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DEL.ICIO.USNo holiday break from the mats
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wrestling writer Kurt Aschermann Jr. ranks the top wrestling teams in the state, regardless of class: Week of Dec. 31.
Pin it down and rank the rankings: Let us know who YOUR Top 10 are and how they stack up against Kurt’s picks.
Pound for Pound took a couple weeks off from blogging but not from following some fantastic high school wrestling both in-state and, thanks to the magic of the internet, far across Georgia’s borders.
Brecksville Invitational
Union Grove spent the holidays competing in the ultra-competitive Brecksville Invitational. Facing top-tier Ohio schools, the Wolverines finished fifth and pushed two wrestlers into the finals. Joey Lazor blew through a difficult 130-pound field that included seven nationally-ranked wrestlers. Lazor, the No. 22 ranked 125-pound junior, pinned three other ranked wrestlers in succession: Harrison Hightower (No. 25 130-pound sophomore/freshman) in the quarterfinals; Garland McCormick (Special mention 135-pound sophomore/freshman) in the semifinals and Jake Vaughan (No. 17 135-pound junior), who Lazor dropped in 2:39 in the final.
“(Lazor) was on this tournament; he kind of mowed through the bracket,” said Union Grove coach Joey Dinino. “He completely dominated the finals.”
Heavyweight Wesley Mena fell in the final to Columbus DeSales’ John Hiles (No. 8 285-pounder) with an early-third period pin.
Pound for Pound Top 10 (Last week’s rankings in parenthesis)
1: Collins Hill (2) — The Eagles followed a run away win at the Gwinnett County meet with a dominant victory at Kyle Maynard Duals
2: Union Grove (1) — Unbeaten in duals and fifth-best team at Brecksville Invitational
3: Harrison (3) — Hoyas place 12th at Powerade, head to Minnesota this weekend for The Clash Duals
4: Jefferson (4) — Wins at South Paulding and Keen Classic Duals keep Dragons rolling
5: Pope (9) — Dirty South champs finished fifth at Wadsworth tourney
6: Cass (NR) — 2nd at Dirty South; 4th at Wadsworth
7: Stockbridge (7) — Fayette Classic co-champs pulling it together at right time
8: Eastside (5) — Second-best Georgia school at Kyle Maynard Duals
9: Gilmer (8) — Bobcats hoping to get 171-pound David Snider healthy
T10: Lafayette (6) — Dominated Pigeon Forge Duals
T10: Kennesaw Mountain (10) — Along with Harrison, proving to be one of Area 5-AAAAA’s finest teams
Kyle Maynard Duals
Count this reporter as perhaps the last man in Georgia to jump aboard the Collins Hill bandwagon. The Eagles continued their dominance by cruising to a first-place finish at the Kyle Maynard Duals, clipping Baylor (TN), 34-22 (their second win of the season over the Tennessee powerhouse) in the first-place match. Before that, Collins Hill shut out Montgomery Bell Academy (TN), 68-0; and defeated Eastside, 58-6; Ravenwood (TN), 73-3; and South Carolina’s No. 5 Fort Mill, 53-6.
Dirty South Classic
Pope and Cass saw quite a lot of each other over the holidays. At the Dirty South Classic, Pope won while Cass finished second and the Greyhounds won four of seven head-to-head matches. This past weekend at the Wadsworth (OH) Grizzly Invitational Tournament, Cass finished fourth, Pope finished fifth and the Colonels won four of five head-to-head bouts. Pope also owns a win over Cass, 37-24 at the Walton Duals in early December.
Powerade Invitational
Harrison ran up against some of the better teams in the country at the 41st Powerade Invitational at Canon McMillan High School in Pennsylvania. The Hoyas finished 12th and placed three wrestlers, led by InterMat No. 8 160-pounder Josh Condon, who gave up a near fall in the third period to secure State College’s Steve Bosak’s 3-0 decision in the final. Thanks to the magic of the Web, Pound for Pound editors were able to listen to Condon’s bout on msasportsnetwork.com, as well as the consolation final matches for Ryan Medved (fourth at 135 pounds) and Alex Medved (fourth at 140).
Zac Jarzynka Memorial Ironman
Four of Georgia’s Class AAAAA teams made a stop in Oviedo, Florida for the Zac Jarzynka Memorial Ironman Tournament and three wrestlers took home individual titles. Camden County 119-pounder Sam Spradlin guided the Wildcats to a top-15 finish, winning his second consecutive crown in Oviedo after taking home gold at 112 pounds last season. A pair of North Gwinnett wrestlers — Travis Sheehy at 152 (defeating Wrestling USA top-20 152-pounder Zach Mastro of Palmetto Ridge) and Steven Buffington at 285 — won titles to help the Bulldogs finish 10th. Parkview finished ninth behind medalists Carson Fields (2nd at 135 to WUSA top-15 140-pounder Tico Baez of South Dade) and Brent McFall (3rd at 215). Forsyth Central’s Michael Vazquez finished 2nd at 140 pounds.
Fayette County Christmas Classic
The Fayette County Christmas Classic was one of the closer team races in recent memory. Stockbridge, trailing Wesleyan by six points heading into the final match of the tournament, the 285-pound championship, got a first-period pin from big man Randy Salmon against Rome’s Emanuel Woods and the Tigers split the title with Wesleyan and won their second consecutive Fayette Christmas crown.
Class AA Wesleyan, meanwhile, made perhaps the strongest statement of the tournament. The Wolves placed nine wrestlers, the most impressive being Kelby Smith, who not only dominated East Coweta’s Christian Flavin in the 215-pound title match, but also solidified himself as Class AA’s 215-pound front-runner.
