Commerce and Buford had all 14 wrestlers advance to the Traditionals state finals last week in the statewide area and region traditional tournaments.
The two traditional powerhouses were part of a contingent of nearly 150 northeast Georgia area wrestlers to qualify for the state finals, which begins Tuesday at 9 a.m. at the Macon Centreplex. The tournament will run through Saturday in all seven classifications and a girls division in 10 separate weight classes.
(Click here to find all the brackets for every classification and weight class.)
The Wolves, who won the Class 6A Duals state title last week, dominated Region 8-6A with 13 champions and 290.5 points to win the meet. The Tigers had 11 individual champions while rolling to the Area 8-A title with 272.5 points.
The top three wrestlers in each weight class moved on to the Traditionals Finals, which are set to take place Monday through Friday in Macon at the Centreplex.
Classes A and 2A will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday; Class 3A and girls will be on Wednesday and Thursday; classes 4A and 6A will be on Thursday and Friday; and classes 5A and 7A will close out the week-long event on Friday and Saturday.
But they weren’t the only northeast Georgia area teams to finish with big numbers.
In Region 8-4A, Jefferson, which won the Class 4A Duals title last week, also sent 13 to the finals, including six champions, with 239.5 points. Also in Region 8-4A, Flowery Branch had 11 qualify for the finals, including a pair of individual champs while finishing second overall with 176 points. East Hall had five move through and Chestatee one.
North Hall, which captured the Class 3A Duals state title last week, had 12 qualify, with seven individual champions in Area 7-3A. The Trojans won the meet with 215.5 points. Lumpkin County was second (143.5), Cherokee Bluff third (132), White County fourth (109), and West Hall fifth (105) in the team standings.
Lumpkin County sent nine wrestlers through and Bluff had eight qualify. West Hall sent seven and White County had five move through in Region 7-3A as well.
In Area 8-2A, Fannin County won the title with Banks County second (186), Union County third (90), and Rabun County fourth (64.5). The Leopards, however, still managed to send 13 to the finals with seven champions. Union County had eight advance and Rabun had five qualify.
Habersham Central finished fourth in Region 8-6A (106) and sent five to the state finals.
In Area 8-3A, East Jackson finished fifth (87.5) and sent six to the finals.
Towns County had two wrestlers advance to Macon.
