Posts in Georgia
State Wrap Up - Episode 12: The Georgia Bracket Breakers 1A-3A and Girls

A bracket breaker is defined differently for different states and sometimes differently by classification in the same state. Mostly it comes down to how large the bracket is as to what defines a bracket breaker and where they finish. So read each state first to understand how I have chosen to define it. Broadly speaking … it is a wrestler that comes in under the radar and goes on to win matches they either “shouldn’t” win (according to their previous weeks finish).

In Georgia - we selected the bracket breakers as those wrestlers that finished 3rd in their Area and made the podium at the state tournament.

The Girls had very large brackets because there was no sectional tournament qualifier the weekend before. So we included a bracket breaker as any wrestler not seeded in the top 8 that made the podium.

1A

  • Aidan Conley (Wesleyan) - 5th at 120

  • Josh Lange (Mt Pisgah) - 4th at 138

  • Colton Hardeman (ELCA) - 2nd at 160

  • Michael Dagenhart (George Walton) - 5th at 160

  • Nick Morgan (Holy Innocents) - 5th at 170

  • James Gleeson (Holy Innocents) - 4th at 182

  • Happy Chane (Mt Pisgah) - 5th at 195

2A

  • Ethan Carter (Haralson County) - 5th at 132

  • Kalan Woods (Model) - 5th at 160

  • Kaleb Cannon (East Laurens) - 5th at 285

3A

  • Nate Mixon (Greater Atlanta Christian) - 4th at 152

Girls

  • Catarina Velasquez (Chestatee) - Seeded #36; Finished 2nd at 102

  • Anna Santoscoy (Johnson) - Seeded #14; Finished 5th at 102

  • Haley Zinninger (North Gwinnett) - Seeded #20; Finished 5th at 102

  • Anisa Nur (Greenbrier) - Seeded #34; Finished 4th at 112

  • Callie Payton (Etowah) - Seeded #20; Finished 5th at 112

  • Jasmine Ragland (Coosa) - Seeded #23; Finished 5th at 112

  • Lindsey Noble (Cambridge) - Seeded #26; Finished 3rd at 122

  • Citali Salas-Abrego (Centennial) - Seeded #14; Finished 4th at 122

  • Zaniyah Davis (Jordan) - Seeded #41; Finished 5th at 122

  • Genevieve An (Kennesaw Mountain) - Seeded #19; Finished 2nd at 132

  • Te’Yarah Lett (Monroe Area) - Seeded #10; Finished 4th at 142

  • Litzy Soto (Johnson) - Seeded #40; Finished 5th at 142

  • Arieana Bacon (Greenbrier) - Seeded #10; Finished 5th at 152

  • Caitlyn Mixon (Ware County) - Seeded #17; Finished 1st at 162

  • Beyonce McColumn (Northside Warner Robins) - Seeded #10; Finished 2nd at 172

  • Monserrat Nunez (Peachtree Ridge) - Seeded #14; Finished 4th at 197

  • Teonna Bonds (SE Whitfield) - Seeded #9; Finished 3rd at 225

  • Madison Baxter (Pepperell) - Seeded #15; Finished 5th at 225

Georgia, GirlsJason FulmoreComment
State Wrap Up - Episode 11: The Georgia Bracket Breakers 4A-7A

A bracket breaker is defined differently for different states and sometimes differently by classification in the same state. Mostly it comes down to how large the bracket is as to what defines a bracket breaker and where they finish. So read each state first to understand how I have chosen to define it. Broadly speaking … it is a wrestler that comes in under the radar and goes on to win matches they either “shouldn’t” win (according to their previous weeks finish).

In Georgia - we selected the bracket breakers as those wrestlers that finished 3rd in their Area and made the podium at the state tournament.

4A

  • Jet Le (Shaw) - 5th at 113

  • Ely Raines (Chestatee) - 5th at 120

  • Hayden Prior (North Oconee) - 5th at 145

  • Kadin Inman (Flowery Branch) - 5th at 160

  • Justin Gilbert (East Hall) - 5th at 170

  • Marquis Sanabria (Shaw) - 3rd at 170

  • Brandon Green (Cairo) - 5th at 195

  • Jonah Hunt (North Oconee) - 5th at 220

  • Kaleb Nicholson (Pickens) - 4th at 220

  • Raymond Grayble (East Hall) - 4th at 285

  • Jordan Williamson (Central, Carroll) - 5th at 285

5A

  • Conner Kimbrough (Ola) - 2nd at 120

  • Jonah Lavendar (Union Grove) - 5th at 126

  • Giles Turner (Cartersville) - 5th at 126

  • Aidan Urizar (Cass) - 4th at 145

  • Caleb Reining (Greenbrier) - 5th at 160

  • Brian Rodriguez (Johnson Gainesville) - 5th at 170

  • Kyan Bennett (Eastside) - 5th at 182

  • Jordon Shannon (Stone Mountain) - 5th at 195

  • Daniel Scott (Jones County) - 5th at 195

  • Charles Higdon (Woodland) - 3rd at 220

  • Jesus Riano (Coffee) - 3rd at 285

6A

  • Mal Santiago (Effingham County) - 5th at 106

  • Ben Werth (Cambridge) - 5th at 138

  • Jacobee Connell (Lassiter) - 5th at 145

  • Dylan Tucker (Richmond Hill) - 5th at 182

  • Brian Maina (South Paulding) - 5th at 195

  • Stryker Woods (Dalton) - 5th at 220

  • Cheikh Koita (Pope) - 5th at 285

7A

  • Matt Morton (Camden) - 3rd at 113

  • Cale Bissell (North Forsyth) - 4th at 160

  • Robert Riddle (Lambert) - 5th at 170

  • Cole Williams (South Forsyth) - 5th at 182

  • Victor Reyes (North Forsyth) - 5th at 195

  • Ashton Heflin (Newnan) - 5th at 220

  • Anthony Yancey (Camden) - 3rd at 285

  • Ignacio Olvera (Gainesville) 4th at 285

GeorgiaJason FulmoreComment
State Wrap Up - Episode 6: The Ironmen (and women) Georgia and Tennessee

One of the first things I look at when a state tournament finishes is … who was able to bounce back and fight their way back through to make the podium. If there is one attribute that epitomizes wrestling or wrestlers it is perseverance. And there are few better pieces of evidence than the ability to pick yourself up and fight back to make the podium when your goal was to win it all.

