Jones County, Perry, Upson-Lee top Central Georgia contingent at GHSA wrestling duals; MdS, Piedmont top area GIAA teams

By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

          Jones County, Perry and Upson-Lee emerged from the GHSA dual wrestling championships with winning records, but Central Georgia only reached as far as consolation semifinals.

          The Greyhounds in 5A, the Panthers in 4A and Knights in 3A went 3-2, with first-round wins and consolation victories. They were joined in the statewide meet by West Laurens in 4A, Southwest and Putnam County in AA, and Dublin, Lamar County, and East Laurens in A.

Mount de Sales, Piedmont top area teams in GIAA duals

          Mount de Sales nipped Piedmont for third place in the 10-team GIAA duals held Friday and Saturday.
          The Cavs and Cougars both had first-round byes. Mount de Sales beat Brookstone 61-16 and then lost 51-27 to Strong Rock. Piedmont topped Bethlehem Christian 54-27, and lost to champ St. Anne-Pacelli 37-36.
          Mount de Sales then edged Bethlehem Christian  42-39 and Piedmont pounded Brookstone 66-15 in consolation action to set up their bout.
          Stratford was the only other Central Georgia team in the field, and lost 43-36 to Brookstone and 45-30 to Bethlehem Christian.

Jones County hammered Tucker 81-0 before falling 42-28 to Jefferson. The Greyhounds dispatched Greenbrier 41-30 and Eastside 54-18 before losing to eventual third-place finisher Woodland-Cartersville 49-18.

          West Laurens opened with a 46-36 loss to Benedictine, then nipped Bainbridge 37-36.

          The Raiders won the tiebreaker over Troup in a 40-40 match, and then faced region rival Perry.

          The Panthers beat Holy Innocents 52-24 and then lost to North Hall 45-30. After getting past Whitewater 48-17, they got the Raiders and moved on after 45-33 with falls from Donovan Funsch (285), Matthew Kohlman (1060, Zykhi Sistruck (113), Blayson Jordan (132), Will Sanders (144), Jarmarion Rosser (150), and Gabriel Nazario (215).

          Perry was eliminated a round later, losing to Lovett 39-36, Lovett going on to take third place.

          In 3A, Upson-Lee beat Gilmer County 37-30 and lost to Bremen 38-30. The Knights nipped Adairsville 37-33, then popped Calvary Day 54-30 before being knocked out 55-23 by Franklin County in a consolation semifinal. Franklin County finished fourth.

          Putnam County took down Southwest 40-30 in a Class AA first-round match, win pins from Jams Goss (126), Jonquail Coats (132), Wyatt Suggs (144), Zaccaria Long (215), and Noah Long (285). Then came a 73-6 loss to eventual champ Rockmart 73-6.

          The War Eagles lasted one consolation round, falling to Berrien 36-34. Southwest won its consolation opener by forfeit over Towers, then was knocked out 51-27 by Landmark Christian.

          Dublin, Lamar County, and East Laurens competed in Class A, Dublin emerging with a first-round win, 39-33 over Temple, then losing 63-13 to Trion. East Laurens was handled by eventual champ Social Circle 81-0 in the first round, Lamar County falling 57-24 to eventual fourth-place Trion.

          Lamar County lost to Temple 42-33 and East Laurens 42-33 to Irwin County in consolation openers, while Dublin fell to St. Francis 45-36.

          The girls’ duals are a week later, Friday and Saturday, at West Georgia. The traditional state championships are Feb. 15-17 at the Macon Coliseum.