Five-time defending Duals State Champion and three-time defending Class AAAAAAA champion Camden County headlines the field in the state’s highest classification this weekend. The Wildcats were unstoppable during their run to last year’s crown and their 60-6 win over Mountain View in the finals gave them a 238-31 advantage in points over the course of the four rounds of dominant victories. Mountain View faces Cherokee in this year’s first-round and a victory would result in a finals rematch with Camden County in the second round, depending on whether or not the champs get past Parkview in their opener. Brookwood, which finished fourth behind Collins Hill at last year’s tournament scored a 69-12 win over Parkview to earn the Region 7-AAAAAAA Championship this past weekend.
The Valdosta wrestling program won its first-ever state title last year at the duals and then completed the sweep with a traditional title. The Wildcats’ historic pair of wins in Class AAAAAA was the most recent case of an ongoing trend in a classification that has seen four-different programs win duals state titles over the last four seasons. The overall competitiveness of Class AAAAAA is expected once again—as Coffee already proved this past weekend with a victory over the Wildcats in the Region 1-AAAAAA Tournament.
Woodland-Cartersville returns as the defending Class AAAAA champion. The Wildcats defeated Carrollton this past weekend in the Region 7-AAAAA tournament and will take on Miller Grove in the opening round. Last year’s runner-up Buford captured the Region 8-AAAAA title this past weekend. Additionally, Ola and Veterans each won their respective regions after top four finishes a year ago at state. In last year’s championship bracket, Veterans edged Ola 32-31 in the second-round and dropped into the loser’s bracket. After Veterans’ loss to Woodland sent the Warhawks into the loser’s bracket, they met Ola for a rematch in the third-place match and fell 39-30.
Class AAAA was highly competitive last year with down-to-the-wire finishes unfolding throughout the action. Gilmer needed a 32-28 win over Central-Carroll to advance to the finals where they were topped by Woodward Academy 37-33. West Laurens edged Blessed Trinity 42-40 before falling to Woodward Academy in the semis. Once in the loser’s bracket, Central-Carroll scored a 38-33 win over Blessed Trinity and then clinched a third-place finish with a 37-35 thriller over West Laurens. Not only will all these programs be back this year, but Perry is bringing in a lot of momentum after topping West Laurens in the Region 2-AAAA tournament for its first region crown since 1989.
Reigning Class AAA champion Jefferson has won 18-straight Duals State Championships entering this weekend, which is the highest possible total that a program could have won since the introduction of the Duals State Championships 2002. North Hall nearly snapped this historic streak last year, but was topped 30-29 in the finals. Jefferson, North Hall, Jackson County and Sonoraville will have first round byes this weekend as Class AAA’s top 4 seeds.
Social Circle will be going for a sixth-straight Class AA Duals State Championship this weekend. The Redskins scored a 33-24 win over Elbert County this past weekend in the Area 6-AAAA championship to earn the No. 1 overall seed. The win over Elbert County was a rematch of Social Circle’s 42-26 championship-clinching victory at last year’s state duals. Elbert County enters this year’s tournament as the No. 3 seed and Chattooga will be the No. 2 overall seed after failing to qualify for state this past year. Chattooga earned its No. 2 seed with a top finish out of Area 5-AA that included major victories over Coosa (72-6), Rockmart (60-9) and No. 5 seed Dade County (58-15). The top seed in Class A is held by six-time defending Duals State Champion Commerce. The Tigers overwhelmed the competition during last year’s championship run—defeating Mt. Zion (72-6), Turner County (65-12) and Trion (56-15) in the finals.
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