Each of the wrestlers below lost their first match and fought back to find a spot on the podium. Because each bracket is different (especially in Tennessee this year) - being an “Ironman” or “Ironwoman” might be different from bracket to bracket. I like the term Ironman or Ironwoman because I think it captures in a single word what it takes - not only physical ability and determination, but also mental as well as psychological strength to battle back.

In Georgia - all of the boys brackets had 24 wrestlers and Georgia placed top 4 … meaning a wrestler had to win a minimum of 4 matches to make the top 4 (and in some cases 5 matches). On the girls side - brackets varied significantly in size so making the top 4 was incredibly difficult if you lost your first match (in fact - just one wrestler accomplished that feat).

In Tennessee - 1A-2A and 3A were 16-man brackets and they placed top 6 … so the path was easier than it was for Georgia boys, but still not an easy task (in fact to make the podium they would have had to win a minimum of 3 matches). Division 2 and Girls were smaller brackets - at 8-man (women) brackets so we identified those that lost their 1st round match and came back to finish 3rd.

Congrats to each of the wrestlers below for finding a way to pick themselves up and fight back through the “backside”.

Georgia

Joey Bambinelli - Mill Creek - 7A 160 3rd

Easton Bishop - Woodland - 5A 126 4th

Braydon Bowen - Troup - 4A 126 4th

Trent DeBow - Wesleyan - 1A 152 4th

Aaron Kirkland - Buford - 6A 195 4th

Chandler Lynn - Toombs County - 2A 170 4th

Zac McAfee - Sonoraville - 3A 170 4th

Armando Monroy - Calhoun - 5A 113 4th

Brayden Nance - Cherokee Bluff - 3A 160 3rd

Richard Ransom - Collins Hill - 7A 182 3rd

Jacob Robinson - Pope - 6A 113 4th

Sarai Sanders - Hillgrove - Girls 162 3rd

Jacob Voyles - Banks County - 2A 106 3rd

Chavis Watson - Baldwin - 4A 132 3rd

Bleu Winters - Rockmart - 3A 126 4th

NOTE: It has been brought to my attention that every wrestler that lost in the consi semis finished 5th (there was no 5th/6th match). It isn’t listed on trackwrestling so that is why they were not included previously. Those wrestlers that lost their first match of the tournament and battled back to 5th are listed below.

Paul Carroll - Newnan - 7A 285 5th

Aiden Chilson - Lee County - 6A 170 5th

Justin DiCono - North Paulding - 7A 132 5th

Kenly Eavenson - Franklin County - 3A 113 5th

Zane Fairbanks - Oconee County - 3A 145 5th

Carter Fleming - Elbert County - 2A 113 5th

Brandon Green - Cairo - 4A 195 5th

Chaz Hammock - Lamar County - 2A 152 5th

Ayden Hecht - Ola - 5A 152 5th

Hernan Hernandez - North Murray - 3A 132 5th

Jahlil McKenney - Eagles Landing - 5A 285 5th

Jude Niemi - St Anne Pacelli - 1A 106 5th

Travis Nollman - Ola - 5A 160 5th

Ronald Pierce - Gilmer - 3A 138 5th

Caleb Reining - Greenbrier - 5A 160 5th

Victor Reyes - North Forsyth - 7A 195 5th

Kiernan Sherwood - North Gwinnett - 7A 152 5th

Wyatt Sligh - Harrison - 7A 113 5th

Reid Smith - Hampton - 4A 182 5th

Austin Sorrelle - Dade County - 2A 220 5th

Dylan Tucker - Richmond Hill - 6A 182 5th

Cade Wallace - Bremen - 2A 152 5th

Tyrone Wright - Spencer - 4A 195 5th

Tennessee

Lily Chantler - Northwest - Girls 170 3rd

Tim Charpenter - Lakeway Christian - D2 132 3rd

Perrin Clark - East Ridge - 1A-2A 132 4th

Zachary Duessler - Rossview - 3A 182 4th

Calvin Eason - Father Ryan - D2 126 3rd

Grace Elliot - Siegel - Girls 112 3rd

Ethan Lipsey - Bradley Central - 3A 113 3rd

Finley Jameson - Summit - 3A 152 6th

Brady Jarvis - Wilson Central - 3A 160 5th

Luke Justice - Summit - 3A 170 6th

Graham Keating - Oakland - 3A 285 5th

Robert Laxton - Cleveland - 3A 152 3rd

Rylee Lent - Independence - Girls 103 3rd

Benton Magourik - Whitwell - 1A-2A 138 5th

Seth McCoy - Forrest - 1A-2A 138 6th

Wemawamungu Moktani - Munford - 3A 126 4th

Jeremy Peters - Knoxville Halls - 3A 120 6th

Jesse Richardson - Wilson Central - 3A 285 6th

Colby Sinclair - Maryville - 3A 182 6th

Addie Stadler - David Crockett - Girls 132 3rd

Georgia, TennesseeJason FulmoreComment