MACON — It was a battle down to the final match as Buford, the reigning 6A Duals champion, held just a skinny one-point lead over second-place Lassiter heading into Friday’s final round of the Class 6A Traditionals meet.
The Wolves made it stand up, getting some key wins outside of the finals to pull out a 183-171 win over the Trojans to win their first Traditionals title since 2018 (Class 5A).
Buford managed just one individual title as Rylan Ibold took the 106-pound crown with a tough 5-3 decision over Colin Dragon of Richmond Hill. However, Nick Cambria's bid for the 132 title ended with a tough 3-0 loss to Lassiter's David Panone in the finals.
From there it was all about getting points in the wrestle-backs. Tyler Henley (126) was third and Grayson Santee (152) and Aaron Kirkland (195) both managed fourth place finishes.
However, Santee’s and Kirkland’s wins to get into the third-place matches helped provide the 12-point difference for the title.
Buford had five finish in the top four while Lassiter and Richmond Hill, who finished third with 138.5 points, had just three in the top four on the day.
Habersham Central finished 34th with 18 points.
