Area Roundup: Wrestlers earn trip to Duluth

Fifteen of the 22 local wrestlers who qualified for the Georgia High School Association’s sectional tournaments finished in the top eight on Saturday, earning spots in this week’s state traditional tournaments at the Gwinnett Center in Duluth.

That included second-place sectional finishes for Dalton’s Reinaldo Torres (145 pounds) and Sidney Wheeler (182), Murray County’s Blade LeQuire (285) and Southeast Whitfield’s Carlos Fraire (220). All of them were competing in the Class 3A West sectional at Riverwood in Sandy Springs.

Southeast pushed through five of its six qualifiers and will take the most wrestlers to state among local schools. In addition to Fraire, a junior who’s the only returning state qualifier for Southeast, Omar Ruiz (106, third), Lester Paucay (138, eighth), Austin Allen (160, seventh) and Jose Ortiz (285, fifth) will be in the 3A brackets when competition starts Thursday in Duluth.

“I’m proud of the guys. They’ve been practicing so hard this year,” said Raiders coach Michael Herndon, who was an assistant for one season under Neil Nichols before taking over this year. “We’re older as a team and a little bit more mature, and I think that’s been a big part of it. The older guys have helped the younger guys through.”

Senior Edgar Federico (170), who won his first match of the tournament, had to injury default for the tournament after hitting his head during the victory and suffering what Herndon said Friday was likely a concussion.

Also qualifying for Murray County was John Duarte (126), who placed sixth after battling through the consolation bracket.

Matt Crace (220), a senior, finished ninth and will be an alternate for state, going to the tourney if a wrestler ahead of him is unable to compete.

LeQuire, who won both of his matches on Friday by pin, beat McNair’s Kevin Barner 5-4 in the semifinals. He faced Troup’s Tim Hart in the finals and led 2-0 at the end of the first period after scoring a takedown late in the period. LeQuire chose bottom for the start of the second period, and Hart turned the starting position to his advantage, scoring the pin to take the victory and the sectional title.

Duarte won his opener on Friday, but had to come through the consolation bracket to earn his sixth-place finish.

“(Duarte’s) was a really tough weight class,” Murray County coach Chris Thornbury said. “John was right in there with some really quality wrestlers, and I think he can really make some noise at state.”

Thornbury noted that 20 of the 28 finalists at the sectionals were from Area 7-3A — the area from which Dalton, Murray County and Southeast advanced — and that eight of the sectional finals featured rematches between area foes from last week’s area traditional tournament.

“That goes to show you just how tough our (area) is,” he said.

Dalton’s Torres won his semifinals match by forfeit Saturday morning after his opponent failed to make weight, Catamounts coach Richard Garrett said, and Wheeler won his semis match in overtime. Both entered the day knowing they were headed for state, having won two matches on Friday to lock in a top-eight position.

“They both wrestled really good tournaments,” Garrett said. “Sidney, for a sophomore, wrestled really good, and so did Reinaldo. The guy he lost to in the finals is someone who we’ll probably see again if we make it to the state finals.”

Dalton lost its other two sectional qualifiers to injury on Friday — Dylan Carlile (120) broke his collarbone and Larry Fernandez (220) hurt his elbow.

In the Class 4A West sectional at Northside-Columbus, Northwest Whitfield had four of its five qualifiers earn trips to state, and senior Dustin Pendergrass (145) overcame a loss by decision in the semifinals with a pin in the third-place match. A two-time state qualifier, he’s looking for his first state medal after entering last year’s Class 4A tournament with high expectations.

Also third at Northside was Jared Haws (170), who competed despite an injured knee. Adam Selby (285), a state medalist last season, was fifth, as was the Bruins’ Brian Whitmire (182).

It’s the first trip to state for Haws and Whitmire, both seniors.

“We wrestled pretty well,” Northwest coach Allen Tucker said. “It was stiff competition. Pope, Alexander, Cass, Woodland. Good wrestling. There were a lot of broken hearts. A lot of kids were one second away from going to state. We’re looking forward to going.”

