The Daily Citizen, Dalton, GA

Sports

January 11, 2010

Ramblers make it five

Southeast impressive with fourth-place showing at Area 6-3A duals

Wrestling in its home gym on Monday, Southeast Whitfield gave its best shot but missed qualifying for this weekend’s Class 3A state duals.

However, the Raiders did earn a fourth-place finish in the Area 6-3A duals behind Carrollton, believed by Southeast coach Neil Nichols to be the best showing at area duals in program history.

“These kids have come so far (from last year) and put so much heart into what they do,” said Nichols, whose team went 0-2 at last season’s 6-3A duals.

Runner-up Heritage-Catoosa and first-place LaFayette, winner of five consecutive area duals titles and the defending state duals champion, advance to Macon.

First-year program North Murray went 1-2 for an eight place finish in the 11-team field.

The Raiders began the meet — originally scheduled for Saturday but postponed until Monday because of inclement weather — with a 78-0 win over Cedartown but fell 40-26 to Carrollton to drop into the loser’s bracket. There, they eliminated North Murray, 50-27.

Facing Cartersville, Southeast fell behind early, 30-6, but went on an incredible run to get back into the match. Down by five heading into the final matchup, the Raiders needed a pin from 130-pound senior Alfredo Apodaca and he delivered against the Purple Hurricanes’ Ethan Alexander. Apodaca pinned Alexander in 55 seconds and the Raiders won 40-39 to advance.

“We started rolling back through,” Nichols said. “We got guys that were getting pins, major decisions and a few wins and I’m looking down (at the score) and we’re right back there in the match. These kids fought hard and represented Southeast well today.”

The win, however, was the Raiders’ last dual of the day. Heritage defeated Carrollton in the quarterfinals, knocking the Trojans into the loser’s bracket for a rematch against Southeast. The two schools didn’t wrestle again because of Carrollton’s victory in the first match, leaving the Raiders in fourth place.

Seniors Andy Pichardo (145), Cristian Perez (285) and Nick Didonato (140) went undefeated in the duals, finishing 4-0, 3-0 and 3-0, respectively.

“Our team, overall, showed a lot of heart,” Perez said. “At times, we were down but we never gave up. We just kept going after it. We definitely exceeded the expectations going in.”

Added Pichardo: “Today, I was surprised at how well we did. At the beginning of the year we struggled a little bit, but today we came together and we have improved so much since last year.”

Other top performers for the Raiders were Mario Rodriguez (119, 3-1), Tanner Phipps (160, 3-1) and Jesse Ortiz (3-1).

LaFayette defeated Heritage in the championship duals, 58-12; the Ramblers have won six titles in their past seven area duals. They haven’t lost an area dual — regular season or otherwise — since their days in 2A, when they lost to Calhoun in the 2005 6-2A area duals.

Lee Dendy, who coaches the Ramblers along with Sam Forester, is in his 10th season with the program and now has nine area duals titles spanning three classifications and three state duals titles, including the past two in 3A.

Dendy said Monday’s title win came down to experience.

“We pulled this one out with senior leadership,” he said, “dedication in the practice room and the guys before them that graduated that brought the tradition that helped them believe that they could do this.”

North Murray opened with a 48-28 loss to Ringgold and beat Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe, 57-21, in the loser’s bracket before being eliminated by Southeast.

North Murray’s top performers were Zach Penland (125, 3-0), Seth Stainton (130, 3-0), Jackie Abernathy (135, 3-0) and Austin Carter, who went 3-0 across three weight classes (189, 215 and 285).

Larry Cornelius was pleased with the Mountaineers’ effort.

“Overall, I thought we wrestled pretty good,” the coach said. “I’m proud of them.”





Sports
  • SW Dekalb 10 mlh.jpg THE WRONG DIRECTION: Southwest tops Northwest for title

    Southwest DeKalb turned in a lackluster effort in the Class 4A state basketball semifinals, but the Lady Panthers got down to business quickly against Northwest Whitfield in Friday’s championship game. Southwest hammered Northwest with a shocking 14-0 start at the Arena at Gwinnett Center and stormed past the Lady Bruins, 65-45, to claim its third straight state title.

    March 12, 2010 2 Photos

  • SW Dekalb 6 mlh.jpg Lady Panthers dynasty-mite

    The chant wasn’t nearly as loud as the ones Southwest DeKalb supporters would fill the Arena at Gwinnett Center with a couple hours later, but even before Friday’s Class 4A state championship game against Northwest Whitfield, Lady Panthers fans dared to dream of another big finish.
    From the stands as the state finalists warmed up on the court below: “Three-peat!”
     

    March 12, 2010 1 Photo

  • Pep rally 7 mlh.jpg Larry Fleming: Coley’s mom has a unique perspective

    Their careers covered two generations of basketball at Northwest Whitfield and had almost parallel outcomes. A mother and daughter traveled the same paths, just 20 years apart. They were together Friday — one in the stands, the other on the court — to share an experience of a lifetime.
    Baleigh Coley was almost always the smallest player on the court, but was also one who consistently came up with big performances in four years.
     

    March 12, 2010 1 Photo

  • Prep events rained out, rescheduled

    March 12, 2010

  • Police mugged it up with Roethlisberger

    The police officer who initially investigated the sexual assault complaint against Ben Roethlisberger posed for photographs with the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback an hour before his accuser filed her complaint.

    March 12, 2010

  • Dutchtown 2 mlh.jpg Shoot for the stars

    Northwest Whitfield girls basketball coach Margaret Stockburger knows two important facts about Southwest DeKalb.

    March 11, 2010 1 Photo

  • Painting posters at NW (lf).jpg Lady Bruins aim for state title

    The overflowing mix of joy and excitement that Northwest Whitfield’s girls basketball team created with its state semifinal win on Wednesday in Duluth hitched a ride back to Tunnel Hill.

    March 11, 2010 1 Photo

  • Marty Kirkland: Kirk's heart is still with Lady Bruins

    The memory isn’t a pleasant one. More than three months after it happened, it might even be a blessing of sorts that when Northwest Whitfield senior basketball player Kelsey Kirk suffered a devastating knee injury in the Lady Bruins’ season opener, she faded out from the situation a little bit.

    March 11, 2010

  • Jamie Jones: Impact enjoys nice debut vs Raw

    Here are this week's news and notes from the wrestling world:

    March 11, 2010

  • Area roundup: Northwest girls get past Dalton on golf course

    Northwest Whitfield’s Turner Fordham shot a 4-over 40 on Thursday at Dalton Golf and Country Club to lead the Lady Bruins to an 84-88 golf victory over rival Dalton.

    March 11, 2010

Community Calendar

Loading…
Events by eviesays.com

AP Video