Wrestling may not be easy, but for much of the Georgia high school season, the sport’s schedule is forgiving.
If you lose, you may not like it, but there’s another match coming. If you don’t make weight, you may fall out of favor with your coach, but the next tournament will provide a chance to prove it was a one-time mistake.
The season turns mean today.
Local prep programs enter the fray of the Georgia High School Association’s traditional postseason today via area tournaments, where wrestlers will shoot for a top-four finish in their respective weight classes — the first step toward earning a state medal. Coahulla Creek and North Murray are in the Area 7-2A tournament at Rockmart, while Dalton, Murray County and Southeast Whitfield are in the Area 7-3A tournament at Allatoona and Northwest Whitfield competes in the Area 7-4A tournament at Cass.
The top four finishers in each area advance to next weekend’s sectionals, where the top eight wrestlers in each weight class for their half of the state advance again. All five GHSA classifications will compete in their respective state tournaments Feb. 16-18 in Duluth.
But wrestlers must be on — weight-wise, mentally and physically — at area to start that journey, and the double-elimination format is a reminder that the season can quickly come to an end for those who aren’t prepared for the test.
Here’s a look at all three area tournaments involving local teams:
Area 7-2A
Jackie Abernathy (145 pounds) will lead the way for North Murray. A state qualifier last year, Abernathy is one of three seniors — along with Justin Pack (170) and Justin Saylor (183) — out of the 11 wrestlers the Mountaineers will take to area, and he enters today’s competition with a 29-9 record.
All three advanced out of area last season, with Pack missing out on qualifying for state by one victory at sectionals.
Blane Anderson (285) and Elias Lechuga (132), both sophomores, are also among the top wrestlers for the Mountaineers.
“I think all of them have a good shot at state,” North Murray coach Steve Colley said. “Jackie shouldn’t have any trouble at all, and Elias has just one loss against area competition, so he should be right there. We have three or four guys who have a real good shot to get through sectionals.”
Coahulla Creek, Whitfield County’s first-year school, will take six wrestlers to area, led by Francisco Sanchez (113). He won a title at the Murray Invitational on Jan. 21, but is still recovering from a thumb injury suffered in that tournament.
“When he is wrestling, it looks like he can still do everything except when he grips,” Colts coach Anthony Thomas said. “We will have it taped up and will just try to keep it out of the way.”
Sanchez and Labron Kendrick (140) have the best chance of advancing for the young Colts, Thomas said.
“Both of them have beaten three or four kids in the area and have been beaten by three or four kids,” he said. “They are right on that bubble. They will have to wrestle a little bit better to advance.”
The Colts will also enter Austin Voyles (126), Harvey Walker (132), Alex Hefner (145) and Dillon Manning (220) in the tournament. Tucker Sheram (120) suffered a concussion earlier this year in a match at Armuchee and has not been cleared by doctors to compete.
Still, Thomas said the experience of this year’s tournament will be invaluable as his team grows in the future.
“As a group, really a lot of them are brand new kids,” Thomas said. “The team that I have, we are below average strength-wise. Strength doesn’t make everything, but when you don’t have it, it shows up in a hurry. As a total group, we have to increase our strength — and usually in a year you can teach a kid to wrestle.”
Wrestling begins at 4:30 p.m. today and resumes at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Area 7-3A
The injury and illness bug hits just about every wrestling team at some point during the season, and Murray County hasn’t been an exception to that rule. But the Indians are taking a full lineup to area, and that’s an advantage not every local team has.
“We’ve actually been wrestling pretty good lately with all of our folks,” Indians coach Chris Thornbury said. “... We do have some kids injured that were starters earlier in the year, but that’s not a big deal to me. We’re taking the best we’ve got, and we’ll go with what we’ve got. That’s what we always do.”
Domingo Bautista (106), John Duarte (126), Courtland Morales (138), Clayton Thornbury (182), Matt Crace (220) and Blade LeQuire (285) lead the way for Murray County. All but Crace were starters a year ago, too — Bautista and LeQuire qualified for state — and coach Thornbury has been pleased with the showing by Crace, a senior who hadn’t wrestled since eighth grade before this season.
The Indians coach also sees the potential for other surprises from the Indians, and he knows even his seeded wrestlers must be ready for unexpected tests.
