16U started their first freestyle day in Pool B which was a 9 team tournament in a 16 man double elimination style bracket. Since this was day 1 of a 2 day tournament no teams would be eliminated. How you finish in this bracket would determine which pool you are placed in for the next days placement rounds.
Team GA began their day against Maryland in the quarter finals of the freestyle tournament. Team GA was ready and eager to begin the freetyle portion of the tournament and it showed up against Maryland. Team GA went on an absolute monster of a run winning 9 of the first 11 matches and finishing up with 11 out of 17 matches total. Being able to open up on our feet in freestyle absolutely helped GA expose some of Marylands weaknesses.
Next up in the semi finals Team GA took on Minnesota Blue. This dual was a tale of two halves, where GA absolutely dominated the bookends of the dual, Minnesota was in complete control in the middle of the lineup. Being down 32-36 going into the final match Mihai Necula stepped onto the mat needing a tech fall, without giving up a single point, in order to put GA in a position to tie and win on criteria. Necula was more than up for the challenge securing a takedown and 4 leglace turns for a 10-0 tech fall in the first period. Team GA won on criteria since they had won more overall matches than Minnesota Blue.
In the finals Team Ga would take on Iowa. Starting at the 165 lb weight class, it went back and forth between Georgia and Iowa each winning 4 matches up to the 106 lb weight class. Then the wheels came off for Georgia where Iowa was able to string together 8 matches in a row to finish the dual in commanding fashion with a 54-25 victory of Team GA.
Since Minnesota Blue wrestled back through the consolation bracket and finished 3rd, there would be no dual for the true second since we had already defeated them in the semifinals. Since GA finished in 2nd place in Pool B we would then be moved over to the Gold/Silver pool for the placement matches the next day. The Gold/Silver pool is an 8 team pool that was divided into 2 pools of 4. GA was placed in Pool A and will take on California, Illinois, and Indiana. They will finish the tournament in one final crossover match against their counterpoint from the other group of 4 in the Gold/Silver pool to find their overall place in the tournament.
Team GA finished the day with the first round match in the Gold/Silver pool against Indiana. In the end Indiana was simply a better team than Georgia, winning 49-27. Ariah Mills and Cody Clarke continued to impress picking up a pin and a tech fall respectively but after a long day of wrestling and trying to rebound after the thrashing that Iowa just delivered to us, taking on Indiana was a tough ask for these Ga boys.
In day 2 Team GA will take on California, Illinois, and an opponent yet to be determined in the crossover match. Hopefully Team GA can get some good rest and come back ready to wrestle well. Traditionally California and Illinois are two juggernaut states for wrestling and will not be an easy task but this GA team is well coached and is very capable of not only competing but beating some of the best teams in the country.
Cadet Freestyle Team Ga Day 1 Hammer: Ronan An went 4-0 on the day with 2 tech falls and 2 decisions.
Honorable Mentions: Ariah Mills and Cody Clarke also went undefeated for the day.
A link to the brackets can be found here
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