It’s been six years since Stateboro’s Kasey Baynon became the first girl to place in the GHSA traditional wrestling state championship in 2018 and that milestone helped pave the way for another with the introduction of last year’s girls bracket to the GHSA Team Duals State Championship.
“I looked up to one of the girls that trained me in my first-year wrestling. She was really the reason I got here and I got good. I trained with Emily Pinson for an entire season, and it really helped during freestyle and it carried over into this and I looked up to her,” Baynon said six years ago, before uttering a statement which would become prophetic.
“I imagine girls look up to me too,” she said. “And if they keep pushing, they’ll have a girls division next year.”
The girls team duals championship will take place Friday and Saturday at the University of West Georgia. On Friday, the teams will wrestle though the Round of 16, the quarterfinals and the first round of the winner’s bracket. Saturday’s action will begin at 9 a.m. with the second round of the winner’s bracket and follow through to the state championship bout.
In the inaugural girls team duals bracket last year, Carrollton won the championship, finishing ahead of Jordan, Greenbrier and Gilmer. The defending-champions enter the girls tournament alongside a talented field trying for program firsts.
The Trojans will take on Meadowcreek to open the double-elimination bracket. Jordan, last year’s runner-up, will face Shiloh in the opening round. Last year’s third-place finisher, Greenbrier, also returns and will meet Putnam County in the opening round. Gilmer placed fourth in the inaugural tournament last season and will open with at match against Northside-Warner Robins.
You can see the full results and brackets by following the link to TrackWrestling.
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