Pony Boy Wrestling

This is another classification that is also top heavy, although not quite as much as 2A. I would honestly say this classification is a 2 – 3 team race at the top, with numbers 4-8 on this list being able to change from week to week. With Jefferson coming down to 3A from 5A last year to join the reigning champs in Lumpkin, you can almost guarantee that sparks are going to fly in January and February this year. Below you will find the 3A rankings with a couple honorable mentions just for fun. 

Here are the preseason rankings for the upcoming 2024 – 2025 wrestling season. We took four key factors into consideration when making these rankings. 

1. Number of 2023-2024 state qualifiers, number of those qualifiers who are returning for 2024-2025
2. Quality of returners (because returning 4 state champs is a lot different than returning 4 state qualifiers who went 0-2)
3. How that team finished in state duals
4. How that team finished in the traditional state tournament. 

By putting those factors together we tried to come up with the best guess we could for how a team might be in the upcoming season. So here are our preseason rankings for the 2024-2025 season for 3A. 

1. Lumpkin 
2. Jefferson 
3. North Hall 
4. Upson Lee 
5. Chestatee 
6. Northwest Whitfield 
7. Cavalry Day School 
8. Troup 
9. West Laurens 
10. Adairsville 

     HM. Whitewater 

     HM. Gilmer

1. Lumpkin might not have the name recognition as some of the other teams on this list but this coaching staff clearly knows what its doing. Since 2019 when the new regime took control of the program they have slowly built a top tier team, with it culminating last year in a duals state title. These Indians finished 2nd behind Columbus in Macon last season on the backs of 10 state qualifiers, 5 of whom are returning. Of those 5 returners, 4 are state placers with 1 of those being a state champion. The only wrestler who did not end up placing lost in the blood rounds. While the Indians do not have the most returners of anyone in this classification, I believe that a champ should remain on top until proven otherwise. 

2. Jefferson might be, and probably is, the most storied program in the state. Anyone familiar with wrestling knows their past and how many state championships they have won and them dropping not only 1 but 2 classifications should make for a very interesting mix this season. By Jefferson standards they had a down year last year finishing 4th in team duals and 2nd at traditionals. On the bright side the Dragons qualified 9 for Macon last year and 7 of them are returning. From those 7 returners 2 are defending state champions (with Dallas Russel making a compelling argument to be the pound for pound best in the state), 2 runner-ups, and 1 third place finisher. If history has taught us anything, the Jefferson Dragons will always be in the mix come the end of the year. 

3. North Hall finished 2nd in both team duals and traditionals last season on the backs of 6 state qualifiers. The Trojans gave Central Carroll quite a run in the team state finals coming up just short. They also finished behind Central Carroll again at traditionals, except this time with a much wider margin of defeat. From the 6 qualifiers from last year, 3 of them will be returning. All 3 returners are state placers, if the Trojans can fill the holes left by their departing seniors they could find themselves right in the middle of the action with the top talent in 3A. 

4. Upson Lee is sitting in the 4 spot in our rankings narrowly edging out our number 5 team. Last year, Upson Lee went 3-2 at team duals losing in the conso semis to Franklin County. They also finished up in the 8 spot in Macon this past February, the Knights had 7 state qualifiers with 5 of the 7 returning for this upcoming season. 3 of the 5 returners are state placers, each of them hungry to prove more in 2025. While I can see this team being a solid team with quality kids, I don’t know if this is the year they can take down one of the top 3 in this class. 

5. Chestatee is a team I can see climbing up the rankings this season if they are able to answer a few questions. The War Eagles finished 4th at team duals last year losing a heart breaker to Lovett by 2 points. Chestatee was up by 4 points going into the last match at 106, and the young War Eagle got pinned. This group also had a good showing in Macon this past year finishing 5th overall for the 4A classification. One big concern for this group has to be the number of seniors in their starting lineup they will be losing to graduation. Out of the 7 state qualifiers, the War Eagles will only have 3 returners. Luckily 2 of those 3 returners are state placers. This group can make some noise, but like so many in this class, there are a lot of questions that need to be answered. 

6. Northwest Whitfield at team duals last year ended up losing in the consolation semis by 3 points to Chestatee. They were tied going into the last match and the Bruins ended up losing the match in the second overtime. While these Bruins had a good showing at team duals, they came up a little flat in Macon finishing 16th. On the bright side, they had 7 state qualifiers go to Macon and will be losing only 2 to graduation. Of the 5 returners 2 of them finished 5th and 2 more lost in the blood rounds, narrowly missing out on a state placement. Northwest Whitfield has a lot of potential to make some noise and climb these rankings, but they have some work to do before that can happen. 

7. The number 7 team on our list is Cavalry Day. At team duals they went 2-2 beating Harlem and Pike Co, and losing to eventual runner up Columbus and Upson Lee. They also had a good showing in Macon last year, finishing 7th overall on the backs of 6 state qualifiers. The Cavaliers will be returning 4 of those 6 qualifiers, 3 of whom are state placers. It is worth noting that of the 4 returners, 3 of them were freshmen last season. It appears that Cavalry Day is in the process of building a team to be reckoned with in the coming years. It should be interesting to see how these Cavaliers do this season. 

8. Troup comes in at number 8 in our rankings. I am sure some people will disagree with the Tigers being so low and I can certainly understand that argument. The finished 3 in the 4A classification last season, qualifying 8 wrestlers and will be returning 5 of those wrestlers for this upcoming season. Here is where they start to fall down the list, from those 5 returners they have 2 state placers in the room, one 3rd place finish and one 4th place finish. The other 3 tigers who will be returning failed to place. At team duals last year, Troup went 1-2, eventually being put out by West Laurens on criteria. These Troup Tigers are young and exciting to watch, being fed by an outstanding youth program, I believe the Troup Tigers are only a year or two away from being a force within this classification. 

9. The West Laurens Raiders come in at number 9 on this pre-season list. They went 2-2 in team duals last year, and finished 13th overall in Macon. Although West Laurens beat Troup heads up last year, they won on criteria and also have less state qualifiers and state placers returning for this upcoming season. The Raiders qualified 5 for traditional state and will be returning 3. On the bright side, the state placer they have returning is a defending state champion. Traditionally these Raiders are a well coached organized group and this year should be no different. If they can fill in some holes in the middle of their lineup they will climb this list quickly. 

10. Adairsville takes the 10th and final spot in these pre-season rankings; they finished 6th overall in Macon last season on the backs of 8 state qualifiers. They will be returning 4 of those state qualifiers, with one of those qualifiers being a defending state champion. The Tigers had a little bit of a letdown at team duals last season going 1-2, losing to Franklin Co and Upson Lee. The Adairsville Tigers could make some noise this season and climb up the rankings but I think they are still a year or two away from being a legit contender in this classification. 

HM. Whitewater is our first honorable mention for the 3A classification. This group went 1-2 last season in team duals and finished 14th overall at the traditional state tournament last year. They had 5 state qualifiers and will only be returning 1 of those 5 this year. This group has potential but its a long road ahead to be elite in this class. 

HM. Gilmer rounds out our second honorable mention for this class. The Bobcats finished 19th overall in Macon and went 0-2 in team duals. Quite the fall from the previous season where they went 2nd at team state and won a state title at traditionals. Gilmer had 5 state qualifiers last year and 2 of those 5 will be returning, neither of them are state placers. The Gilmer Bobcats have a certain standard that needs to be met for their wrestling program, I for one hope they get back to their championship caliber soon.