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DEL.ICIO.USNothing like the dual meets in Macon
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When it comes to the competition and intensity of high school sports, there’s no better place to be than the state wrestling duals at the Macon Coliseum. 64 teams whittled down to 10 finalists and a handful of early wake-up calls for those looking to climb back and grab a consolation trophy.
Let’s get right to it.
The first and really only big surprise of the tournament’s first day was Northwest Whitfield’s improbable, 34-33 victory over Stockbridge in the Class AAAA quarterfinals, which ended the Tigers’ bid for consecutive duals titles. Whitfield couldn’t keep the momentum going in the semi finals, falling to Eastside for the second time in two weeks. The Area 8-AAAA champion Eagles get upstart Ringgold in the state final. The Tigers, dual champs in 2002 and 2005, picked up three impressive victories over Cherokee, Woodward Academy and Tucker.
Speaking of surprises, how about those Henry County Warhawks? With 10 first-year wrestlers in the lineup, Henry started the dual season 1-8. Less than two months later, Marty Hutsell’s crew will wrestle for the Class AAA state title after mowing through Hardaway, Blessed Trinity and Benedictine.
“I’m just ecstatic,’ Hutsell said afterwards. “These kids just busted their tales; they’re warriors. We told them is we get past Hardaway, we had a shot.”
Henry County’s latest appearance in the state finals (they won the Class AAAA title in 2006) is as much a credit to Hutsell and his coaching staff as anything. Standing mat side after the quarterfinal win, former Warhawk state runner-up and lay coach Walker Daniel summed up the season:
“(Hutsell) basically went into the hallways and picked some wrestlers,” said Daniel, who was a part of the 2006 title team. “Honestly, I don’t know how he does it. It’s his best coaching job.”
Henry County will face Cass, which needed a Mason Martin decision in the final semis match with Gilmer to reach the Class AAA final for the second consecutive season. The Colonels have never won a duals title.
Class AAAAA produced the best semi final match ups on paper but Collins Hill and Harrison reached the final with relative ease after wins over Pope and Centennial, respectively. Collins Hill, No. 32 nationally in the latest Amateur Wrestling News Prep 40, plowed through Murray County and survived a barn-burner with Union Grove in the quarterfinals before the win over Pope. Harrison took care of its business with wins over Forsyth Central (46-21) and Hiram (50-18) before taking a 40-15 win over the Knights. No shock that the red-hot Peter Mosher and Josh Condon led a group of five who went 3-0 on the day.
The lower classifications produced very little suspense as Class AA favorites Wesleyan and Lafayette reached the dual final, while six-time dual champion Jefferson goes for No. 7 Saturday against Gordon Lee in the Class A title bout.
On the Record
“I told him, ‘go get me my state dual title and I’ll let you kiss my girlfriend.’”
— Cass’ Justin Martin on what he told his younger brother, Mason, before the final match against Gilmer. (Mason won an 8-5 decision)
“We’re definitely ready. Our team’s going to go in their strong; not over-confident but looking forward to it. We want it bad.”
— Eastside’s Joel Stafford on Saturday’s Class AAAA final
“We knew it was going to be close; just like last year it was close. It’s what it’s all about; it’s hard wrestling.”
— Northwest Whitfield coach Allen Tucker after the Bruins’ quarterfinal win over Stockbridge
“I believe; we believe, it doesn’t matter who else does.”
— Ringgold coach Phil Daniel on the Tigers’ somewhat quiet march to the Class AAAA state final
One more thing………
Why I love Georgia high school wrestling, Part 1:
Watched Collins Hill’s T.J. Mitchell wrestle Dexter Bushart of Pope, then turned to the adjacent mat and took in Merle Bolton of Northwest Whitfield against Eastside’s Stafford.
No sport is like it.
Saturday’s Finals
AAAAA
PFP No. 1 Collins Hill vs. No. 4 Harrison
AAAA
No. 7 Eastside vs. Ringgold
AAA
No. 6 Cass vs. Henry County
AA
No. 10 Lafayette vs. Wesleyan
A
No. 3 Jefferson vs. Gordon Lee
Permalink | Comments (7) | Post your comment | Categories: Pound For Pound
Comments
By Kurt Aschermann Jr.
January 19, 2008 2:54 AM | Link to this
Received the wrong information in regards to the Class A final - Jefferson will wrestle Bremen, not Gordon Lee, for the title.
Sorry for the error.
— Kurt
By Earl Smith
January 19, 2008 2:02 PM | Link to this
AAA State Dual Final Results Henry Co, Cass Co champs Benedictine 3rd Gilmer Co 4th Ola 5th
By Voice of Reason
January 19, 2008 2:17 PM | Link to this
Congrats J-town Dragons! 1A Duals champs 7 years running… You make us proud!
By Kurt Aschermann Jr.
January 19, 2008 6:55 PM | Link to this
A truly unprecedented final day of the state duals. Wintry weather cancelling most of the consolations and giving us our first split-state title? Only in….Georgia?
Despite the rushed finals, there was still a number of great stories:
Ringgold. Incredible run to the AAAA title, its third dual crown. The Tigers knocked off four good teams, including favorite Eastside in the final.
Collins Hill. Not that we needed any convincing, but the Eagles separated themselves from the pack so much this weekend, we should almost have a second AAAAA poll for everyone else. Wins over Union Grove, Pope and Harrison all in succession. Incredible team up in Suwanee.
Jefferson. Anyone in Class A not happy to see the Dragons go next year? Coach Doug Thurmond told me after the 51-19 win over Bremen in the final, he and his wrestlers will miss the rivalries with Bremen, Bowdon and Gordon Lee. Something tells me those 3 teams won’t miss the rivalry that much. Some dynasty they’ve built.
Lafayette looked really good all weekend, especially in its win over Wesleyan in the final.
Other thoughts:
— Union Grove is the secod-best team in AAAAA. Too bad the Wolverines had to face Collins Hill so early because I think if they were on the other side of the bracket they would’ve reached the final. UG had its chances in the quarters against Collins Hill and wrestled better than any of CH’s 4 opponents. Like I said earlier, it seems we have to strart ranking the other AAAAA teams based on how close they come to beating CH. The Grove came the closest.
— What happened in AAAA? Ringgold’s title is much-deserved, but Stockbridge? Tucker? Woodward Academy? What happened to these teams? AAAA was the biggest mystery all weekend and it begs the question: how good is this classification? Does parody mean quality? Could any of the top 4 or 5 in AAAA beat any of the top 4 teams in AAAAA? Could they come close?
— Best duals of the weekend:
Cass - Gilmer, AAA semis Collins Hill - Union Grove, AAAAA quarters Ringgold - Woodward Academy, AAAA quarters
See everyone in Gwinnett.
By Happy fan
January 20, 2008 11:13 AM | Link to this
Kurt,
Thanks for the great work you do!
By Mark
January 22, 2008 11:01 AM | Link to this
I found your comment interesting: AAAA was the biggest mystery all weekend and it begs the question: how good is this classification? Does parody mean quality? Could any of the top 4 or 5 in AAAA beat any of the top 4 teams in AAAAA? Could they come close? The answer is that they could not even come close. The real question should be: Could any of the top 4 or 5 in AAAA beat any of the top 4 teams in AAAAA? Could they come close?
By Mark
January 22, 2008 11:28 AM | Link to this
Excuse the fat finger. The real question should be: Could any of the top 4 or 5 in AAAA beat any of the top 4 teams in AAA? Could they come close?