Dragons roll to 10th straight region crown

GAINESVILLE - Jefferson rolled to its 10th straight region wrestling title Saturday winning 10 of the 14 weight-classes at the Region 8-AA traditional tournament at the Riverside Military Academy gym.

The Dragons also had one second place, one third, and two fourth place finishers as all 14 wrestlers qualified for the Class AA state meet.

Jefferson coach Doug Thurmond was more than pleased with his teams showing.

"We had an excellent tournament overall and I am very happy for the guys who were able to win their divisions," Thurmond said. "But to me the bigger accomplishment us that all 14 of our guys moved on to state. That doesn't happen very often. That's an amazing feat."

The top four wrestlers in each weight class advanced to the state sectionals next weekend.

Jefferson dominated the event taking home the title with a staggering 278 points. Banks County took second with 163, North Oconee was third with 155, and Riverside took fourth with 90 points. East Jackson (73.5), Fannin County (69), Dawson County (66), Walnut Grove (36), and Oglethorpe County (7) rounded out the nine-team field.

Kyle Springer (103 pounds), Cason Thurmond (112), Kelly Isaac (119), Cutler Finch (135), Cain Finch (140), Wayne Elliott (145), Jake Sherman (152), Forrest Przybysz (160), Lucas Redd (189), and Zack Allen (215), all took first place for the Dragons.

Clay Richardson (125) took second, Jace McCloskey (171) placed third, and Daniel Barber (130) and Sam Loggins (285) finished fourth for the Dragons.

Banks County had 11 wrestlers qualify for state, led by 171-pound champion Jarod Gregory. Mason Patton (103), Jordan Waters (112), Francisco Hurtado (119), Viet Pham (125), Justin Fincannon (130), Nathan Holloway (140), Paul Newell (152), Travis Betts (189), Jacob Bolton (215) and Marcus Adams (285) all qualified for the Leopards.

North Oconee had two champions in Dyllan Greene (125) and R.T. Taylor (130). Fannin County's Logan Daves won the 285-pound division.

Riverside had three second place finishers in Marcos Feliciano (171), Mancini Udoji (189), and Kolton Counts (215). Michael Hilliard (160) was third and Christopher Harvey (112) and Seth Sloan (152) placed fourth.