Road to a Georgia State Duals Title (5A and 4A)
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) …
Cass downs Woodward Academy to claim the 5A State Duals Title
Cass picked up the lunch pails and went to work on Saturday … and they would need all of that work ethic to traverse the 5A bracket. They beat Coffee fairly handily 59-24 before running into a very talented Ola squad that pushed them 35-33 (keep in mind that Cass forfeited 138 and 145 once the dual was in hand). Woodward downed Jones County before edging defending Champ Woodland 39-32 in the semis to setup a final between the two.
The Cass vs. Woodward final was a series of runs that included some outstanding wrestling and ultimately came down to the final match. Filipowicz, Singleton, and Valdes got Woodward up 16-0 before William Buttrum got 3 for Cass. Jayline Tate added another 6 for Woodward and they were in control 22-3 heading into the meat of the Cass lineup. Lee Camp added 3 for Cass and Colby McBride had a quick fall for Woodward and they led 28-6 before the gates opened and the Cass flood came in … with AJ Piatt, Cole Hunt, Jake Crapps, Bryce Kresho, and Tyler McKnight adding 30 to Cass to put them up 36-28 heading into the final 2 matches. A Robby DeHaven win over Eli Doolittle 6-5 meant that Woodward would need a fall from Michael Kilic to get the win (as I’m fairly certain they would lose on criteria if it were a tech fall). Kriecg Roe of Cass wrestled a tough match and was able to stay off his back to push Cass to the top of the podium with a 36-34 win.
I’ve tried to identify a few dual hammers that I think played an important part on their teams success this weekend … it doesn’t mean the wrestler went unbeaten or was the best wrestler at the weight.
106: Lee Camp (Cass): huge win for Camp vs. Woodward. Slowed down the momentum and kept Cass within striking distance. Could’ve gone with Dylan Jurovschi as well as he really helped Jackson County by coming up with crucial wins for them
113: Tristan Mallette (Locust Grove): 3-0 with a forfeit and 2 falls. Important 1-2 punch for LG in their dual especially in their win over Jones County.
120: Cole Hunt (Cass): move up or not … doesn’t matter because Hunt is plug and play and gets his team an important 6 every time. Could’ve gone with Cason Dempsey who also was crucial for Locust Grove.
126: Colton Bishop (Woodland): came up huge for his team vs. Woodward (got the fall up at 132) as well as a 5-4 decision of Kimbrough in the consi finals.
132: Bryce Boland (Jones County): 2-0 with a huge major decision over Andon Hawkins in the dual vs. Locust Grove.
138: Reese Jones and Brian Papcun (Ola): split time at 132, 138, and 145 - wherever need to help Ola take 3rd. Between the two of them they had tons of bonus.
145: Robby DeHaven (Woodward Academy): stepped up big to beat Elijah Doolittle 6-5 in the finals … without that win Woodward wouldn’t have had a shot. Could’ve gone with Tyler McKnight who played a huge role in Cass taking the title as well.
152: Caleb Henson (Woodland): so important for his team … he, Cochran, and Bishop were critical to Woodland being in the hunt.
160: Cole Cochran (Woodland): beat Kilic 3-2 in UTB - without that win Woodward probably rolls, but winning that match against another nationally-ranked wrestler helped his team have a shot.
170: Ayden Lightner or Gunner Filipowicz (Woodward Academy): Lightner was a good complimentary piece of the puzzle and allowed Ragan to move Filipowicz where he needed him. Both finished unbeaten and were an important part of Woodward nearly pulling it off.
182: Mathew Singleton (Woodward Academy): Same as Kightner and Filipowicz … an important chess piece that filled in and got 6 wherever he was put.
195: Charles Higdon (Woodland): Huge 8-7 win over Valdes that kept Woodland on track to win that dual (even though they eventually came up short).
220: Brandon High (Coffee): finished 2-0 with 2 quick 1st period falls.
285: Connor O’Neill (Ola): Important piece in the puzzle for Ola as he beat Jernigan 3-2 in the consi finals. Could’ve gone with Grayson Dugger of Jones County as well who had a great win over Tate of Woodward in a dual that was out of reach for his team.
