While we know that the girls team race is going to be in a different format with their being a small school and large school divisions this year, the individual race will remain the same with all teams being in one big classification. Between the small school and big school shakeups, some state champs graduating and one very interesting move in from Florida, both the girls team duals and individual state championships should offer plenty of drama throughout the season.
Since the girls sport is still in its growing era it tends to be more volatile than the boys side. Without knowing who backups could be or how feeder programs are doing. It can be difficult to maintain dominance year after year. However, a little variety never hurt anyone. It wouldn’t surprise us here at PonyBoy to see a new champ crowned in the girls divisions. Only one thing is for certain, Carrollton is the team to beat and there are several teams on this list looking to dethrone the champs. The girls brackets in January and February will be anything but demure and mindful!
Here are the preseason rankings for the upcoming 2024 – 2025 wrestling season. We took four key factors into consideration when making these rankings.
- Number of 2023 – 2024 state qualifiers, number of those qualifiers who are returning for 2024 – 2025
- Quality of returners (because returning 4 state champs is a lot different than returning 4 state qualifiers who went 0-2)
- How that team finished in state duals
- 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 the Girls Classification.
- Carrollton
- Jordan
- Lumpkin
- Woodward Ac
- Greenbrier
- Gainsville
- Gilmer
- Osborne
- North Oconee
- Chestatee
HM. Tift County
HM. Richmond Hill
1. Carrollton had a dream season last year winning both the team duals at West Ga University and the individual title in Macon. They won both of those tournaments in pretty dominating fashion and dont seem to be slowing down this year either. Carrollton beat Meadowcreek, Gainesville, Gilmer, and Greenbrier on their way to a duals state title last year. None of the duals were that close with Carrollton winning by an average of 25 points. For the individual tournament Carrollton qualified 6 and will be returning 5 of those wrestlers. All 5 are state placers with 1 runner up, 2 third place, 1 fourth, and a fifth place wrestler. Carrollton back half looks to be extremely potent this year with state placers everywhere. Someone needs to be firing on all cylinders if they are going to dethrone the champs.
2. Jordan is a team that has been top to bottom athletes for a few years now. They are aggressive and wrestle with a certain confidence and flair. They like to dominate their opponents and often win by pin. Jordan lost to eventual 3rd place finisher Gainsville in the conso semis of the team duals tournament last year 39-38. It makes it even more wild to know that Jordan lost a team point in that dual, which played a huge role in the outcome. Moving on to the individual tournament, Jordan qualified 4 for Macon and all 4 will be returning this year. They also finished 4th in team points on the individual side of things. All 4 of Jordans returners are state placers with 3 fourth place finishers and 1 fifth place finisher. I am sure this year that Jordan is looking to take over as the dominant team in the state.
3. Lumpkin comes in at the number 3 team for our preseason rankings and for good reason. Just like Jordan they finishes their state duals tournament in the consolation semis losing to Gilmer in a one point dual with the deciding factor being a team point being taken away for unsportsmanlike conduct. That’s a heartbreaking way to lose a dual in a very high emotion environment. In Macon last year Lumpkin finished in 3rd place with 68 points. They qualified 4 girls and 3 will be returning, with 2 of the 3 returners being state placers. One defending state champ and one third place finisher. Just like their boys team, these girls are well coached and flat out get after it on the mat. Depending on how their season comes together they could be looking to upset one of the top 2 teams above them when its all said and done.
4. Woodward Academy did not have the success at the duals tournament last year like I am sure they were hoping for, but they more than made up for it in the individual side of things. In the state duals tournament, Woodward went 1-2 last year beating Campbell but losing to Gilmer and Chestatee. The individual tournament was a different story, Woodward finished in 2nd overall with 73 total points. They qualified six and will be returning 4 of those wrestlers with one wrestler being a state placer. It is worth noting that each returner won at least 1 match in Macon last year. I am sure these ladies gained some valuable experience and are looking forward to showcasing their skills this upcoming season.