Missing out on state for Northwest was another senior, Brandon Davenport (160), who finished 10th, missing a chance at the alternate spot.

In the Class 2A West sectional at Atlanta’s Blessed Trinity, North Murray’s Ethan Center (160, eighth) and Justin Pack (170, sixth) advanced to the state tournament after winning the necessary matches in the consolation bracket.

Center, a sophomore, lost his semifinals match in the consolation bracket and then forfeited his seventh-place match due to injury. Pack, a senior, won two matches in the consolation bracket on Saturday before losing.

Both wrestlers beat a higher-seeded opponent on Friday before losing in the second round.

“They did a great job,” coach Steve Colley said. “I am very proud of them, and we’ll get back at it on Thursday at state.”

The Mountaineers’ Blane Anderson (285) was eliminated Friday after losing two matches.

Eliminated on Saturday was Coahulla Creek’s Francisco Sanchez (113), who did earn alternate status by finishing ninth.

Sanchez, the only sectionals qualifier for the first-year Colts, lost his only match on Friday, had a bye in the consolation bracket and lost his first match Saturday to eliminate him from entering the top eight. But he won two consecutive matches to grab ninth place.

Colts coach Anthony Thomas noted that Sanchez, a sophomore, has been competing with a broken thumb.

“I’m sure he would’ve been a little more effective than he was (if he was healthy),” Thomas said. “I think he’ll be a little bit hungrier, lift more, work more and be better next season.”

Basketball

• North Murray boys 60, Gordon Central 58: Austin Owen’s eight points off the bench for the Mountaineers included late free throws that helped secure the team’s third win this season against the Warriors, and this victory came in the semifinals of the Sub-region 7B-2A tournament at Dade County.

“He really helped us out,” North Murray coach Eric Bishop said. “He was a spark for us.”

The third-seeded Mountaineers (20-6) — who advanced to Monday’s 4 p.m. sub-region title game against Dade County, which beat Sonoraville on Saturday — needed some fire in the final period. They led 15-12 after the first quarter and 32-24 at halftime, but Gordon Central surged back to lead 44-41 entering the fourth.

The Warriors were keyed in the third quarter by Gio Rivas, who sank back-to-back-to-back 3-point attempts.

Also in the fourth, the Mountaineers had to hold off Gordon Central without starters Zach Vess and Tyler Duckett, who still finished with eight points and seven rebounds and 16 points, respectively.

“We had two players in foul trouble, and it just happened to be Tyler Duckett and Zach Vess,” Bishop said. “That was a little strenuous to have both of them on the bench at the same time. But we had some guys step up and take care of business. Austin Owen was one of them.”

Brady Swilling also finished with 16 points for the Mountaineers, who beat Gordon Central 73-61 and 49-46 during the regular season.

“They always play us pretty tight,” Bishop said. “Today it was tighter than we would have liked it, but it’s just a matchup thing.”

The Mountaineers have secured a place in next week’s Region 7-2A tournament at the Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center — the top three teams from each sub-region advance — where they’ll need to finish in the top four to make the state tournament for the first time.

• Dade County girls 44, North Murray 34: In the Sub-region 7B-2A tournament at Dade County, the host Lady Wolverines broke open a close game at the end of the first quarter and then held the Lady Mountaineers at arm’s distance the rest of the way to guarantee themselves a spot in next week’s Region 7-2A tournament.

North Murray (15-12) faces an elimination game at 5:30 p.m. Monday for third place, taking on Sonoraville. The winner advances to the region tournament and the loser’s season comes to an end.

The Lady Phoenix beat the Lady Mountaineers in both meetings earlier this year. Dade County and Calhoun will play for the sub-region title at 8:30 p.m., with both teams assured of advancing to the region tournament.

“We played pretty good defense until the last three minutes of the first quarter, and that is when they stretched it out,” North Murray coach Keith Robinette said. “It was by far the best we played against them this year. They make you work for everything. We battled, but Dade is just so good at what they do.”

Abigail Bradley and Megan Pittman each had nine points for North Murray.

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