State of the Program ... Harris County (GA)
Harris County (GA)
Head Coach: Alex Moore (11 total; 8 at Harris County)
Staff: Wes Wingard, Nate Chapman, Shawn Fridlay, Amy Sanchez
Harris County finished 10th a year ago in a tough 5A traditional state tournament … but the Tigers lose some hammers in State Runner-up Oran Decker and State Placer Garrett Wood. Decker and Wood accounted for 66% of their points in Macon a year ago.
So what does that mean? Well if the Tigers are going to be back in the top 10 again they will need some new faces to step up and make their mark in 22-23.
Fortunately the Tigers can rely on returning State Placer Nick Nguyen and State Qualifier Davin Lundquist as well as the return of hammer Davis Culpepper to lead the way. The trio are joined by Seniors Brock Johnson, DJ Maddox, and Christian Perry (each returns with post-season experience after just missing on trips to Macon in 2022). Those 6 should form the core of the Harris County lineup … and it will be up to a talented young group of hammers to see if the Tigers can push further into the top 10. The Tigers have 5 Sophomores including Area 2 Champ Matthew Vanwettering that will look to make some noise this season. Keep an eye on Denver Degonia, Sam Sprout, Tyler McGuire, and Tony Zimmerman as well as returning Junior Aidan Westbrook. Harris County also has a handful of new faces that could make an impact in 2022-23. Watch for upperclassmen Jayden Strickland, Gavin Lowell, and Lane Morris as well as freshmen David Gilbert and Wes Sappington.
“We lost a lot of fire power in our line up with the loss of Logan Emfinger (two year starter), Garrett Wood (4 time state placer now wrestling at Lander) and Oran Decker (3 time Finalist and 2020 State Champion also now wrestling at Lander), but those were our only 3 seniors in a lineup that wrestled sectionals with 5 freshman in the starting 14. We have good experience returning and good leadership in Davin Lundquist, Nick Nguyen, Brock Johnson and the other seniors. We averaged 29 in the weight room each day during the months of June and July. Our freshman class is also around 20 strong with a few of them going to push our returning starters for positions this year. We hope that our kids continue to work as hard as they have in the off season to continue to keep up the tradition of tough Harris County teams that we have put on the mat in recent years.”
NOTE: All mentions of placers and qualifiers in the body are based on the 2021-22 season. If a wrestler placed higher or lower in a previous year it is not captured above.