Pony Boy Wrestling

Thanksgiving is a wild time of year for wrestling. Anyone who has been in the game long enough knows how crazy this past week can get. There is always a ton of great wrestling, football is still going on so teams are not quite full strength yet, and there is at minimum one kid on every team who will walk into the wrestling room the day after thanksgiving and be a minimum of two weight classes heavier than when they left. I personally know several coaches who are ready to pull their hair out every year during this time, but as a spectator and casual observer it is hilarious and I am here for the mayhem. 

This past thanksgiving break was chock full of wrestling. Some teams are starting to make a name for themselves and surprise some folks, others are trucking right along as some of the best in the state, casually dominating whoever is brave enough to to the line with them. Since there was so much wrestling this past week and there is no way we could go over everything, we are going to bounce around from boys varsity, girls varsity, talk about a few individual kids and their accomplishments, and finish up with some youth wrestling. Just like your thanksgiving plates, we are going to get a little bit of everything on this recap.

High School Boys Varsity

The Sequoyah Invitational kicked off the thanksgiving wrestling week and from an outsiders perspective, it seemed like Harrison and Pope walked away with it with Pope finishing in second with 195.5 total team points, almost 50 points higher than the third place team. Harrison finished the day with 228.5 total team points. Good enough for first place. 

Tuesday Coffee Co High School hosted the Southern Trojan War. I don’t know how they did it, but Coffee Co convinced Cleveland High School, from Tennessee to come all the way down to South Ga. I am assuming that this is turn attracted Camden to bring their studs in the mix. This tournament was littered with nationally ranked kids, state champs, and state placers. This was one of the few tournaments that I was able to attend personally this year and it did not disappoint. The tournament did not keep up with team scores but just on the eye test alone, Camden and Cleveland ran away with this tournament. Glynn Academy was in the mix as they have become a powerhouse in the state as well. A few interesting stats from the Trojan War to wet your whistle. 

• Camden had 46 pins on the day, 20 more than the next closest team. 
• Camden also had 40 tech falls on the day, 25 more than the next closest team
• Cleveland TN, came in with the best winning percentage on the day with 57 wins and 13 losses which is a 81.4% winning percentage. 
• Weston Pierce and Brock Weaver both went home with 5 pins on the day, spending a little more than 6 minutes total on the mat. 
• Logan Paradise had the fastest tech fall on the day, getting that done in 57 seconds. 
• Aiden Buck of Camden County went home with the most total match points, scoring 88 points total for the day. 

The Georgia Grappler Invitational is another tournament chock full of talent with some of the best teams in the state of Ga in attendance. Central Carroll walked away with the first place team trophy. As the host school and one of the best teams in the state, this is really no big surprise. What is a surprise is Valdosta, freshly coming off winning their own home duals tournament the week before, they travel north and finish in 3rd place overall. Finishing higher than 5 teams ranked in their perspective classifications. I’m not sure what they have going on down there in the south but Valdosta might be the real deal this year and is probably a team to watch out for going forward. Mill Creek also showed why they were ranked so high finishing in 4th place overall as a team while only bringing 9 wrestlers to the tournament.

The Parkview Thanksgiving Classic and the Archer Invitational both played host to some teams with incredible talent. At Parkview, Ola came in and beat the rest of the competition like a rented mule placing every single varsity kid they brought with the exception of 1. Ola even had kids stacked up in the same weight class and still placed both kids. You know you’re doing something right when your number 2s are still placing at varsity tournaments. Rockdale County coming in with a surprise 2nd place finish. If I were a betting man, I would have put my money on Rockmart finishing in the top 2. Good thing I didn’t bet this time around, I would have lost dozens of dollars. 

Speaking of betting, it is becoming a very safe bet to place your money on Buford to win a wrestling tournament. These boys are consistent if nothing else winning every single tournament they have entered thus far. The Archer Invitational was no different as Buford amassed 270 team points on their way to first place. Jefferson came in second with 164.5 team points. It is noteworthy that Jefferson only had 9 varsity kids in their lineup and was able to finish in 2nd place. Jefferson is still missing some of their hitters due to their inability to lose football games. 

Girls High School Wrestling: 

There were several tournaments for the ladies over the break as well. Starting with the Seqoyah Invitational again Chestatee walked away from this tournament with a first place trophy barely edging out Campbell and Pope for second and third place respectively. The Lady Wareagles had 6 girls place in the top 4 at this tournament. Peyton Mordarski from Pope walked away with the fastest tech fall in the tournament getting that done in 2:18. 

