Archer won the Sham Slam, one of the bigger meets of the wrestling season, Saturday at Habersham Central. The meet featured all six duals state champions and nearly all of the top programs in the state.
The Tigers, the Class AAAAAA duals champions, had four overall champions and five runners-up from 12 wrestlers. Archer’s total of 307 points dwarfed second-place Jefferson’s 197 points. Commerce came in third overall, Collins Hill fourth and Gilmer fifth. AAA duals champions Buford came in seventh behind Chattahoochee. Collins Hill had three individual champs, and Buford had two. They were the only programs other than Archer to have more than one weight-class champion.
One of the surprises of the meet was Cambridge’s Kryshna Tanksley, who finished second in the heavyweight division. Tanksley, a last-minute replacement for Cambridge and seeded seventh, made it to the finals before losing to Archer’s M.J. Couzan.
More wrestling: Pope won its seventh consecutive Cobb County championship by beating 18 other county teams, including private schools North Cobb Christian and Whitefield Academy. Jake Henson was the hero for Pope by clinching the match with a 4-0 victory against Allatoona's Will Kemp in the 160-pound weight class. Henson also became Pope's first four-time county champion.
Marietta came in third place with three county champions. Kennesaw Mountain’s Justan Rivera won his third consecutive county title in the 182-pound weight class, and Pope’s Dave Burson became a three-time county champion in the 170-pound class.
At the Prep Slam at Holy Innocents’, Greater Atlanta Christian finished the highest (sixth) of any Georgia school in attendance. Seventeen in-state schools wrestled, all of them private schools mostly located in metro Atlanta, while a total of 35 schools competed. Marist came in 10th, and Lovett finished 12th, followed by Woodward Academy, Darlington and Holy Innocents’.
At 195 pounds, Rod Davis of Holy Innocents’ won the weight class, and Marist’s Kenneth Brinson won at 220 pounds. Those were the two champions from Georgia schools.
Swimming: The St. Pius boys won the Riverwood Invitational on Saturday at Emory, swimming away from runner-up Centennial by 79 points. Marietta, Etowah and Northview rounded out the top five, all amassing more than 200 points. St. Pius had a winning score of 320. The Golden Lions got a victory from Zach Halbig in the 50-yard freestyle, and Halbig teamed with Josh Chatfield, John Flynn and Connor O'Toole to win the 200-medley relay. Grant Summers won the 1-meter diving competition for St. Pius. In the girls meet, Riverwood edged second-place St. Pius 299.5-283. The top five teams finished with more than 200 points. The Northview girls came in third, just ahead of Milton and Pope. Interestingly, the first three individual girls races were won by freshmen. Kaylin Berinhout won for Centennial in the 200 freestyle. Michelle Cho won for Northview in the 200 individual medley, and Melissa Brown of Grady won the 50 freestyle. … Greater Atlanta Christian and Wesleyan met in a dual meet Friday, splitting the boys and girls competitions. The GAC boys edged Wesleyan 152-146, behind Landon Keller's victory in the 100 breaststroke. Keller also won the 200 individual medley and was on a pair of victorious relay teams — the 200 medley and 200 freestyle. The Spartans got other individual triumphs from Hunter Dye (200 and 500 freestyle), Jake Jacobi (50 freestyle), Austin Hall (100 butterfly) and Marshall Gray (100 freestyle). Wesleyan's girls made their battle against GAC far less interesting. They won every event — including freshman Abby Gardner in 1-meter diving — to win 207-74. Caroline White (50 and 100 freestyle) and Ellie Bradach (200 and 500 freestyle) won two individual races for the Wolves. … The 44th Annual Metro Atlanta Swimming and Diving Championships will be held Friday and Saturday at Westminster.
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