CARROLLTON, Ga. — The Gainesville girls came away with third place in the Girls State Duals on Saturday at the University of West Georgia.
The Lady Red Elephants survived a pair of down-to-the-wire matches in the consolation bracket to get their highest-ever finish in the state tournament. Gainesville edged out Gilmer 42-40 when Julia Carcamo pinned Gilmer's Salma Gonzalez-Santos at 100-pounds in the final match to get 6 points for the team win.
Earlier in the day, the Lady Red Elephants took a 39-38 win over Jordan to move into the third place match. Trailing 29-18 in that match, Gainesville won four consecutive matches, two by pin from Shamareya Turner at 140 and Litzy Soto at 170, for a 39-29 lead with two matches left and then held on for the win.
Gainesville, Chestatee, and Lumpkin County all had been knocked down into the consolation bracket after losses on Friday. But each began to make their way through the bracket.
Gainesville knocked out Houston County 54-27 while Chestatee beat Woodward Academy 46-26. That set up a showdown between the Lady Red Elephants and the Lady War Eagles, with Gainesville moving on with a 54-30 win to eliminate Chestatee.
Lumpkin County also advanced with a 60-24 win over Richmond Hill and then eliminated Osborne by the same 60-24 to stay alive. The Lady Indians, however, dropped a heartbreaker to Gilmer, losing a 39-39 tie on criteria.
Carrollton, meanwhile, won its second straight State Duals title, beating Greenbrier 49-27 by winning six of the final seven matches, four by pin.
