Holiday Recap
Tuttle (OK) takes the Knockout Title back west
I’ve written a lot on the tournament and each weight class for the Knockout. Interested in a more in-depth look at the tournament? Check out the blog posts just previous to this one.
Freedom crowns 3 Champs at the Southern Belle (FL)
Freedom was led by Kailey Rees (122), Trinity Arroyo (143), and Sierra Chavez (189) as each claimed an individual title in the inaugural Southern Belle tournament. Interested to see how this tournament evolves next year with women’s wrestling becoming sanctioned in Florida. Will that open the gates for Georgia and Tennessee teams to attend?
Lassiter claims the BSN Hook Em Holiday Clash (AM Session) (GA)
Lassiter put up 228 points and held off Sequoyah and Mt Pisgah for the Hook Em (AM Session) title. Lassiter claimed an impressive 6 individual titles - Francisco Valle (285), Jack Dyess (170), RJ Weston (160), David Panone at 138 who had a nice 6-5 decision over Tyler Nelson of Pisgah, Ananth Manibushan (126), and Riley McElligott (106). Sequoyah and Pisgah claimed 7 of the other 8 individual titles and Cole Williams of South Forsyth took home the 182 lb title.
Byrnes (SC) held off North Hall, Lambert, and Colquitt County to take the BSN Hook Em Holiday Clash (PM Session) title
As a result of covid restrictions - Coach Contardi had to adjust the Hook Em this year and split the event into an AM and PM session. Lassiter took the AM session title leaving Bynres, North Hall, and host Lambert to battle it out for the PM session title. Colquitt County and Vidalia both brought mostly full squads, but their hammers were in Florida at the Knockout (so no Godbee or Paradice in the mix here). Chris Compton, David Hunsberger, and Gabe Gosnell led the Byrnes squad to the win. Gabriel Freeman of Colquitt County had a nice sudden victory win over Christian Contreras of North Hall to claim the 113 lb. title. Lambert freshman Jacob Zearfoss was outstanding in claiming the 138 title over both Jacob Pedraza of North Hall and Josh Kincaid of Madison County.
Collierville boys and girls each claim the redhawk rampage title this past weekend at Stewart’s creek
Collierville held off Eagleville to claim the boys title and the girls cruised to the title over Riverdale and Dickson Co (by 27 points). Damen Pullen (126), Christian Flynn (152), Wyatt Lanford (182), and Noah Holcomb (220) each claimed individual titles for Collierville. Eagleville countered with Wyatt McLemore (170) and Gaberial Pennington (138). Seven other teams crowned an individual champ.
Betsy Nations (112), Chukwuedom Odeigah (190), and Emma Tucker (215) led the way for the Collierville girls. Odeigah had a nice win over Creek Wood’s Ariyanna Anderson 8-2 in a matchup that you are likely to see again at the state tournament.
Buford dominates en route to the Gwinnett County MV Tournament Title (GA)
Nothing normal about how tournaments are happening at the moment in Georgia, but you can feel confident that Buford continues to roll along. Given different school system restrictions - teams are finding ways to get in matches as best they can. Mountain View hosted (part of?) the Gwinnett County Tournament and Buford rolled to the title. Buford crowned 5 individual champs including Rylan Ibold (106), Gavin Pope (120), Tyler Henley (126), Nick Cambria (132), and Grayson Santee (152).
Brookwood and Wesleyan each crowned tow individual champs and Lanier, Archer, Mill Creek, Mountain View, and Peachtree Ridge each had one. Half (7) of the 14 champs were not seeded 1 - so this might be an interesting tournament to go back and take a closer look at as we get closer to the post-season. NOTE: I do not understand the difference between this tournament and the Gwinnett County Mill Creek Tournament (was the county split - doesn’t look like it). The above was reported instead of the Mill Creek one because the names from the Mountain View tournament told me that they were definitely varsity.
Maryville holds off Dobyns Bennett, Heritage and the rest of the field to claim the Maryville title (TN)
Maryville had just one champ - Colby Sinclair at 182 - but put a significant number on the podium as the host team held off Dobyns Bennett, Heritage, Science Hill, and Pigeon Forge for the team title. Garrett Foreman (Pigeon Forge) and Tre Morrisette (Dobyns Bennett) each led their teams to within striking distance of Maryville, but couldn’t find a way to topple the host team. Brennan Watkins 3-0 win over Josh Parton had to be the match to watch.
Huntsville (AL) downs Grissom for 7A Region 4 Duals Title
Huntsville downed Grissom 43-25 to claim the 7A Region 4 Duals title. Huntsville scored the final 15 points of the dual to secure the win … Max Morrow, Zander Fields, and Conner Cole came up big for the Panthers. Huntsville also had wins over Florence (62-15) and Sparkman (51-19). Grissom took 2nd after beating Bob Jones (53-22) … Grissom’s lightweights led the way as Kevin Batten, John Michael Turis, and Andrew Wiggs each got falls.
Oglethorpe County is impressive in taking day 2 of the Jacket Invitational Title at Rockmart (GA)
Oglethorpe County put up 212 points compared to 161 for Carroll Central and 155.5 for Rockmart as they cruised to the Jacket Invitational Title. Oglethorpe County crowned 4 individual champs and Central Carroll and Rockmart each had 3.
Trion Edges host Rockmart to claim Day 1 of the Jacket Invitational (GA)
Daegan Vaughn (120), Bryce James (138), Toby Maddux (152), Logan Eller (170), and Bladyn Bowman (182) each captured titles for Trion as they edged Rockmart for the title. Rockmart countered with 3 Champs and East Coweta had 4 Champs to finish 3rd.
