By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

           West Laurens went into Friday night’s round of finals and consolation matches with a 39.5-point lead over Jefferson in the GHSA traditional wrestling state tournament.

Full results

          Both teams had six wrestlers in the finals, and the Raiders had three more wrestlers in other point-scoring matchups than the Dragons.

          It would take events beyond comprehension for the Raiders to not win the Class 4A state title.

          The Raiders didn’t have the best championship round, but it was more than enough to beat Jefferson by 26.5 points, topping the Dragons for the second time in a month for a state championship.

          The Raiders and Dragons went against each other in three of those six finals, and Jefferson won all three.

          West Laurens legend Chase Horne was the only Raider to take home a first-place trophy, and he needed all of 73 seconds to pin East Hall’s Caleb Pruitt.

          Jefferson won two more state titles against non-Raider opponents, but West Laurens went 3-0 in its matches for third place, with Jake Shepard recording a fall at 160.

          The Dragons only had one wrestler not competing for a championship, and got third place.

          West Laurens’ performance in the early rounds built the lead, and Jefferson’s solid championship outing only cut the deficit.

          Horne was joined atop podiums by Veterans’ Latrell Schafer in 5A, Perry’s Austin Thiel in 4A, and Mary Persons’ Anthony Mannella in 3A.

          Schafter followed two falls with a 12-2 major decision over Tyler McNight of state champ Cass, McKnight finishing 39-5 to 33-2 for Schafer.

          Thiel’s 13th win ended a perfect season, with his 7-2 win over Thomas Termini of Marist, who won his semifinal by the same 7-2 score.

          Mannella completed a superb 47-1 year with an efficient 6-0 win over Diego Jacinto (33-5) of Gilmer, after a technical fall (15-0 at 3:42) and fall (2:54).

          Veterans’ Tanner Vorse took second at 152 in 5A, and West Laurens got second places from Aiden Ingram, Drake Wood, Caden Snell, and Evan Guyton.

Team results (first-place and Central Georgia finish)

Class 5A

1. Cass, 171

6. Veterans, 76.0

16. Jones County, 28.5

Class 4A

1. West Laurens, 189.5

2. Jefferson, 163.0

10. Perry, 54

29. Rutland, 13.0

Class 3A

1. Gilmer, 190

20. Mary Persons, 23.5

25. Peach County, 14.0

33. Central, 4.0

33. Upson-Lee, 4.0

Friday's results
Class 5A
145-Latrell Schafer, Veterans, def. Tyler McKnight, Cass, 12-2, first place
152-Tanner Vorse, Veterans, lost to Caleb Henson, Woodland-Cartersville, fall, 3:02, second place
Class 4A
126-Aiden Ingram, West Laurens, lost to Davis Dollar, Jefferson, 4-0, second place
132-Austin Thiel, Perry def. Thomas Termini, Marist, 7-2, first place
152-Drake Wood, West Laurens, lost to Creed Thomas, Jefferson, fall, 3:15, second place
170-Christian Boston, West Laurens, lost to Tyler Secoy, Columbus, 18-3, second place
182-Caden Snell, West Laurens, lost to Nolan Pozzobon, Marist, 6-2, second place
195-Evan Guyton, West Laurens, lost to Luke Cochran, Jefferson, 11-0, second place
285-Chase Horne, West Laurens, def. Caleb Pruitt, East Hall, fall, 1:13
Class 3A
160-Anthony Mannella, Mary Persons, def. Diego Jacinto, Gilmer, 6-0, champion

Third-place matches
Class 5A
120-Zachary Coumbs, Veterans, lost to Cooper Hoffman, Jackson County, 5-3, fourth place
132-Bryce Boland, Jones County, def. Tyler Barb, Veterans, injury, 5:10, Boland third and Barb fourth
Class 4A
138-JT Bowers, West Laurens, def. Kullum Irvin, Troup County 6-3, third place
145-Noah Atkinson, Perry, def. Demetrios Pappas, Marist 5-1, third place
160-Jake Shepard, West Laurens, def. Malik Conley, Arabia Mountain, fall, 3:01
220-Jathon Willis, West Laurens, def. Kaleb Nicholson, Pickens, 6-4, third place
Class 3A
195-Jamond Jones, Peach County, lost to Owen Moss, Gilmer, 10-4, fourth place

Fifth-place matches
Class 5A
160-Logan Sherwood, Veterans, ‘lost’ to Isaiah Skinner, Apalachee, DFF, sixth place
Class 4A
120-Christian Brown, Rutland, over John Termini, Marist, DFF, fifth place
182-Carter Yawn, Perry, over Omari McCree, Stephenson, DFF, fifth place