Sorry for the late write up this week everyone, we had some technical issues over here at PonyBoy that prevented us from posting on time. Luckily that has all been sorted out There were some monster tournaments going on this past weekend, 11/16/2024. Last weekend was a weekend of scrambles, which is smart, football players are still chasing glory on the gridiron and weight decent plans are still putting teams in some weird situations. If last weekend was the weekend for scrambles this past weekend was a weekend for individual tournaments, and man were there some good ones going on throughout the peach state.
On the boys side of things the major tournaments were the Trojan invitational, the McIntosh Invitational, and the Raja Bryan Memorial. Its hard to say which one is more difficult cause these tournaments were absolutely loaded with talent. The girls showcased a few pretty stout tournaments this weekend as well with the Iron Maiden, the Women’s War Eagle Invitational, The Lady Spartans Round Robin, and the Red Elephant Girls Round Robin.
As usual, the hammers went out and did what hammers do. Buford and Social Circle are looking like Buford and Social Circle always do, the Jordan ladies came out and made a big statement, Jones County and Heard County look to be in fine form. We will also take a look at who is still in football season on the boys side and when we could potentially see some full lineups.
Buford came into the the Trojan Invitational as one of the favorites to win the tournament and for good reason, the Buford lineup is littered with state and nationally ranked kids and they are not done yet because they still don’t have their football kids (if they have any). Buford walked away with 6 champs, 1 runner up, and 1 third place finisher. Buford finished the day with 23 total pins and a first place trophy.
One team to keep an eye out going forward is going to be Valdosta, the boys from south Georgia finished 6th overall at the Trojan Invitational, scoring 116.5 total points as a team all while not having a full lineup only bringing 11 kids. These Wildcats finished up there with the big boys and in the midst of some of the top ranked teams in their classifications and overall in the state.
Trojan Invitational top 5 finishes.
- Buford 239.0
- Woodland Cartersville 215.0
- Jefferson 190.5
- Creekview 152.0
- Mill Creek 121.0
Social Circle was just as dominate as Buford was in their outing at the Raja Bryan Memorial tournament in Ola, in a tournament that is just as deep and competitive as the Trojan Invitational. They walked away from McDonough with 3 champs, 2 runner ups, 1 fifth place finisher, and 2 sixth place finishers. Social Circle scored 239.5 points which was good enough for the first place team trophy beating out some incredibly talented teams along the way.
An interesting side note is the appearance of Athens Chrisitan in this tournament and Ariah Mills going 3-0 on the day and absolutely destroying anyone who was brave enough to step out there with the Fargo All-American. What makes this so much more interesting is the recent ruling (or discovery of the ruling), allowing GISA 8th graders to wrestle in varsity level tournament but not GHSA 8th graders. Somehow that’s good for the sport and the athletes due to eligibility rules for out of state tournament? We haven’t done the proper research to have an opinion one way or the other but at quick glance it doesn’t make sense to me.
Raja Bryan Memorial top 5 finishes:
- Social Circle 239.5
- Ola 201.5
- Athens Christian 179.0
- Rockmart 166.0
- Tift County 133.5
The Jordan ladies won their home tournament in pretty dominant fashion this past weekend collecting 223.5 points. These ladies had 31 pins on the day, falling just short of Lumpkin in this category by 2 pins. The Jordan girls finished with 3 champs, 5 runner ups, 1 third place finisher, and 1 fourth place finisher. The Jordan ladies finished ahead of some pretty solid competition this weekend beating out several ranked opponents in Lumpkin, Greenbrier, and Carrolton.
It is worth noting that the Greenbrier ladies were deep as usual and as you could expect well coached. They are not the hammers that so many of the seniors were last year for this group but are smart and stay in good positions when they wrestle. They are definitely going to be a factor on the state championship stage when it is all said and done. Houston County continues to impress in different ways, they have an absolute bulldog in Williams at the 110 weight class and walked away from Jordan with 3 champs finishing 6th overall in the team standings. Below are the top 5 teams from the Iron Maiden.
Iron Maiden top 5 finishes:
- Jordan 223.5
- Lumpkin 189.0
- Phoenix City AL 140.5
- Greenbrier 129.0
- Tift County 111.0
The McIntosh Invitational was a much closer affair than some of the other aforementioned tournaments. There were 3-4 teams that were all in striking distance of the top dog when it was all said and done. Jones County ended up winning this tournament with 268 total team points. Jones had 4 champs, 2 runner ups, 1 third place finisher, and 2 fourth place finishers. Every one of the Jones County wrestlers that wrestled in a varsity bracket placed in the top 7. Which is nothing to sneeze at, I just feel bad for the kid who got 7th. I can imagine the bus ride back to the house there were lots of jokes flying around.
South Gwinnett burst onto the scene this past weekend finishing in third place overall as a team. If I’m being 100% honest, they were no where on our radar before this tournament. These boys finished up with 235 total team points and a slew of top 4 finishers. I can guarantee you this, they shouldn’t be sneaking up on anyone anymore, not if you’re paying attention.
MHS Invitaitional top 5 finishes:
- Jones County 268.0
- Heard County 253.0
- South Gwinnett 235.0
- Upson Lee 223.0
- McIntosh 219.5
Points of Interest:
- Columbus made its season debut this weekend finishing 2nd overall at the ALX duals, falling just short of host school Alexander
- Alexander made a statement winning their home tournament
- Brookwood continues to dominate winning the Red Elephant Duals in Gainsville
- The Gainsville ladies regaining their form and bouncing back after last weekend to take home gold at their home tournament.
- Veterans is no team to sleep on. Scoring 222 points in the Rumble in the Jungle at Lakeside High School.
Here is a list of some of the wrestling teams still seeking glory on the gridiron.
- Colquitt County
- West Forsyth
- Archer
- Buford
- Carrolton
- Hillgrove
- Coffee
- Woodward Academy
- Thomas County Central
- Lee County
- Eastside
- Perry
- Jones County
- Cambridge
- Central Carroll
- Ola
- Blessed Trinity
- Cartersville
- Ware County
- Jefferson
- Oconee County
- North Hall
- Upson Lee
- Rockmart
- Morgan County
- Ringgold
- Pierce County
- Jeff Davis
- Fitzgerald
- Dublin
- Commerce
- Heard County
- Elbert County
- Irwin County
- Trion
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