Road to a Georgia State Duals Title (7A and 6A)
Each team traveled a different on their way to a Georgia Duals title … some were thrilling, others were a surprise to most of us that pay attention, and others were what we expected. The teams wrestled their area or region first and then moved to the State Prelims a week ago with one team in each of the 8 brackets advancing to the Elite 8 and the final run to a title.
We will take a look at each Champions run through that final Elite 8 bracket and specifically what each did in order to bring a Georgia Duals title back home. I’m not going to spend time rehashing whether the “seeds” were correct or the endless “what if” scenarios if they had been differently. Interested in my (and Lucas DeSilva’s) take on the seeds and how we “thought” the brackets would play out? See our conversation on youtube.
We now transition to the individual portion of the state tournament and get the opportunity to turn our attention to the North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee State Duals. The last thing to note is that this focus is on the eventual champions and their path … there are compelling stories throughout - West Forsyth rebounding from their first round loss to take 3rd and so on, but with limited time this is focused on the Champs of each classification. Don’t think matchups (and thus the seeds matter)? Just take a look at some of these duals … it is the most interesting thing about duals. Creating the “right” matchups for your team make wrestling the best sport around (yes I am biased), but this is real live chess. Before that, here is what happened on Saturday in 7A and 6A (5A through 1A to come) …
Camden County wins Another 7A Title
Camden County looked solid “off the bus” as they downed host Lambert and North Paulding with little to no challenges - beating the two by a combined 128-3. North Forsyth took care of business on the bottom side with solid wins over Lowndes and Colquitt County to be the latest team to step up and try to derail the Camden train.
I’m not exactly sure what weight the dual began, but in checking on the score I know North Forsyth led 18-17 at one point in the dual … which would mean that they dual began at 145 with a fall from Bentley Wheeler of North Forsyth. North Forsyth would get falls from Tristan Graham and Dylan Lyerly as well and after 6 matches North Forsyth looked as if they had a shot. From that point forward - Camden wouldn’t surrender another point and turned it on to beat North Forsyth 56-18.
7A Dual Hammers (these are wrestlers that came through for their teams … they (or may not) have been unbeaten on the day):
There are many deserving wrestlers … these are just some that stood out to me.
106 Bradley Patterson (Camden) - 2 falls and a 17-0 tech fall. Patterson did not give up a single point in 3 matches.
113 Reed Walker (West Forsyth) - 4 falls (3 in the 1st period)
120 Noah Amick (West Forsyth) - I picked Amick over Dahlgren because Amick’s 2 falls and 15-0 tech fall were important in West Forsyth winning or losing a dual.
126 Noah Danforth (West Forsyth) - same reason as Amick … 3 falls, but it was the 6-4 decision of Sellers that was so important in that dual for West Forsyth (34-31).
132 Anthony Santos (Camden) - a 9-4 decision of Collin Mullins gets him on the list over some others that were just as deserving
138 Nathaniel Turner (Colquitt County) - could’ve gone with Porter Bryant who had wins over Denson and McClung, but Taylor’s fall of Grant Turner was huge in Colquitt’s opening round win.
145 Bentley Wheeler (North Forsyth) - did everything he could to push North Forsyth to 2nd - 3 1st period falls.
152 Dominic Bambinelli (Mill Creek) - could’ve gone with Konlin Weaver, but chose the freshman because of his ability to get bonus for a Mill Creek team that needed it in several matches.
160 Jeremy Paradice (Colquitt Count) - Another weight where I could go with CahMari Johnson, but chose Paradice on how important he was to Colquitt’s run.
170 CahMari Johnson (Camden County) - Another chess piece on the board for Coach Wilder … moved where needed and the ability to get a win and bonus as needed.
182 Joey Bambinelli (Mill Creek) - another weight where an argument could be made for Tristan Graham especially with his ability to give North Forsyth energy in their duals, but went with Bambinelli who won a hard fought 3-2 decision of Matt Veiga of North Paulding which ended up being the difference in the dual.
195 Zane Brooks (West Forsyth) - 9-8 decision of Talen Bentley and a fall of Gavin Guerra … two huge wins for West Forsyth.
220 Deonte Dozier (Camden) - 2 falls and a forfeit … so important in being a steady force especially in the North Forsyth dual when things were close.
