Carrollton Claims the Georgia Girls State Duals Title
Photo provided by Coach Newton
My conversation with Coach Newton
Final Bracket
Carrollton came from the 5 seed to claim a dual state title and as Coach Newton talks about in our interview above … he (and the girls) felt a bit slighted by their seed, but just put their heads down and went to work. And they did. They started things off with a solid 54-21 win over the 4 seed Woodward Academy.
As you can see from the box score, Carrollton’s Johana Mejia and Hailey Lussier put Carrollton in front, but Woodward Academy came back to tie the dual at 12 after the first 4 matches. Lilianna McKinley, Sherlyn Quinonez, and Cadence Wilson added 2 falls and a tough 7-4 decision to push Carrollton back into lead 27-12 at the halfway point of the dual. Zammy Okoli gave Woodward Academy a 14-7 decision, but Isabella Moore, Bailey Moore, and Maggie Dudley shut the door on any Woodward comeback and the Carrollton girls cruised to a 54-21 win.
Top seed Chestaee advanced to meet Carrollton and on the bottom side Gilmer and Jordan took opening round wins to advance to the semis. In the bottom semifinal, Jordan’s Taziyah Collins sealed the win at 144 lbs. to push Jordan into the finals. Jordan downed Gilmer 42-39 to advance.
Carrollton vs. #1 seed Chestatee in the semis
Chestatee jumped out the a 12-0 lead on Carrollton before Gabby Carnes got Carrollton on the board with a fall of Jayden White at 100. Hawkins got a major decision, Destiny Wooly, Abby Plemmons and Charlotte Wheeler each added a fall … Carrollton’s Cadence Wilson, Kaitlyn Thomas, Isabella Moore, and Bailey Moore added falls for Carrollton to make the dual 30-30 heading into the final 3 matches. A tech fall by Madison Cooley gave Carrollton the lead, but it was Amazing Ackey’s fall at 155 that sealed the win for Carrollton as they advanced with a tough 41-40 decision.
Carrollton vs. Jordan for the Title
We began the dual at 235 and Jordan jumped out to a quick 12-0 lead with a forfeit and a fall … Carrollton’s Lilianna McKinley, Jordan’s Arrie Battle, and Carrollton’s Kaitlyn Thomas each answered back and the dual swung back and forth through the first 5 matches. Aicha Hill and Zaniyah Davis then had two falls to put Jordan up 30-12 at the halfway point of the dual. Bailey Moore and Maggie Dudley were huge for Carrollton to being them closer with two falls, but Jahajah Banks added another 6 for Jordan and the dual was 36-24 in Jordan’s favor with 4 matches remaining.
That’s when the Carrollton middlewights went to work. Cooley, Ackey, and Mejia each got falls to put Carrollton into the lead and that left Hailey Lussier to try to shut the door and push Carrollton to a team title.
Video Credit: Trackwrestling
Top 4 Girls Duals Teams:
Carrollton
Jordan
Greenbrier
Gilmer