Russell (160) and Jonah Davenport (220), while fourth-place finishers for the Trojans included Landon Brown (113), Brock Crutchfield (132), Zane Murdock (138), Michael Branam (170) and Ely Stevens (195).
THREE RINGGOLD WRESTLERS WIN TITLES
The Tigers had three individual champions and finished in third place in the Region 6-AAA traditional tournament.
Hudson Moss picked up the title at 126 pounds after outlasting LaFayette’s Haygen Baker, 15-12, in the championship bout. Tristen Busch won the 138-pound title for the Tigers with two quick pins, including a 1:41 victory over Coahulla Creek’s Gage Eaton in the finals. Shortly thereafter, Jaxon Delgado claimed first place at 145
pounds after pinning LFO’s Nick Kapherr in 2:00.
Four other Tigers placed second. Pierce Pennington lost an 8-7
decision to LaFayette’s Jacob Hamilton at 113 pounds. Nolan Rohrer (120) was pinned by Sonoraville’s Wade Parker. Able Turley (132) lost by pin to Sonoraville’s Logan Moore, and Levi Lowery (220) was pinned by Sonoraville’s Draven Peppers in the finals.
Brayden Raby (152) and Brentlee Raby (195) both finished third for Ringgold, while Landon Eaker (160), Eli Tipton (170), Dylan Bandy (182) and Travis Talley (285) were fourth.
Those 13 Ringgold wrestlers all qualified for this Saturday’s state sectionals at the LakePoint complex in Emerson.
LAFAYETTE HAS TWO CHAMPIONS
The Ramblers will send 10 wrestlers to the state sectionals at LakePoint this Saturday, while two will go as Region 6-AAA champions.
Jacob Hamilton (113) and Ethan Gilbert (160) claimed individual titles in their weight classes at Coahulla Creek High School on Saturday. Hamilton earned his crown with the win over Pennington, while Gilbert faced Coahulla Creek’s Daniel Herrada in the finals and won by pin in just 37 seconds.
In addition to Baker’s runnerup showing, Jacob Brown (182) made it to the championship, but was pinned by Gavin Harper of Sonoraville, while the same fate fell Noah Johnson. Johnson lost by
pin to Jaxx Knight of Sonoraville in the heavyweight final.
Finishing third for LaFayette was Eli Hudson (106), Gabe Warren (138) and Caleb Zwiger (170), while Ashton Fox (132) and Nicholas Cigalina (195) placed fourth. Malachi Miller (120) and Spencer Chadwick (145) will be alternates for the tournament as both finished fifth on Saturday.
LFO QUALIFIES SEVEN
The Warriors, who had only four wrestlers competing in last year’s region tournament, finished with seven sectional qualifiers after their performances at the Region 6-AAA traditional tournament.
Kapherr, who finished second for LFO, was the only Warrior to advance to the finals.
Maye (126) placed third, as did Brody Rizzo (160). Micah Eyman (106), Ryan Birt (120), Ethan Kinsey (152) and Rylan Hughes (220) each placed fourth. Chandler Tisdale (132), Ian Eller (138) and Joseph Hollifield (195) all finished fifth and will be alternates for sectionals.
Sonoraville won the team title with 250 points. Coahulla Creek (193) got past Ringgold (191) for the runner-up trophy. LaFayette (166) was fourth and LFO (89) was fifth.
The top six wrestlers in each weight class at sectionals will advance to the state finals in Macon Feb. 10-12.