“I love it. This is my favorite time of year,” Thornbury said. “I’m old, but I still get nervous for the kids, looking at the brackets and all that stuff. ... We’re excited about having to wrestle in a tough tournament. It’s exciting to see how these guys who have never been in this situation before will do.”
Southeast has been steady from start to finish in its first season under coach Michael Herndon, and he’s even using what he deemed subpar performances against Northwest and Armuchee in a home tri-meet earlier this week — the Raiders topped Armuchee but lost to the Bruins — as motivation for his team.
“It helped some of them realize we need to work a little harder and wrestle a little harder,” Herndon said.
The Raiders entered last year’s area tournament as likely prospects to send several on to sectionals, but just two wrestlers made the cut — Jeremy White (120) and Carlos Fraire (220), who along with Omar Ruiz (106), Jesus Dominguez (126) and Lester Paucay (138) will lead the way for the Raiders this weekend. Fraire is 41-4 and has just one loss to an area wrestler, while Ruiz has enjoyed a phenomenal freshman campaign, compiling a 39-7 mark.
A good start is important for everyone in the lineup, though, as the Raiders try to surpass last year’s number of qualifiers for the sectional round.
“We’re wrestling two championship rounds the first night,” Herndon said. “If you win your first two matches, you’re in the semis. It’s very crucial to get to the semifinals.”
Dalton started this season strong, winning its own Carpet Classic tournament and the Conasauga Cup duals title while beating teams it had never before topped — all in December. But coach Charles Mitchell exited at midseason to take an assistant principal’s job at Tennessee’s Hixson High, and several wrestlers quit the team after the holiday break.
Catamounts coach Richard Garrett, who took over for Mitchell in January, has just 11 wrestlers remaining on the roster, but he knows what he’s getting from them.
“It’s never a good thing to change in the middle of the season,” Garrett said. “The men we have left are the ones that want to be here.”
Dalton assistant Brian Harrison said each of the team’s nine starters can advance if they wrestle well, but seniors Reinaldo Torres (145) and Jose Madrigal (170) will lead the way as the Cats try to bounce back after a 1-2 showing at last month’s area duals. Sidney Wheeler (182) and Larry Hernandez (220) will also be counted on to provide big points for Dalton.
“To win a team tournament like (area duals), you’ve got to be a pretty strong team,” Garrett said. “Since we can’t fill all the weight classes, this is a whole lot better for us than the duals, because we were giving up 35 points right of the bat because of forfeits.”
Wrestling begins at 4:45 p.m. today and resumes at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Area 7-4A
When Northwest coach Allen Tucker looks at the Area 7-4A landscape, he places his Bruins in the middle of the pack. But he would be “tickled to death” if some of his seniors could advance through this weekend and move on to sectionals.
“All my seniors have a shot of qualifying for state,” Tucker said. “They all know it’s their last year, and they all want this season to continue on for at least one more week.”
Dustin Pendergrass (145), Brandon Davenport (160), Jared Haws (170), Brian Whitmire (182), Ben Greeson (220) and Adam Selby (285) are the senior starters on whom Tucker is placing those expectations.
As a team, Tucker sees his Bruins likely in the top five, behind Woodland-Bartow, Cass, Creekview and Chattahoochee. Northwest was seventh at last month’s area duals, but Tucker sees potential for his squad and the ability to hang with the area’s best.
“There’s 11 in our region. We’ve wrestled five or six of those teams, so there’s an unknown,” Tucker said. “We’ve wrestled well the last two tournaments and had some surprises. ... If we wrestle like our potential, we could be in the top four. But we haven’t put it all together this season.”
Pendergrass and Selby are the No. 1 seeds in their brackets. Selby, who was sixth at state last year, has a clean slate against all area foes.
“(Pendergrass) has had a great year. He has a 40-5 record, maybe 40-6,” Tucker said. “And the kids he lost to, he beat the next time they wrestled. He has a quick learning curve.
“He kind of got his heart broke last year at state. He should have placed, had a tough first match and that kind of buried him.”
Tucker said his other seniors “are close,” No. 5 or 6 seeds who need an upset to advance out of area — so his projection for sectional qualifiers for the Bruins ranges from two to six or more.
“They’re all tough, good wrestlers, but other people have tough good wrestlers, too,” Tucker said.
“If they wrestle to their seed, then they’re not going to make it. So they’ve got to beat a kid above them.”
Wrestling begins at 4 p.m. today and resumes at 10 a.m. Saturday.
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