Houston claims the MUS Festival Title over Collierville
Colby Baltz (106), Miles dirmann (170), and Owen Zuckerman (182) each claimed individual titles for Houston as they held off Collierville for the MUS Festival title. Cameron Cook (145) and Noah Holcomb (220) led the way for Collierville. Kanin LaRusso and Harrison Atherton of Briarcrest Christian each claimed titles after coming in unseeded.
Summit Claims the Maher-Garstin Battle for Independence (TN) title
Summit, Fairview, and Beech battled it out for the top 3 spots at the Maher-Garstin Battle for Independence title. Summit got tournament titles from Jackson Masters, Landon Desselle, and Ryan Smith as they topped Fairview by just 2.5 points (155 to 152.5). Beech led all teams with 4 champs (Donovan Rich, Trey Bates, Mason Smith, and Blake Palmer), but couldn’t close the distance on the top 2 teams. Fairview was led by tournament Champs Riley Bennett, Jacob Clevenger, and Kendrick Curtis.
Independence Girls keep the Maher-Garstin Battle title at home
Baylee Peterson and Brooklyn Long each won individual titles as Independence outdistanced Oakland and Summit for the title.
Veterans, Harris County, and Jackson County each crown 2 Champ at the Queen of the County
No team score for the girls in the Queen of the County because it looks like they combined the JV boys into the scoring (no clue why except that the girls still don’t crown a team state title - again don’t know why). Lilly Chavis (225) and Dawnasia Black (162/172) led the way for Jackson County, Sam Scarbrough (152) and Mia Buckner (142) each claimed title for Harris County, and Evelyn Kissill (102/112) and Alexis Andrade (132) claimed titles for Veterans. Rachel Daisley came over from Alabama (Russell County) to claim the 122A title (although there was no 122B?) and Beyonce McColumn won 197 for Northside Warner Robins.
Jones County claims the Forsyth Central Clash (AM Session) (GA) over Cherokee Co
As mentioned previously - coaches are working with limitations of how many teams can be in the gym, etc. so the Forsyth Central Clash was broken up into an AM and PM Session. Peyton McDaniel (106), Blake Copeland (138), and Gabe Anderson (182) led the way for Jones County as they held off Cherokee County for the AM Session title.
Commerce takes the Forsyth Central Clash (PM Session) title over Pope and Flowery Branch (GA)
It looks like Commerce is finally back to full strength after a long football season as they held off Pope and Flowery Branch for the PM Session title. Dawson Legg (120), Brayden Phillips (160), and Elijah Burns (220) won titles for Commerce. Joey Robinson (132), Jackson Guy (138), and Cheikh Koita (285) led the way for Pope that came up 8.5 points short of overtaking Commerce.
Alexander crowns 3 Champs to claim the ALX Invitational Title (GA)
ALX was led by Dawson Mathews (152), Dylan Burton (160), and Ryan Mays (182) as they held off Newnan and Greenbrier to claim the ALX Invitational title. Newnan also had 3 champs and Greenbrier had 2 as the two teams battled for 2nd.
Carrollton (GA) crowned 2 Champs and claimed the ALX Girls Invitational Title over Greenbrier
Amariah Marenco (197) and Lilianna Mckinley (102) each took home an individual title, but it was Drina Griggs (2nd at 152), Katlyn Thomas (3rd at 122), Nia Ojuro (2nd at 162), Nya Glenn (4th at 162), and Sheyla Lopez (2nd at 172) that helped push Carrollton to the team title.
Oakland takes the Franklin Day of Duals Title (TN)
Oakland put together a series of nice dual wins over the Holiday break - beating Independence 53-16, Arlington 57-22, Nolensville 62-15, and Montgomery Bell Academy 51-21 to claim the Franklin Day of Duals title. Brayden Bouma (106), Chastain Stokes (113/120), Kenton Smith 126), Evan Harris (182), Braxton Myers (195), and Peter Keating (285) each went unbeaten for Oakland.
Camden County (GA) crown 7 individual Champs at the Bobcat Round Robin (FL)
Team Scores were not kept, but it looks like a pretty good field that included Camden County (GA), Harmony, Clay, Buchholz, etc.
Pace (FL) downs Ft Walton Beach 39-31 to advance to the Dual State Tournament (FL)
DeepSouth Winter Nationals in Birmingham (AL)
Wrestlers from Alabama and Georgia welcomed teams from Illinois, Texas, Virginia, and Louisiana as high school wrestlers search for mat time. Typically I don’t cover non-high school events during the high school season, but several schools across the SE have been unable to compete … so let’s take a look at some SE individuals and how they fared:
Justin Bradford (TN/RWA) went 7-0 in duals at 113
Joseph Morris (RWA) went 6-1 in duals with his only loss coming to Evan Frost at 126
Devin Stone (AL/Hammer WC) went 5-2 at 132 with losses to nationally ranked wrestlers Erik Roggie (5-0) and Jacob Frost (8-4)
Tyler Secoy (GA/Hammer WC) went 5-2 at 145 with losses to Kiefer Duncan and Cale Roggie - Secoy had a nice 10-9 win over Alabama’s Logan Reaves
Jaden New (AL/Ironclas WC) went 4-0 at 152 with a nice wins over Nolan Sorrow, Roberto Bautista, and Kaden Gream.
Raphael Hipolito (Ironclad WC) went 7-0 at 160 with wins over Lucas Reaves, Jake Romig, and Joey Bambinelli
JT Forster (AL/Ironclad WC) and Kevin Muschel (TN/Hammer WC) each went 5-2 at 180
Hunter Jones (AL/Ironclad WC) went 6-1 at 195 with his only loss coming to Eli Sheeren
Kyle Watson (AL/Hammer WC) went 7-0 with a nice win over Conner Miller (IL)
Carson Hall (AL/Ironclad WC) was 6-0 at 285 and JT Zogg (AL/Hammer WC) was 6-1