At the same time that Chestatee was taking care of business in the suburbs of Atlanta, Richmond Hill was taking care of business just outside of Augusta. This tournament was difficult to follow along through Trackwrestling so it is unclear what transpired out there but we know that wrestling took place and that there was a winner. There weren’t any scores put in for the final pairings but according to Trackwrestling Richmond Hill walked away as the champions with Jackson County and Greenrier coming in 2nd and 3rd respectively. The ladies from Jackson County look to be a formidable opponent this year as they have had success at every venue they walked into so far this season. Their tournament coming up in a few weeks is always a fan favorite and should be an excellent test to see where they fall in the mix. 

The Bucaneer Brawl Scramble took place on 11/26 and featured 8 teams. Long County walked away champions with 161.5 total team points on the day beating out Richmond Hill who brought home the second place trophy with 123 team points. Apparently this team from Ludowici Ga knows how to wrestle and can get after it. If these girls weren’t on your radar before Thanksgiving they certainly should be now. 

Finishing up the girls section with the HOCO Girls Throwdown on HWY 96. This was another tournament that I was able to attend personally and it did not disappoint. Several state champs and state placers were in these brackets and a few newcomers began to make a name for themselves. The big surprise was Tift County and the firepower they had on the mat, these girls were neck and neck with Carrolton and Greenbrier all day, going back and forth back and forth, until the finals where they completely fell apart and gave away a golden opportunity to take down one of the giants. In those championship moments the cream rose to the top and Carrolton and Greenbrier put on a clinic with how to finish a tournament. They completely overwhelmed the rest of the field in the last round and took a commanding lead to finish with Carrolton in 1st and Greenbrier in 2nd. 

Houston County finished in 4th on the backs of their three absolute stud wrestlers. These guys ran a quality tournament with excellent competition and everyone was able to get home at a decent time which is always appreciated. It should be no surprise that Delilah Betances looked absolutely unstoppable as she destroyed everyone, even pinning within the first minute of the finals match. Another returning state champ that made light work of everyone who toed the line with her was Samantha Patton out of Cook County. With so many quality wrestlers and with new programs coming up every day, the girls brackets are going to be a wild ride in January and February this year, don’t be surprised to see some upsets. 

Youth Wrestling:

Heard County hosted the Middle School Braves Invitational this year and Bay Springs edged out Bremen and the host school Heard Co to walk away champions with 228 total team points. There were some good programs represented with these young men and women with East Cowets, Cass, Carrollton, Temple, Heard Co and Bremen. I had never heard of Bay Springs before, but after a quick google search I learned that Bay Springs middle school is just outside of Villa Rica. One could assume that Bay Springs is a feeder school for Villa Rica high school, again this is only a guess. 

Social Circle also hosted the Middle School Redskin Rumble and had some absolute hitters in the mix. This was a traditional middle school event, meaning that none of these kids wrestling were required to have USA or AAU cards. Most of these kids have practice at their home middle schools. Long Creek came away with first place with Social Circle coming in second. I’ve never personally heard of Long Creek but apparently these kids can freaking go. Anytime you have a team walk into a gym and beat the likes of Social Circle, Jefferson, Morgan County, Commerce, Banks County, and several others you tend to take notice of that. Hopefully Long Creek can make it to the traditional middle school state duals this year. 

To wrap things up on the youth circuit were going to take a brief look at the Parkview Thanksgiving Hammer Series. The Backyard Brawlers took care of business finishing in first place overall as a team in the 6U, 8U, and 10U divisions coming home with 22 medals from just those three divisions, 13 of those medals were gold. The Pedraza Wrestling club edged out Storm Center for first place in the 12U division with 6 medals added to their trophy case. Woodland Wrestling came in second place in the 14U division behind the kids who were essentially unattached to a club and just wrestling for Georgia. Woodland finished in the top of that class with Roundtree, Level Up, and Morris Fitness finishing just behind them, in that order. 

Quick Shout-outs: 

We want to give a quick shout-out to John Bonner Epps of Lakeside Wrestling for collecting his 100th career during his run at the Westside Thanksgiving Classic. 

Also wanted to recognize Isaac Jung of Morris Fitness for bumping up 2 weight classes to take on the best competition he could get, actively seeking out a state champ, in order to make himself better. This young man bumped up 2 weight classes and was still able to walk away a champion, winning 4-2 in the finals.