BUFORD — Buford advanced to the Class 6A State Duals after winning a pair of matches Saturday at The Buford Arena in Prelims round.
The Wolves, who took third in the 2020 Class 5A State Duals, will see if they can improve on that after moving up a classification. They opened the Prelims with a 54-18 victory over Carrollton. They moved into the State Duals with a 47-22 win over Sequoyah.
However, also in Class 6A Habersham Central fell to Dalton in the first match. Dalton then turned around and knocked off defending state champion Pope.
Defending Class 3A State Duals champ North Hall advanced on Saturday in a pair of dominating wins at home.
Also in Class 3A, Cherokee Bluff, making its first foray into the state tournament, opened with a 57-24 victory over Ringgold. But the Bears fell to perennial powerhouse Gilmer, 57-21, in the Sweet 16. Dawson County fell 46-30 to Stephens County and West Hall was pinned by 2020 state runner-up Sonoraville, 70-12. Lumpkin County opened with a 43-27 victory over Coahulla Creek but dropped a heartbreaker to Hart County 31-28, in the Sweet 16 to be eliminated.
In Class 7A, Gainesville dropped a tough, competitive match to Archer, 41-31, in the opening round. The Tigers finished fourth in 7A in 2020.
In Class 5A, Jackson County held off Calhoun in a thrilling 39-36 win to advance. The Panthers finished third in Class 3A in 2020 before jumping two classifications following reclassification.
In Class A, 2020 state runner-up Commerce advanced back to the Duals finals with an 81-0 demolition of Bowden in the opening match and then whipped Wesleyan 51-21 in the Sweet 16.
Banks County, making its first state playoff appearance since 2015, whipped Westside-Augusta 66-18 in the first round and then pinned down a 54-30 win over Pepperell in the Sweet 16 in Class 2A.
On Friday Jefferson advanced to the Class 4A State Duals with a pair of dominating wins at The Arena.
The Dragons opened the Prelims with a punishing 84-0 whitewash of Fayette County. They followed that with a 66-13 win over Pickens in the Sweet 16. They will play host to the Class 4A State Duals.
Flowery Branch also advanced in Class 4A routing Riverdale 60-12 and then taking down Heritage-Catoosa 54-18 in the Sweet 16. The Falcons are looking to improve on a 1-2 State Duals showing in 2020.
All teams will now have to wait for the seeding for the State Duals next week to determine their first opponents in the double-elimination tournament.
