The Frank E. Rader Southeast Regional wrestling tournament took place this past weekend and as always attracted some of the best wrestlers from not only the southeast region of the United States but wrestlers from all over came to take part in this event. 17 states were represented in this event, even states as far away as Ohio, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania. This was the last Fargo qualifier with the top 6 wrestlers qualifying. Since this is a Georgia Wrestling site we will only be discussing and recapping our home grown Ga wrestlers who finished in the top 6 in their weight classes.
You can find a quick recap of the Junior Girls weight class below. If there is no recap for a weight class it is because no Ga wrestler placed in that weight.
Junior Girls FS 100 lb weight class: This weight class was a 4 man round robin bracket with 1 Ga wrestler.
Manoela Almeida finished in 3rd place. She finished with a 1-2 record, all three of her opponents were from Tennessee.
Junior Girls FS 105 lb weight class: This weight class was an 8 woman double elimination bracket with 1 Ga wrestler competing.
Olivia Weiland handled business in the quarters, then had a tough match in the semis but just got overwhelmed in the finals by the number 2 seed from FL.
Junior Girls FS 110 lb weight class: This weight class was a 4 woman round robin bracket with 2 Ga wrestlers competing.
Jaleesa Whaley finished the day in 2nd place going 2-1 on the day. Whaley lost her first match to eventual champion Goodwin from VA, then rattled off two straight wins.
Maci Higgins finished the day in 4th place for this weight class.
Junior Girls FS 115 lb weight class: This weight class was a 16 woman double elimination bracket with 2 Ga wrestlers competing.
Delialah Betances was the number 1 seed going into the tournament and for good reason. She was a defending Ga state champ 2 years ago and then moved to Florida where she fell in the finals this past year of the FL state championship. If you don’t know Betances she is an absolute monster. She finished her day 4-0 without any real challenges which was shocking after seeing who she had in the finals.
Artemis Eaton was the number 2 seed going into this tournament. Eaton is a 2 time GA state champ. She walked through the competition until she saw Betances in the finals. I’ve never seen anyone really challenge Eaton and thought this would be a much closer match than it was. Easton finished her day 3-1 which was good enough for 2nd place.
Junior Girls FS 120 lb weight class: This weight class was a 16 woman double elimination bracket with 4 Ga wrestlers competing.
Evey Hill, the Troup wrestling product, finished her day in 2nd place with a 3-1 record. She started off strong making quick work of her first three opponents but was overwhelmed when she met Grassman from TN in the finals.
Alana Garner finished her day in 4th place with a 2-2 record over all. She fell to the number 1 seed in the second round and then worked her way back through the consolation bracket.
Isabella Mingeldorff Finished with a 2-2 record falling ro Garner in the consolation semis but rebounding after that loss and finding a way to win the 5th place bout.
Junior Girls FS 125 lb weight class: This weight class was a 16 man double elimination bracket with 2 Ga wrestlers competing.
This bracket was confusing to me because Vera Spencer came in as an unseeded wrestler. If you know and understand who this girl is you should know and understand that she is an absolute monster on the mat. Spencer finished the day in 3rd place overall, falling to eventual champion Holmes Smith in the second round. Spencer was dominating that match on the feet but Holmes Smith caught her in the par terre position and took advantage. Spencer rebounded and never lost again, going 4-1 on the day.
Ivy Anderson is no slouch herself on the wrestling mat. Anderson finished the day in 5th place going 3-1 on the day with a bye in the first round. Losing in the semi finals, she dropped another one in the conso semis before she woke up again and finished the day on a high note in the 5th place match.
Junior Girls FS 135 lb weight class: This weight class was 16 woman double elimination bracket with 3 Ga wrestlers competing.
Kori Campbell, the Valdosta High state runner up, finished the day with a 3-0 record and a gold medal. She absolutely dominated the field which included a defending Ga folkstyle state champ.
Samantha Patton has yet to solve the Campbell puzzle as she finished her day with a 2-1 record overall and a silver medal. Losing to Campbell in the finals 14-2.
Milly Hughes finished her day in 4th place overall for this bracket. She finished her day with a 3-2 record.
Junior Girls FS 140 lb weight class: This weight class was a 4 woman round robin bracket with 2 Ga wrestlers competing.
Elle Kaufmann finished her day with a 2-1 record which was good enough for 2nd place over all. The Lovett product is a defending folkstyle state champ but was overwhelmed by Djounessi from LA.
Abigail Plemmons finished the day with a 1-2 record which was good enough for 3rd place.
Junior Girls FS 145 lb weight class: This weight class was an 8 woman double elimination bracket with 3 Ga wrestlers competing.
Greta Garbuzovas finished her way with 3 tech falls and a gold medal as she cruised through the championship bracket. She was an absolute monster this past weekend.
Keira Gilkes finished in 4th place overall losing to Garbuzovas in the semis. Gilkes took care of business in the conso semis only to come up just short in the conso finals.
Junior Girls FS 155 lb weight class: This weight class was a 16 man double elimination bracket with 1 Ga wrestler.
Madison Cooley was the number 2 seed going into the tournament this weekend and ended up finishing in 6th place overall. Cooley finished with a 2-3 record on the day and didnt seem to rally recover well after her loss in the semi finals to Vanoy from TN.
Junior Girls FS 190 lb weight class: Abigail Andersen was the only wrestler to register for this weight class
Junior Girls FS 235 lb weight class: This weight class was a 3 woman round robin bracket with 2 Ga wrestlers competing.
Shaylee Banchard finished her day 2-0 on her way to the winners circle. Banchard pinned both of her opponents.
Brooke Kennedy finished the day in 3rd place overall.
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