Jefferson tops Cass for the Georgia 5A Dual Title
Thanks to Creed Thomas for the pic
My conversation with Coach Baird
Final Bracket
Jefferson stumbled a bit a year ago and finished 2nd, Cass won some outstanding to claim a title … all season - people circled a potential Cass vs. Jefferson matchup in the finals of 5A. BUT … both teams would need to be on their game in order to make that showdown a reality. Cass would need to grind out a win on the top side vs. Ola (who finished 3rd) as Jefferson went to work on the bottom side. Jefferson beat Locust Grove and Woodland downed Cambridge to setup a semifinal for Jefferson with a very talented Woodland crew.
Jefferson relies on their hammers to punch their ticket to the finals
Woodland jumped out to a solid 14-0 lead after the first four matches as Hayden Santora downed Dallas Dollar, Zachary Wallace beat Dominic Haines, Christian Cothran pinned Carson Goodwin, and Jovante Luke downed Elias Vermillion 4-1. Jefferson needed a spark and turned to one of their hammers, Creed Thomas, to swing the momentum back to the Dragons. Thomas had a fall, Clayton Beine and Nolan Martin had decisions and the score was 14-12 at the halfway point of the dual. The next two matches were huge as Luke Cochran took a 12-5 decision over Charles Higdon and Sammy Brown downed Kwadrus Wilson 3-2 to push Jefferson ahead 18-14 as the dual headed to 106 (and the final 5 matches). After giving up a fall at 106 - Jefferson closed the door on Woodland with 2 falls, a 10-1 major decision by Tucker Kazienko and a 26-11 technical fall by Dallas Russell to finish the dual 39-20.
The Showdown … Cass vs. Jefferson
If you believe Coach Baird … the beginning of the dual played out much like he thought. And honestly it went the way we saw it going as well. Tyler and Zach McKnight gave Cass 12 and Mason Tompkins came through with a solid 7-0 decision at 157 (remember Eli Doolittle was out of the lineup after re-injurying his shoulder - so Tompkins stepped in for a huge win for Cass). Jefferson countered with a tech fall by Creed Thomas at 165 and then a tech fall by Cochran and falls from Nolan Martin and Sammy Brown. Lee Camp for 6 back for Cass and the score was 22-21 heading into 113. Falls for Belardo and McDonald gave 12 to Jefferson and Rowdy Duck and Jake Crapps for 6 for Cass … a huge fall for Tanner Toups at 138 (who was down 9-3 with 40 seconds remaining) made it 34-33 and the dual would come down to the final match. Haines used a workmanlike performance in the first 2 periods to give him the edge and the 3rd period saw no scoring as Jefferson salted away the win with a 6-3 Dominic Haines decision.
Video Credit: Trackwrestling
Top 4 1A Duals Teams:
Jefferson
Cass
Ola
Harris County