Pony Boy Wrestling

Judging by some of the social media conversations that we’ve had on our socials before the season began, many of you are in agreeance that 6A is one of, if not the most difficult classifications in the state. There are nationally ranked kids littered throughout the teams on this list. There is only one thing I am certain of going into this season, this classification is going to be a knock down drag out fight come January and February, and we are here for the show! Lets dive into these rankings really quick and see what we can come up with. 

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 6A. 

1. Camden County
2. Buford
3. Mill Creek 
4. Colquitt County 
5. Brookwood 
6. Archer
7. West Forsyth 
8. North Forsyth 
9. Carrolton
10. North Gwinnett 

     HM. Hillgrove

     HM. Richmond Hill

1. Camden County being the number 1 should be no surprise, they have won traditionals and team state for a decade now and are showing no signs of slowing down this year. These Camden boys are making a push to be not on the pound for pound teams in GA but are writing their names in the record books for another dynasty program. The Wildcats finished in a barn burner match in the state duals finals with Buford winning by a razor thin margin to be crowned team state champs. The individual state championship was not nearly as close, but for Camden standards it was closer than it normally is. Camden finished 30 points ahead of the second place team last year. They qualified all 14 weight classes and 9 of those qualifiers are returning. All 9 of them are state placers with 3 state champs, 3 runner ups, 2 third place finishes, and 1 fifth place finisher. The Camden County train is showing no signs of slowing down. 

2. Buford is one of the few teams in this class that has ever made Camden look vulnerable. As stated earlier, they lost an absolute heart breaker of a state finals in duals last year, losing on criteria after the final match, not many teams can make that claim from this state. Very similarly to Camden, they qualified all 14 weights and will also be returning 9 wrestlers for this upcoming season. Of those 9 returners 7 of them are returning state placers, 2 state champs, 2 runner ups, 1 their place finisher, and 2 fifth place finishers. I don’t know if Buford can finally get over the hump and beat Camden this year or not, but I know its going to be a wild ride come January. 

3. Mill Creek finished in 4th place last year in both the duals and the individual tournament in Macon. These boys have a ton of firepower in their lineup with several nationally ranked kids. They brought 7 kids to Macon last year and will be returning 5 of them. Luckily for Mill Creek that 4 out of the 5 of their returners are state placers with 3 state champs and 1 third place. If Mill Creek can shore up some of the weaknesses in their lineup, they can jump levels and might be able to take on one of the top 2 in these rankings. 

4. Colquitt County is another team from Region 1 that looks to be a force to be reckoned with this year. They didn’t qualify as a team to go to the state tournament but they came through in Macon last year on a mission and finished in 5th place overall for the 7A classification. They brought 9 kids to Macon and will be returning 7 of those kids this upcoming season, 4 of those returners are state placers. 1 State champ, 1 third place finisher, and 2 fifth place finisher. Colquitt County is well coaches and always ready come January and February. If they can stay healthy throughout the year, they are going to be a problem at the end of the season. 

5. Brookwood seems like they are one of those teams that is always quality. I am not sure where their feeder program comes from but these Broncos are always ready to go. Last season Brookwood fell to Hillgrove in the first round of the state tournament, but then rattled off 3 straight wins before the eventually fell to West Forsyth in the conso semis. For the individual tournament in Macon Brookwood finished in 7th place as a team. The Broncos qualified 5 for the state tournament and will be returning 4, all 4 of their returners are state placers. The Broncos will be bringing back 1 3rd place finisher, 2 4th place finishers, and 1 fifth place finisher. Brookwood is going to be carried by their horses, hopefully they are able to bring along some of their underclassmen to help carry the load. 

6. Archer used to be Camden, when Camden was just starting their run of dominance about 10 years ago. They used to be an absolute unit of a team, and while they might not be as dominant as they were a few years ago, they are not a team you want to overlook. They went 2-2 in the state duals tournament last year beating Norcross and Richmond Hill, and lost to Brookwood and Mill Creek, both of them were very close duals. In Macon last year, Archer brought 8 to the state tournament last year and will be returning 5 of those wrestlers for this upcoming season. Of those 5, 2 are returning state placers, one 3rd place and one 5th place finisher. Archer may not be ready to upset one of the top 2 on this list, but they are certainly moving in the right direction. 

7. West Forsyth, had an incredible year last year finishing 3rd in the 7A team state duals tournament, their only loss coming in the semifinals to Buford. They also finished 3rd in the individual state tournament last year. Typically they would be much higher on our list, but these boys are losing a ton to graduation. Last year West Forsyth qualified 9 for the state tournament but will only be returning 3 this upcoming year. One of them is a returning state placer. This team was very difficult to predict what’s going to happen this year, they could come back and be another force or come back and struggle. Its all going to depend on their unknowns and how they can develop. 

8. North Forsyth is one of the few teams who stayed up in the 6A class when everyone else dropped down. The Raiders are well coached and balanced team and have been for several years now. North Forsyth finished last years dual season falling just short of top 4, losing to Creekview 33-30 in the consolation semis. In Macon  North Forsyth finished in 5th place overall with 96 points. Qualifying 6 for the state tournament. Unfortunately, the Raiders will only be returning 2. On the bright side both returners are state placers with 1 being a 3rd place finisher and the other a 5th place finisher. As with the majority of the teams on the back half of this list, these boys are just loaded with question marks. 

9. Carrollton is coming in at the number 6 spot for these rankings for several reasons. They are a very talented team with a lot of firepower everywhere. Last year they went 2-2 at the 7A state tournament losing to Mill Creek and Hillgrove and beating North Gwinnett and Norcross. In Macon Carrollton qualified 8 for the individual state tournament and will be returning 5. Two of those 5 are state placers with one 3rd place and one 4th place finisher. When we were originally talking about these rankings Carrollton was much higher up in the standings, unfortunately their two time defending state champion moved to Florida. That is a huge blow for this team, its very hard to replace a kid of that caliber without taking a hit. 

10. North Gwinnett rounds out our top 10 for the 6A classification. The Bulldogs went 1-2 in the state duals tournament last season falling to Mill Creek and Hillgrove. They also brought 7 to Macon last year and will be returning 5 of those wrestlers this year. 2 of them are state placers, both finishing in 4th last year. These Bulldogs have some firepower and the ability to climb up the rankings. Me personally, I would not sleep on North Gwinnett this year. 

HM. Hillgrove was a very difficult team to place this season. They had a great run at the duals tournament in January finishing essentially in the top 6, losing to Mill Creek in the conso semis in a fairly close dual. But they fell a  little short in Macon last year finishing in 15th place overall for the 7A classification. They qualified 5 for Macon last year and will be returning 4 of those wrestlers. One being a state placer. You cant have the run they had at the state duals tournament without being a solid team top to bottom, they are obviously a very good duals team.

HM. Richmond Hill is the last team to round out the 6A top 10 in the final Honorable Mention spot. Richmond Hill went 1-2 in the team duals tournament last year but finished 14th in the individual state tournament. They qualified 7 and will be returning 5 this year and 2 of those returners are state placers. Both finishing out in 5th place last year. Very similar to Hillgrove they are obviously a good duals team to beat who they were able to last year. Hopefully they can climb these rankings as the season goes forward.