5. Greenbrier rounds out the top 5 of these preseason rankings. They had an amazing run at team state last year running through absolutely everyone until they got to the finals. They beat Putnam, Lumpkin, and Jordan before falling to Carrollton in the finals. In Macon they finished 5th overall as a team. They qualified 6 for the individual tournament but only 1 will be returning. Unfortunately, the one returner went 0-2 in Macon last year. On the bright side, you don’t do as well as these girls did in team duals without your entire team being quality wrestlers from top to bottom. They might have lost a lot of firepower but they do have the reigning girls coach of the year in their corner and there is no doubt in my mind that Greenbrier girls wrestling will be hunting state championship rings this year once again.
6. Gainsville is another team that is similar to Greenbrier in the fact that they had a great run at team duals last year finishing 3rd overall going 5-1, putting together a 4 dual win streak on their way to third. They finished 6th overall as a team in the individual tournament in Macon qualifying three and finishing with 40 total team points. All three of Gainsvilles state qualifiers graduated last year, but just like Greenbrier, you have to have a complete team in order to finish as high as they did last year in team duals. These girls might not have the experience of wrestling in Macon but they know what its like to wrestle in big matches and win. They are definitely a team to watch out for this year.
7. Gilmer comes in on the number 7 spot for our preseason rankings. They had a very solid year last year finishing in 4th in team duals and 9th in the individual tournament. The Lady Bobcats went 3-2 last year in duals beating Northside Warner Robbins, Woodward Academy, and Lumpkin, while falling to Carrollton and Gainsville. In Macon, Gilmer qualified five and three of those 5 will be returning. While none of the three returners walked away with medals last year they gained some valuable experience to bring back to their practice room.
8. Osborne is a difficult team to figure out and place within these rankings. They had a decent run at state duals last season going 2-2 beating Chestatee and Campbell while losing to Jordan and Lumpkin. They also finished 12th in Macon last season with 33 points. Osborne qualified 2 girls to compete in Macon and 1 of them will be returning as a state placer finishing in 3rd overall in her weight class.
9. North Oconee comes in at number 9 in our preseason rankings. They did not qualify for state duals but bring some serious firepower on the individual side of the things. North Oconee finished in Macon with 39.5 points. They qualified 2 wrestlers and will be returning both. The two returners for North Oconee are absolute monsters on the mat. One of them makes a strong case for one of the pound for pound best female wrestlers in the state and the other is no slouch. These girls can flat out get after it. North Oconee might not have a top to bottom lineup like some of these other teams, but the girls they do put on the mat can wrestle with anyone in the south.
10. Finishing out the top 10 for these preseason rankings is Chestatee. Chestatee went 2-2 in team state last year losing to Osborne and Gainsville but beating Woodward and Shiloh. While these girls had a pretty solid run in the team race they fell flat in Macon finishing in 25th place with 25 total points. They qualified 3 for the individual tournament and will be returning all 3 this upcoming season with one of those returners being a state runner up. These girls are well coached and gained some valuable experience in Macon last year. Hopefully they can solve some of their lineup issues and can climb these rankings quickly this year.
HM. Tift County is one of two teams in these rankings that did not qualify for the team state duals this past year. They might not have had enough girls to compete in the team race or just flat out got beat in the qualifiers, we could not find any information on their team region run. Either way they did enough on the individual side of the state tournament to come in as the first honorable mention for our preseason rankings. The Lady Devils qualified 4 for Macon this past February and all four will be returning. Three of those four are state placers with all 3 finishing in 5th place. If Tift County can figure out the team race, they have enough firepower to play the spoiler for some of these top ranked teams come the end of the season.
HM. Our final honorable mention spot was a tough decision between Richmond Hill and Houston County. Both teams had similar runs in the team state duals tournament going 1 – 2 at team state. Richmond Hill qualified 1 girl for Macon while Houston County qualified 2, and each will be returning a state placer for this upcoming season. Ultimately we decided that Richmond Hill gets to nod because their state placer finished in 2nd place in Macon and Houstons state placers finished in 5th. Either way both of these teams have something to prove this upcoming season and should not be overlooked when they walk into the gym.
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