Bitter end costs Bruins title

By Marty Kirkland

ROME — Northwest Whitfield went from the brink of an Area 7-4A Duals title to just trying to make it to state in a few tense moments Saturday at Rome High School.

But the Bruins shook off their frustration over an official’s controversial decision in Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe’s 35-32 victory in the championship match with a 42-34 win against Ringgold in the second-place match, earning the program’s first-ever trip to state duals next weekend in Macon.

And that was enough cause for the Bruins to celebrate with a few shouts and coach Allen Tucker to smile a little — even if something bigger was left just out of reach.

“We’ve been down for three or four years and I’ve talked about how we go two steps forward, three steps back,” Tucker said. “But we’re going in the right direction.”

Dalton failed to qualify for state but finished fourth, while Southeast was eliminated in the opening round by Ringgold.

Northwest beat Ridgeland in the first round, 67-27, and Dalton in the semifinals, 47-27, to set up a highly anticipated rematch with LFO — the team the Bruins beat last Tuesday to earn the No. 1 seed at area duals.

LFO beat Gordon Central 66-18 and Ringgold 48-27 on the way to the championship.

This meeting delivered even bigger drama when Northwest fell behind 32-22 with three matches remaining after leading most of the dual, only to get back-to-back pins from Trey Selby (285) and Russell Royal (103).

That gave Northwest a 34-32 lead entering the final match, a 112-pound bout between LFO’s Chase Hale and the Bruins’ Alex Cochran that was to decide the title.

But with Cochran leading 6-2 in the second period, his takedown of Hale ended with the LFO wrestler’s head hitting the mat and the match referee determining Cochran’s action to be an illegal slam. The match stopped while trainers examined Hale and, after the two minutes of injury time granted, determined that the dazed Warrior could not compete.

What would have simply been a one-point award for Hale in the match score because of the illegal slam turned into a disqualification for Cochran, three points for LFO and a chance for the title slipping right out of the Bruins’ paws.

“The rule says that if you lift a kid from the mat, and this is my interpretation, you have to safely bring him down to the mat,” Tucker said. “But we never lifted him. We were on our knees and the kid was on his feet and we caught him behind the legs and just drove into him. And the kid fell back and hit his head on the mat, and the (referee) called unneccesary roughness and the kid didn’t get up, so that’s an injury default and we lose by two.”

LFO coach Donny Welborn — who said Hale was suffering from physical pain and blurred vision — wasn’t exactly sure how to handle such a victory, either.

“I hate this for them,” Welborn said. “Those guys, Tucker and (Northwest assistant Thomas Queen) have worked their butts off to build their program up and I know this has to hurt them and I hate it for them.”

To their credit, though, the Bruins regrouped to wrestle Ringgold — which had already beaten Southeast, 60-24, before losing to LFO — and found their redemption in the day’s final dual.

Northwest overcame a 21-6 deficit near the midway point with pins down the stretch by Steven Walkey (160), Drew Ahmed (171), Chris Hopper (215), Royal (103) and Merle Bolton (112) for the decisive victory, which was capped by Cochran’s acceptance of a forfeit at 119.

“Coach Queen is the best assistant ever, and he just told them, ‘Guys, life’s full of adversity. Sometimes it ain’t fair and it ain’t right and there’s two ways to respond: lay down and quit or get up and fight,’” Tucker said. “And that’s pretty much what we did that second match, fought and battled to the end.”

Dalton beat Rome 33-31 in the first round before its losses to Northwest and Ringgold. A year after a quick exit from the area duals, the Catamounts’ fourth-place finish was another sign of progress for coach Charles Mitchell in his first season.

“For us to finish in the top four after being, basically, a last place team that’s a big step forward and it’s just part of the building process,” Mitchell said. “I couldn’t have been prouder of my kids.”

Area 5-5A Duals

Murray County came up just short of a trip to state duals, falling 35-33 in the second-place match on Saturday at Kennesaw Mountain High School in Kennesaw.

“No doubt, we expected to go to state duals — I wish we were playing horseshoes — but the kids are great and they wrestled hard and gave good effort,” Murray County coach Chris Thornbury said. “I feel like we got Harrison’s back to the wall and really took it to them, but their kids responded. It was two good teams wrestling hard.”

The Indians also claimed victories over Marietta (45-25), North Cobb (56-21) and Kennesaw Mountain (34-32), but lost to No. 1 seed and winner McEachern (84-0) in a dual filled with junior varsity Indians and forfeits.

Cody Adams (125) and Ryan Newton (285) each went 4-0 at the event, while Charles Napier (112) and Zach Baggett (160/171) both were 3-1.

Area 7-4A Duals local results, winners

First Round

Northwest 67, Ridgeland 12: Aaron Higgins (103), fft.; Merle Bolton (112), fall; Alex Cochran (119), fall; Cory Cole (125), maj. dec.; D.J. Bennett (130), fft.; Rafael Romero (135), fall; Kenny Michael (140), fall; Rich Michael (145), dec.; Josh Lewis (152), fall; Steven Walkey (160), fall; Chris Hopper (215), fall; Trey Selby (285), fft.

Dalton 33, Rome 31: Jordan White (103), fall; Eduardo Guttierez (112), dec.; Henry Torres (119), dec.; Jordan Hooks (135), fall; Spencer Ruble (140), dec.; Taylor Duckworth (160), fft.; Carlos Prieto (171), fall.

Ringgold 60, Southeast 24: Dewayne Bramblett (103), fall; Miguel Jacinto (112), fall; Nolan Smith (130), fall; Isaac Carreon (152), fall.

Semifinals

Northwest 47, Dalton 27: Dalton — White (103), fall; Torres (119), fall; Ruble (135), dec.; Tyler Maney (145), dec.; Taylor Duckworth (171), dec.; D.J. Lashus (285), fall; Northwest — Bolton (112), fall; Matt McCamy (125), fall; Rafael Romero (130), t-fall; Kenny Michael (140), fall; Jermaine Hester (152), fall; Steven Walkey (160), fall; Kyle Burnette (189), fall; Chris Hopper (215), fall.

Ringgold 42, Dalton 34: White (103), fall; Guttierez (112), fall; Torres (119), fall; Barajas (130), dec.; Ruble (135), dec.; Maney (145), fall; Duckworth (160), maj. dec.

Championship Final

LFO 35, Northwest 34: Russell Royal (103), fall; Bolton (119), fall; McCamy (125), fall; Romero (130), dec.; Hester (152), dec.; Walkey (160), maj. dec.; Drew Ahmed (171), t-fall; Trey Selby (285), fall.

Second-place Final

Northwest 42, Ringgold 28: Royal (103), fall; Bolton (112), fall; Cochran (119), fft.; David Lewis (135), maj. dec.; Kenny Michael (140), dec.; Walkey (160), fall; Ahmed (171), fall; Hopper (215), fall.