State of the Program ... St Francis (GA)
St Francis (GA)
Head Coach: Chuck Bailey
Staff: Tom Mejia, Sam Rollins, Taylor Weaver
St Francis enters the 22-23 season with a ton of hype after breaking into the top 10 last season in Georgia 1A with pretty much a freshman lineup. They and the other 1A teams welcome Pepperell and Dade County into the mix this season, but that shouldn’t impact St. Francis’s climb. This team returns all of their point-getters from a year ago and entered the 2022 Sectional Tournament with 10 freshmen. This year’s squad will have another season under their belt and should be hunting a top 5 finish in Macon in 2023.
Returning State Placers Jace Parent (2nd at 138), Cade Parent (3rd at 138), and Daron Pigram (6th at 195) will be hunting the top step on the podium and should lead the way for the Knights. Egan Hadelman was a State Qualifier a season ago and will look to climb onto the podium this season. With 4 placers the Knights will be in the hunt, but in order to climb into the top 5 they will need several of the following wrestlers to step up and make an impact in 22-23. Chase Lent, Kevin Maven Winchester, Cole Erickson, Nathan Dobrzynski, and Daniel Davis each made sectionals last year as freshmen … if several of them can punch their ticket to Macon - watch out for the Knights. Keep an eye on Senior Henry Smith down low, as well as Sophomores Jack Hassler, Owen Hadelman, and Marcus Major … they will look to break into the lineup and push those in front of them. Also watch for a trio of freshmen - Eli Pawlish, Pace Lilenfeld and Mac Town - this season.
“We have a good group of guys that are working hard in the offseason whether it is in the weight room, track, or with 4 on 1’s these young men like to compete! We are excited about the upcoming season and planning on improving on our 10th place finish in traditional from last season.”
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.