West Laurens Shocks Jefferson to Claim the 4A State Duals Title
Oh my … Jefferson rolled early on the top side beating Bainbridge 67-10 and Heritage-Catoosa 51-22. West Laurens had a much more difficult path in beating Columbus (who finished 3rd) 45-35 and Marist (who finished 4th) 49-25. That left us with the top two teams in Jefferson and West Laurens for the title.
West Laurens got going early with a fall by Aiden Ingram at 132 and a decision by Cam Boston at 138 to put West Laurens up 9-0. Jefferson took control with a 17-0 tech fall by Davis Dendy and a quick fall by Creed Thomas to take a 11-9 lead. A fall by Drake Wood and Jake Shepard would prove huge for West Laurens as they lead 21-11 after 6 matches. Luke Cochran got a 10-2 major decision over Caden Snell but with a forfeit at 195 they fell a little further behind 27-15 as we moved past the halfway point. Sammy Brown’s 5-2 decision of Evan Guyton was surpassed by Chase Horne’s quick fall at 285 and the match was slipping away with West Laurens up 33-18 with 4 matches remaining (24 points were still available so Jefferson still had a path to victory).
Alec Brantley’s 7-6 decision of Turtle Kazienko put it out of reach as West Laurens led 36-18 … a DQ and 2 falls by Tucker Kazieno, Chaz McDonald, and Davis Dollar would tie it at 36, but West Laurens won on criteria to claim the 4A Duals title.
Below are a few wrestlers that really helped their teams succeed this weekend:
106: Alec Brantley (West Laurens): Ultimately it was his 7-6 decision that helped West Laurens win the title. Mason Person wrestled great for Columbus, but without Brantley West Laurens doesn’t win a title.
113: Tyler Nguyen (Columbus): wrestled great and put some a lot of bonus in helping Columbus finish 3rd. Tucker Kazienko also went unbeaten and helped Jefferson to the finals.
120: Jonathan McDaniel (Columbus): Huge wins over Adam Payton and John Termini were the difference for Columbus. Chaz McDonald was a wrecking machine for Jefferson as well.
126: Aiden Ingram (West Laurens): unbeaten and stepped up to 132 to get the fall in the final vs. Jefferson. David Dollar was also unbeaten and had huge bonus points for Jefferson - in reality though he was negated when Jefferson didn’t have a path back to win otherwise his fall in the last match wins them the title.
132: Thomas Termini (Marist): Huge fall vs. Cedartown and earned bonus vs. West Laurens as Marist took 4th.
138: Andrew Diez (Heritage-Catoosa): helped keep his team (along with Johnson) in their duals.
145: David Dendy (Jefferson): played a huge role in the finals vs. West Laurens … dominated in each of his 3 matches. Howard Heller of Marist also dominated and could take this spot as well.
152: Creed Thomas (Jefferson): the seond of a tough 1-2 punch for Jefferson. Critical in their ability to keep West Laurens close. Jesus Navarro of Cedartown had two outstanding wins as well and was huge in his team’s success as well.
160: Drake Wood (West Laurens): lost in his opening match to Lesh but rebounded with a solid 12-1 major of Pappas in the semis and a fall over Cap Benson that proved huge in West Laurens taking the title.
170: Tyler Secoy (Columbus): plug and play whether that is at 160 or 170 … moved where needed and got the wins and bonus for his team. Huge in their ability to take 3rd.
182: Luke Cochran (Jefferson): wrestling 182 or 195 was key to Jefferson hanging within striking distance of West Laurens with a 10-2 major of Caden Snell.
195: Kendrick Henry (Bainbridge): Bainbridge didn’t have a ton of success as a team, but Henry was huge in their ability to go 1-2 by going 3-0 and getting bonus.
220: Nolan Pozzobon (Marist): Could’ve gone with Brown, but it was Pozzobon’s ability to get bonus in each of his 4 matches that helped Marist that 4th.
285: Sesan Edwards (Bainbridge)/Chase Horne (West Laurens): Chase Horne is the best 285 in the country and he was instrumental in West Laurens claiming the title, but Edwards went 3-0 with a 1-0 decision and an important fall to help Bainbridge go 1-2 this weekend. I’d give it to Horne simply for his enthusiasm for his team … always pushing his teammates to get a point, not give up a fall, etc. But you can’t discount how important Edwards was for Bainbridge as well.