285 Thomas Dossett (Lambert) - only got 2 shots at things (2 duals), but did what he could do including a 3-0 win over Anthony Yancey of Camden.
Buford downs Valdosta to defend their 6A Dual Title
Buford looked like the #1 team in 6A early in the Elite 8 as they downed Lassiter 66-15 and Creekview 72-6 to advance to the finals. Valdosta took care of business on the bottom side with a solid 66-12 win over Cambridge before winning a dogfight with Brunswick 38-30 to advance to the finals.
We began at 132 and Buford picked up where they left off vs. Creekview … with Tyler Henley getting a 16-1 tech fall and Gavin Pope taking an 11-1 major of Cam Bradley at 138. Tyler Lamon bumped to 145 for Valdosta and beat JT McCullough 5-0 to put Valdosta on the board. Unfortunately that would be the last points for Valdosta as Buford won 4 in a row - including 3 falls to push the lead to 30-3. Josh McCutchen took a forfeit for Valdosta at 195, but Trelain Maddox added a fall of D’Avion Davis at 220 to push the Buford lead to 36-9 and almostt beyond the reach of a Valdosta comeback. Buford’s Rylan Ibold pinned John Nelson to seal the win for Buford.
We didn’t get to see a Maddox McArthur vs. Kaleb Davis or Drew Gorman vs. Darrell Rochester match … as the dual was wrapped up. Guess we will have to wait for those matches for a few weeks.
6A Dual Hammers (remember not necessarily the best wrestler at the weight … but the wrestler that seemed really important to their team):
106 Clayton Hicks (Brunswick) - Ibold dominated and was important to Buford, but it was Hicks with a sudden victory win as well as other decisions that was key for Brunswick in some close duals (especially their 33-32 win over Creekview for 3rd).
113 Carter Brickley (Lassiter) - Brickley is really beginning to pick up steam - 2 falls and an 8-0 major of Gentry was big for Lassiter.
120 Darrell Rochester (Valdosta) - Rochester was unbeaten and wrestled where he was needed - putting up bonus in each of the 4 matches he won.
126 Andrew Voiles (Alexander) - tough to pick one at 126 - Rochester wrestled 3 matches at 126 and Colin Dragon of Richmond Hill was 2-0, but Voiles was the heart of Alexander especially after they rebounded from the Brunswick loss to get a solid win over Cambridge.
132 Jackson Claunch (Alexander) - if Voiles was the heart of Alexander - then Claunch was the soul. Beat McKinney of Brunswick, but it was the falls over Cambridge and Creekview that were so important for his team.
138 David Panone (Lassiter) - this could’ve gone to Pope as he was key especially in the finals to keep the momentum for Buford, but we go with Panone because without him I don’t believe Lassiter is here and certainly doesn’t make a push on the backside.
145 Tyler Lamon (Valdosta) - a 138 (I’m almost positive) that stepped up for his squad to beat McCullough and Norman as well as getting the fall of Cullen Kane.
152 Andrew Cory (Creekview) - It is my opinion that Creekview doesn’t make a push through the backside without Cory leading the way. Creekview was in dogfights all day and Cory was steady in getting points for the Grizzlies.
160 Cade Sousa (Creekview) - ditto as what I said for Cory. You could make a case for Shered of Cambridge as without his leadership they wouldn’t have been in the hunt with Alexander.
170 Conor McCloskey (Buford) - the freshman solidified the top of the Buford lineup. Two quick falls, but it really was the 10-3 decision of Cedric Stewart that showed how important he is to a Buford program that is young and going to be tough to handle for years to come.
182 Leon Charlton (Brunswick) - 4 falls and simply outstanding; You can make a case for Aaron Riner, but Charlton was super important to a Brunswick squad on the backside of the bracket.
195 Josh McCutchen (Valdosta), Dylan Burton (Alexander), and Ty Hubert (Creekview) - I simply couldn’t pick one. McCutchen’s presence in the lineup was so important for Valdosta as teams moved around him. It is difficult to explain how important Burton and Hubert were to their teams on the backside of the bracket.
220 Anthony Lowe (Brunswick) - a force up top for Brunswick and a key to Brunswick getting wins on the backside to take 3rd especially his fall vs. Creekview in a 1 point dual.
285 Isaac Hubert (Creekview) - winning close matches for a team that won duals of 34-30 and 39-35 and lost 33-32 shows how important his 3-0 performance was their success.