State of the Program ... McIntosh (GA)
McIntosh (GA)
Head Coach: Nick Bellantoni (1st year back at McIntosh - previous head coach)
Staff: Joey Petras
McIntosh return a nice core group that could make the 21-22 season a memorable return for head coach Nick Bellantoni (Bellantoni was the head coach at McIntosh for more than a decade). This is a Junior-heavy squad and that means McIntosh should make some noise in 21-22, but could really make their mark in 2022-23 (but let’s not get ahead of ourselves). Senior Nick Kallas and Juniors Gavin Proffitt and Xander Harris each won matches in Macon in 2021 and all three will be hunting a spot on the podium in 2022.
State Qualifiers Brayden Petras and Tony Jimenez also return looking to climb onto the podium in their second trip to Macon. The return of Chase Nerenberg could be huge for this team … Nerenberg qualified for the state tournament as a freshman, but missed last season due to injury. A few others to keep an eye on include James Ward, Grant McKenzie, Lex Chao, Robbie Julian, and Tristan Newton-Smith. They will be key to how far the team goes in 2022.
“We have 6 returning state qualifiers coming back this season and several other wrestlers who could qualify for state. Returning state qualifiers include:
-Brayden Petras
-Chase Nerenberg (not last season, but the season before)
-Xander Harris
-Gavin Proffitt
-Tony Jimenez
- Nick Kallas”