Kennesaw Mountain finished third and collected four individual titles. Ryan and Alex Maus won the 112 and 140-pound titles, respectively, while first-year wrestler Jonathan Rivera won at 135 pounds and Zach Fultz picked up the 145-pound crown.
Takedowns
• Walton finished 24th at Brecksville as Andrew Lanham placed third at 152 pounds and heavyweight Jeff Francis (Dirty South runner-up) finished sixth.
• Carrollton has come a long way in six years. During the 2002-2003 season, the Trojans’ first year of wrestling, they finished last at the Fayette Christmas Classic and collected just three team points. This past weekend, Mike Mason’s crew went to Fayette and finished sixth.
• Fayette County once again is strong at 171 and 189 pounds, a year after 171-pounder Audy Whittington won the Class AAAA state title and Patrick Blankenbeker was state runner-up at 189. Blankenbeker, a Fargo All-American, is once again a state title contender at 189 and Brian Tilton, fresh off a Fayette Classic title, is looking good at 171.
• Dacula won the George Thompson Memorial tournament at Winder-Barrow, capped by lightweight Outstanding Wrestler, Noah Hunt, who won the 119-pound title.
• Effingham County picked up a 7th-place finish at the Seahawk Duals in Hilton Head, SC, Friday, and in Saturday’s traditional tournament, the Rebels placed seven wrestlers. Head coach Chris Hardin held out Josh Barnhill (20-0) for Kyle Piche, who placed third. Wade Hall (119) and Kevin Ulmer (now 30-2 at 125) were runners-up and freshman Bruce Smith, in his first year wrestling, placed fourth at 130 pounds. Three others placed for Effingham County.
• Ringgold won the Rockdale County Duals, sweeping five matches, including a 53-24 win over second-place Rockdale County.
On the Record
“It’s a good environment. (There’s) 60-something kids in the practice room (and) there’s not an easy kid in there.” — Jim Haskin, Pope head coach on the depth and quality of the wrestling program
“This one, as far as the balance, was the best tournament we’ve been to. I’m happy (with fifth-place finish); we wrestle a little bit better, we might’ve finished top two or three.” — Union Grove coach Joey Dinino on the Brecksville Invitational
“It’s just a sport I love to do. (Wrestling) is my first love, girls second. I’d rather wrestle than go on a date. Maybe Hugh Hefner calls me up, I might have to go.” — Cass’ Justin Martin
Pin it down and rank the rankings: Let us know who YOUR Top 10 are and how they stack up against Kurt’s picks.
Permalink | Comments (9) | Post your comment | Categories: Pound For Pound
Comments
By Robert
December 31, 2007 2:33 PM | Link to this
Great report. The rankings look pretty good too!
By Wolve Man
December 31, 2007 4:31 PM | Link to this
look out for those Wesleyan Wolves - AA champs!
By wrestling Fan
December 31, 2007 6:49 PM | Link to this
Like the report,very informative. One question though. With Ringgold info; “Ringgold won the Rockdale County Duals, sweeping five matches, including a 53-24 win over second-place Rockdale County.” Loganville won 2nd place at that dual. Did you mean that Rockdale county is ranked 2nd place in the region or for the dual? I do like the blog. Good Job.
By Steve West
December 31, 2007 10:34 PM | Link to this
Thanks Kurt for the coverage. It is sincerely appreciated.
By steve
January 1, 2008 11:44 AM | Link to this
KEEP A WATCH ON THE BIG MAN FROM WESLYAN, MR SMITH (215). YOU ALWAYS THINK OF LITTLE GUYS AS POUND FOR POUND THE BEST, BUT THIS MAY BE THE BEST BIG MAN OUT THERE POUND FOR POUND, IMHO
By Wrastler
January 1, 2008 4:09 PM | Link to this
Good report and info. Keep going
By fairplay
January 2, 2008 10:10 AM | Link to this
Please check the facts. North Gwinnett finished 9th at the Zac Jarzynka Ironman with 2 champions: Travis Sheehy at 152 lbs. and Steve Buffington at heavyweight. The results you posted were pre-finals. Georgia had a great showing amongst some big-time talent from 9 states. Camden, Forsyth Central, Parkview and North Gwinnett showed they can compete with the elite.
You need to focus on the power in Gwinnett County! Your late arrival to seeing Collins Hill as the #1 team proves you’re not spending enough time seeing the competition there. Who are those Cobb teams competing against? The schedules don’t look too tough.
By coach
January 2, 2008 4:46 PM | Link to this
Fairplay said”Who are those Cobb teams competing against? The schedules don’t look too tough.” Are you kidding me? I agree that CH is the best team but have you actually looked at Harrison’s schedule? It is by far the best in GA. And though you were not talking about UG, they wrestle a very good schedule as well. The real question, can UG overcome CH’s depth? I don’t think so. Great job Kurt! Duals Traditional 1 Collins Hill 1A Collins Hill 2 Union Grove 1B Union Grove 3 Harrison 3 Harrison 4 Pope 4 Cass 5 Cass 5 Pope 6 Jefferson 6 Jefferson 7 Stockbridge 7 Kennesaw Mt 8 Eastside 8 Stockbridge 9 Kennesaw Mt 9 Eastside 10 Gilmer/ Lafayette 10 Lafayette/ Gilmer 3
By Kell Man
January 3, 2008 6:38 PM | Link to this
don’t forget about those Longhorns from Kell - they’ll make some noise in a couple weeks at state duals.